Curses Into Blessings

A month ago, I called my publisher every day to insure my books for the Vegas book signing gig this Monday would be delivered during the 4-day window that was allowed by the convention center. The books were lost after the first delivery. In a panic, I called the publisher, and they quickly sent out a new batch. They were delivered too early, and then also lost. Now down to the wire, I called them again. A third batch was set to go out yesterday morning, and I was assured those ones would make it.

I think I have developed an ulcer.

Then, last night, I checked the tracking numbers. No information available! This could not be good. I called the publisher. They assured me that the books were in the air, on the airplane, and would be to their destination in an hour. Really! I was still on pins and needles till I could verify. They did not arrive last night, however. Tracking information was still unavailable. This morning, they were still not there. They were last seen in Kentucky...

Meanwhile, in between these disturbing calls, I got to teach an art class to Nursing Home residents in a memory care unit. They all had an interest in art, from decades ago. All but one had once drawn, but all felt the skill was lost. While I was setting up, another resident walked by.
"How are you?" I asked.
"I have no idea where I am..." she said, "But other than that, OK."
There seemed to be a theme of LOST.

One man in my little art class had been a carpenter.
"A noble business!" I cried, "Do you know who the best carpenter was who ever lived?"
"Jesus," answered one of the women.
"At least I would assume He was the best. He was God, after all."
The old carpenter said he didn't think he could draw, but it would be ok to sit and give it a shot. As you can see in the picture above, his daffodil was coming along very nicely.
One of the ladies told me she had never been able to draw and this would be a disaster, but she too, was willing to try. She was very worried about all the smudges, and marks pastels made. She knew it could not possibly turn out.

Still, she stuck with it, and in the end, when the picture was completed, she smiled.
"What do you think?" I asked.
"It was a lot of fun...and it turned out pretty good."

I checked my tracking numbers again. The first set of lost books had been found and delivered! And the replacement set delivery is expected by 3 pm today. That means I will have double the books at the book signing than we had planned for. Somehow, I think God is engineering an unexpected crush of people to come to the book signing. It is always a guessing game about how many books to bring to a book signing.Who wants to bet that I will have just the right number of books?

Sometimes what looks like a disaster turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Just ask Joseph who was left to die in a well by his brothers...and then saved his brothers and all his people from starvation when he was later elevated to Pharoah's right hand man. Just ask Moses, a stutterer, who spoke boldly to the Pharoah to "Let my people go."  Just ask Abraham, told by God to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, whose hand was stayed by God, and he became the father of multitudes of God's people. Just ask Jesus, as He dangled on the cross, and then rose from the grave. Just ask me, a hopeless sinner, saved by faith and grace.

"I didn't think it would look like a daffodil at first," said the woman, smiling at her picture, "But in the end, it does. Thank you so much."
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Deuteronomy 23:5 but the Lord God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee because the Lord thy God loved thee.