Surprises!

I like surprises. My mom tells me, that when I was a little girl, I would ask her "Mom, what special thing are we doing today? What surprise do you have for me?" This week, I had three surprises and they definitely touched my heart.

On Friday morning, while shopping for the conference, I received a phone call saying that thanks to a recommendation of a friend, I could schedule a free facial treatment and consultation. I was so touched that my friend had thought of me, but also so grateful because this has been an extremely busy time for me, and some "me time" was very welcome.

The second was a friend who arrived at the conference with my favourite chocolate that you can't buy in Switzerland. She had remembered me mentioning it a conversation, and when she was in England, she bought me one. I felt so blessed by this friend and her sweet gesture - she had really listened to what I told her, and remembered.

Yesterday, some of my colleagues who are also special friends came to my office with a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne so that we could celebrate the first complete version of my thesis (more on this in the next post). I really do appreciate that my colleagues are friends who share in the joys (and frustrations) of one another.

Each of these surprises touched my heart and left me feeling, once again, so incredibly grateful for the people who are in my life here. I am so aware of God's favour in this area of my life - He truly has blessed me with such a wonderful community here.