Interrupted by Elephants

From Katie: Today’s guest post come from Chris Morris. Chris is a CPA by day, a blogger before dawn, and a happily married father of four all the time. He writes about how faith and real life can collide in the brokenness of life, while still holding on to hope. Oh, and he is completely addicted to various forms of caffeine, most notably French press coffee and Diet Mountain Dew. You can read his blog at http://www.sometimeshope.wordpress.com/ or follow him on Twitter at @sometimeshope.

After a long day traveling across the nation, I was finally near my hotel in Newark and a good night’s rest.  Then it happened. A police car with sirens blazing zoomed in front of me and blocked my left turn.

“No big deal,” I thought to myself. “I will just go down one street and then circle back around.”

I neared the next light and prepared to turn left. Once again, a police car whizzed by and blocked the intersection.

“This is not good,” I thought to myself, starting to get frustrated.

It was 10 pm, and I was exhausted. I decided to change my approach and turn right this time. After all, I could still see the hotel from the road. All I needed to do was go one more mile, and I could lay my head on a nice soft pillow. I turned right, and no police car.

photo credit: wallyg via photopin cc

Looking good. Hotel, here I come. But this was not my night. A third police car hurried passed me and slammed on his brakes, blocking the road altogether.

“What the heck…” I said, moving past irritation and into deep abiding anger.

Exasperated, I threw my car into park and just waited, fuming. For three minutes, I did nothing but sit there, getting angrier with each passing moment.

That’s when the elephants showed up. Nine elephants walking down the middle of the road, with about fifty people gathered around the elephants. Yes, elephants. In Newark. At 10 pm. For no discernible reason whatsoever.

All I could do is laugh and throw my hands up in disbelief. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that circus animals would keep me from my hotel. Getting lost in Newark would have been reasonable.  A traffic jam made sense. But a troupe of pachyderms?

I did eventually find my hotel.  I discovered there was a special event that evening involving elephants. I don’t remember the details now, but I will never forget the most unexpected interruption of my life.

We all have elephants intrude upon our lives at unexpected times. These elephants are often God’s way of catching our attention. That night, I needed a moment of unadulterated joy. God sent elephants, and I found joy. And I still do, every time I think of the New Jersey Elephants.

Does God sometimes have to cause unexpected interruptions to get your attention? What is He bringing to your attention through interrupting elephants?

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