Surprise Me God - Rick Dischinger

Terry Esau uses metaphors often in his book, Surprise Me. It was after reading one of his descriptions that I realized that God's surprise for me came as metaphor.

I got up early to go to River Village, our sister Senior Assisted Living campus, to get some information I needed. I entered the building at 7am and went to the locked memory care unit to get the information. Only two tenants were up at that time and the nursing staff were tending to other tenants in their apartments. I got the information I needed and was ready to leave. I punched the code into the door's keypad to release the door and it did not open. I tried again, slower...still nothing. I waited a few seconds before another attempt. I was stuck! I tried what I thought was the code forwards, backwards, using the # key and the * key....still nothing. I realized I had forgotten the code. I pounded on the door in hopes someone might hear, I called for help down the empty halls...no answer. I used my cell phone to call the nurses, they were not in yet. I called my daughter Kendra in Michigan, she works at this building when home, she did not answer. I started to lose patience. I noted the irony, how many times had I come across this scene: a tenant pounding at the door, calling for help stating "I don't belong here! Let me out!" And yet here I was!

In MY life, how often am I pounding at a door demanding to enter? How often do I "forget the code", asking God to "open this door now!" How often do I go through doors that should remain shut or walk past doors God has opened for me? God surprised me with a "senior moment" of forgetfulness that brought frustration and anxiety with it. May God direct my coming and going and may I recognize which doors God would that I enter.