Foreign Bodies and Gifts

 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household  Ephesians 2:19 (NIV)

At around 4 am my beeper went off and I was informed of a very unusual situation.  In fact, I asked the Kenyan voice on the other end to repeat the message.   I thought I had seen most of the known obstetric complications, but this was a new one!  I will not go into the details, but suffice it to say it was all about a “foreign body”!

We have been “welcomed” as foreigners.  We brought gifts, but the larger reality is that we have received many more gifts than we brought!  We have met some wonderful people and have been blessed by their friendship and love.   So just when you have thought you have “seen it all” you are surprised and that is a wonderful gift even as a “foreign body”!

In this time of Lent, I pray that we will be surprised by a new faith and strength in a world where separation and alienation are what we most often experience.  May we accept the invitation and be the “welcome” even if we are strangers.

Marv

Reference

 Zantvoord Y;  van der Weiden RM;  van Hooff MH. Transmural migration of retained surgical sponges: a systematic review. [Review] [69 refs]
Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey.  63(7):465-71, 2008 Jul.