Surprised by Grace. This phrase best described what happened to me the other day. As many of you may know we are currently on US/Puerto Rico assignment living in Port Angeles, WA, a small community on the Olympic peninsula about three hours west of Seattle.

We lived here six years before moving to Costa Rica and had established many supportive relationships in the community. While attending a gospel choir benefit fund-raiser at the local Lutheran church in town, we reconnected with the local Lutheran pastor. I was surprised by what he shared with me within the first five minutes of our conversation. Having been gone for over four years we were catching up on significant events and he told me that he owed me a debt of gratitude for an article or update I had sent out years earlier that had helped him face one of the most difficult challenges of his life. I couldn't even remember what I had written, but he sure did.

About 7 years ago I was given a book by a good friend of mine about living with loss titled, A Grace Disguised, How the Soul Grows through Loss, by Gerald Sittser. I guess I mentioned in my update how that book had helped me to grow through some of the major losses I had experienced recently in my own life. My friend knew the author who shared his own experience of losing his mother, wife, and daughter in a car accident on the same day. In the matter of minutes he became an orphan, widower, and single parent of his three surviving children. Through his honesty and vulnerability many have found strength to deal with their own experiences of loss and find grace and growth in the process. I have often recommended the book not really knowing the results, but the other day I was privileged to hear the rest of the story.

It turns out that not too long ago while driving home on a dark night, our friend, the pastor, struck a person running across the major highway and the person did not survive. The complete randomness of suffering that he experienced changed his life forever. Remembering my article, our friend was able to find a resource and community of fellow travelers that could help him walk through this very challenging time.

I was reminded again that often we don't know how our lives and experiences intersect and how God uses both the most painful places and simple things of our lives to grow His people and kingdom. I couldn't even remember the words I had written, but God caused another to, thus connecting a number of grace stories together. We never know all of the ways God is working to bring about healing and hope, but we do get glimpses every now and then of how God uses us and how truly connected we all are. Though we were miles apart, the relationships that we had built over the years kept us connected and continued to surprise us by grace.

Your words of support and prayers throughout the years do not go unnoticed though you may not realize or even remember what you said. Thank you for your gifts that make it possible for us to be a small part of God's great plan.

Thank you for remembering our connection when you give to this year's World Mission Offering.

Gary and Mylinda Baits