Matthew 28:20b  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

My Lord Jesus did something really special for me yesterday morning.  I had posted my devotional about the Mourning Doves and was talking to Donna on the phone.  As I was talking I walked into the kitchen and looked out the window at our back yard.  There, sitting on a bird bath was a pair of Mourning Doves!  We moved back to NE Ohio 4 months ago and I hadn’t seen one in that entire time – until this morning!

As I wrote yesterday, when I see or hear Mourning Doves a wonderful process kicks in. I stop, enjoy their beauty, think of my Lord Jesus, and am filled with gratitude for Him and the blessings He has given me. My enjoyment of these birds triggers this process that leads me to a quiet, rich reservoir of gratitude for my God.

Only this time the reaction within me was closer to an eruption/explosion of joy and awareness of Him.  I don’t believe in coincidences.  I remember such things being described as ‘Jesus-incidences’.  This sweet gift was a token of kindness to me from my Lord.  Here, the morning I write about them, for the first time in 4 months there is a pair right in front of me.  And while seeing the Mourning Doves was sweet, it paled in comparison to what it triggered within me in terms of experiencing His love and presence.

Picture a new can of Coke that you shake thoroughly and then immediately open. It sprays everywhere!  Now think of this same event only the can is handed to you to open and you are unaware of it having been shaken.  No matter what you’re doing, it sure captures your attention – immediately!  That describes what happened within me the instant I saw the two Mourning Doves.  Instead of being bathed in Coke, I was bathed with the awareness and love of my Lord.  I am still basking in it this morning as I write.

Jesus said He would be with us always and that is something Jesus followers accept by faith. It is particularly wonderful to be reminded of that so powerfully as we go through the adventures He has for us.  In the good times we thank Him; in the difficult times we acknowledge Him.  In all times we are grateful for Him.  We are His.