I am the Walrus...

We were all enjoying a wonderful homemade meal last night when all of a sudden Joshua blurted out, "You could save a lot of money if you had teeth like a walrus."

My chili almost went spewing across the table...

My iWitness...

We tried to get to the bottom of where such a thought would originate and why would it be shared at such a tranquil moment.

We got nowhere.

Oh sure... Joshua had all sorts of explanations of how and why you would save a boatload of money if you had the teeth of a walrus.

But the "why"... "Why" would you think of something like that and then "why" would you share it at the dinner table?... We never found an adequate answer.

Does God perform such random acts of nonsense?
I remember back in the summer of 2003 I was out of town somewhere and Julie called me on a Tuesday to tell me that she had just received a phone call from a local nurse in town who was looking for a home for a 10 day old little boy. The birth mother would like to meet us on Saturday. The nurse had heard that we were childless and might be interested in adoption. My mind was racing and within hours I had named the little boy and had all sorts of visions of what life would be like with a son. The nurse said she would call back later in the week to set up the visit.

Julie and I prepared for the visit. Friday and Saturday came and went with no phone call from the nurse. The silence of the phone on Sunday was excruciating. On Monday the nurse called to tell us that the 15 year old birth mother had chosen another family. That boy was ten days old. Now he is ten years old.

For the last ten and half years I have often wondered, "What was that all about? Why did that event come and go in our life? What possible purpose did that serve?" My questions could go on and on.

Was that some sort of random act with no base or purpose for Julie and me?
Was God playing some sort of random trick on us?

For whatever the reason might be I have to believe that with God nothing is random.
Nothing is purposeless.
Nothing is a waste of our time and energy.
Nothing comes our way that doesn't somehow and in some way shape us and form us.
With that in mind I am going to close this blog post and ponder about how much money I could have saved if God had only made me with the teeth of a walrus...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

ps - There was nothing random about the birth of Jesus...

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. ²⁰ But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

²³ “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). ²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. (Matthew 1. 18-25)