Bonus Blessings

After a hearty Italian meal with my family, including my sister and her boyfriend, in a small restaurant in Arkadelphia, we discussed options for an after-dinner activity. When you're in Arkadelphia of all places, that's a rough place to start. (I can only say that because my college town was Searcy, where Walmart and the zonkey are the highest forms of entertainment.) 

"We could go get ice cream," someone suggested and we all groaned and rubbed our bellies, knowing that no one had any room for a spoonful of anything, not even ice cream. 

"It's open dorm at my place," my sister's boyfriend said, "and there is a ping pong table in there." 

"I could ask my friend for his Bible trivia game," my sister added. 

"We have a guitar and cajon drum in the back of the car," dad mentioned. "Anywhere we could play some music?" 

My sister's boyfriend perked up and said, "Yeah! I can get the key to the church!" He, being a musically talented guy and some kind of worship arts major, of course had access to the key to a local church, and so we busted in, turned on the sound system, plugged in, and had a spontaneous family worship night. 

It reminded me of a sweet fact: all this started in Africa three years ago. When I lived in Yako at an orphanage, our free time was spent with guitars under a hangar, singing in French and English and Moore, passing the time with praise and worship. I learned something hugely valuable that changed my life that summer - worship is the best past time. It's the best way to spend your time. And when you are living in Africa without a whole lot of other entertainment options, and when you've found Jesus and he has become your obsession, that's the only way you want to spend all your time. 

So when I got back from Burkina that summer, I wanted to introduce spontaneous worship to a part of my daily life, just like it was in Africa. My dad bought a cajon, we started inviting people over on weekends to worship, and we carry our musical instruments in the back of the car with us all the time because you just never know when you might get an opportunity to use them.

Like this night. We spent some time in worship and also got to play ping pong and a heated game of Bible trivia that was way more fun than it probably should have been. Just another average Roussel family Friday night. 

I had a hard time going to sleep that night. I get that way when I am overjoyed and extraordinarily thankful. You see, remaining in the United States for an extended furlough because of a terrorist attack and then spending my extra days doing security training and writing a will was not exactly what I had in mind. But God has provided what I like to call "bonus blessings" - things that I wouldn't have experienced if I hadn't been here a little extra longer. Things like spontaneous family worship, a crazy camping trip, attending Perspectives, a pinnacle mountain climb, a sunset from my hammock, a winter snow, encouragement received from a child who prayed for me, a youth group who wrote letters to me, and an elder who empowered me. God always has bonus blessings in store if only we are willing to receive them even into a troubled or broken heart. 

I know a lot of people right now who are going through difficult life circumstances that have left them with troubled or broken hearts. I want them to know that God has bonus blessings for them, too. I want them to open wide their hands and hearts to receive all that he is wanting to give, and to give back to him all that he is worthy to receive.