The Cross and Guitar

I bought a cross yesterday.  The purchase was totally out of character for me.  It was a hand carved wooden three inch Celtic cross on a rawhide string.  It was made to be worn around the neck.  I have never worn anything which resembled a necklace and although it was not really a necklace, it was as close as anything I have put around my neck to hang down on my chest.  I did not plan to buy it.  I saw it and there was something about the moment which all but compelled me to pay the $10 and wear it home.  Yesterday and today I wore it.  Comfortably.  It felt like it belonged.   

I remember buying a cheap used guitar from an antique and junk store in much the same way about a year ago.  I had browsed the store for a bit and sat down on a bench, looked up, and there it was inviting me to take it home.  It was as if it had a sign on it which said, "This is for you."  Once again I paid the clerk and left with a purchase I did not know I needed, or wanted until I saw it in the store.  Not being a compulsive shopper, it gives me reason to pause.  How do these unexpected things happen?    

Being the person who thinks too much about things not clearly seen, it has made me to remember and reflect on the way revelations of the Holy are constantly unfolding in the path He leads us.  Maybe part of the reason we have such trouble seeing is because we are looking so hard.  Maybe we miss what is unfolding because we are trying to make something happen in our time instead of the time that God has laid out for us.  As I reflect on the cross and the guitar, I find myself wondering if God's blessings are not more likely to come to us as we wait for them to unfold in our lives.