I love to cook, and I happen to be vegan. Just as with any food there are awesome vegan dishes and barely edible ones.

I was talking to a new friend who learned I was vegan and said, “Oh, I had a vegan cookie once and it was awful.” I had to chuckle, because, yes, I have had bad vegan cookies too. It happens. I love to experiment in the kitchen, with a large variety of results. A couple days ago I made a flourless cake using sweet potato, coconut, and ground nuts, I was surprised how well it turned out! It was good! I could have easily missed out had I not been so bold with putting ingredients together in a new way.

When we set “good” to equal something very specific, our expectations can limit us from experiencing other good things.

When my husband and I first got together, he was convinced he didn’t like lentils because he hated the lentil soup his mom would make. Lo and behold, he loves the spicy lentil dishes I am drawn to preparing, and he shortly realized that it was not the lentils themselves he didn’t like, but the particular lentil dish.

Sometimes we have to adjust our expectations, learn to be flexible, and exercise our creativity because life always comes with unexpected twists. If I let my expectations for my life limit or define my joy, I could miss out on what God has planned for me in a season of unanticipated experiences. The feeling of missing out on a particular form of “goodness” would come due to the mistake of looking for something else—from expecting goodness, or healing, or friendships, or opportunities, to come in a particular way.

For example, I have experienced healing miracles where God has done an instant miraculous work, and others where He has given me a physical strategy (like changing my diet) in order to lead to healing. I have also been walking through a season of chronic autoimmune issues, knowing full well that He is the healer, but finally feeling the flexibility and security of finding goodness in His person rather than needing or expecting it in my immediate circumstances. It took me awhile to recognize that my expectations for healing were hindering me from fully enjoying the presence of God, which is in itself more valuable than any physical experience—even of healing. I have been finding freedom by focusing first on God’s goodness—finding joy in worshipping Him, rather than in my experiences (in myself).

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Mat. 6:33).

God is good. But God is also the ultimate Creator. His ways are not always our ways. He puts things together in an unusually creative fashion. But in His wisdom He knows what He is doing. We can trust that eventually everything is working together to become something GOOD.

In the middle of a particularly busy day of kids, homeschool, seminary homework, and too many undone house maintenance projects, a friend I have not seen in a long time came to my mind. It is frequent for me to think of people throughout the day, and typically I move quickly to the next thought, or maybe say a short prayer for the person. But this time I did what is rare for me, and I texted my friend.

My friend was in the middle of a problem. The train she was riding was in an accident. Everybody was fine, but the situation was chaotic, and it looked like she might not get where she was going. So I prayed for my friend that another way would come, and texted her my 20 second prayer. Eight minutes later she wrote again that my prayer had been speedy, and she was again on her way! Problem averted through a very short prayer!

I am so glad I did not ignore this moment!

Intercession does not have to be about long hours in the prayer room. It can also be listening and acting on the Lord’s promptings throughout the day. The Holy Spirit is placing small missions in our minds and hearts. Are we listening? Are we pausing to act? Sometimes the most important moments happen in the shortest slivers of time.

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” (James 5:16 NLT).

Superbowl Sunday is one of the great American holidays that I typically ignore. But as a Washingtonian at heart, I had to see how my home-team would compete. (Can I be a “fan” if I only watch the last game of the season? I won’t pretend I remember all the player’s names.)

The Superbowl is one of the times when so many Americans are focused on the same thing all at once that it becomes a sort of spiritual experience, with the halftime show and commercials a revelation of the state of our nation (for better or, usually, worse). And then there’s the game itself… I wonder how much God speaks to us through stuff like this? It seems frequent. I won’t say that I know what God is saying, or what the game means; but it feels significant to me that both teams received a last minute miracle.

Do we know that God is for people, giving each of us the miracles we will receive? Fans of each team may be praying to win games, but I don’t think God works like that. I think it’s more like His blessings are available without prejudice and part of the process is that we take those opportunities and make the play.

I was floored when Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse caught the ball even after he’d fallen. I had had a brief impression in the third quarter that the Patriots would have to win (I felt it was something about the team’s name, though that was just the feeling I had); so when the Seahawks made their way down the field I had hope that they would still win. With so little time left, the Patriots’ end of the game interception by Malcolm Butler was even more unbelievable. I believe God was working on both sides to give each player incredible opportunities.

After the game an interviewer asked Butler why he was so emotional, and he described how he’d had a vision that he would make a big play and was so blessed that it had come true (I wish I could find the full clip). Super touching, right?! Despite rooting for the Seahawks, I was moved by Butler’s humility and emotion.

Whether or not we can call this game “prophetic,” I felt like there was much to “hear” through it. We should listen for God to speak to us through abnormal situations and events, and watch for the opportunities the Lord is giving to step into new blessings in our lives.

I am very pregnant and, though not overdue, quite ready for our newest family addition to arrive. To be most honest, I’m past ready, and have been struggling with impatience. My first son came so suddenly that I’ve had an expectation that this one might come early too (he’s already later than his brother), and I’ve been maybe a bit too zealous in watching for signs of impending labor and hindering life-as-normal just in case the baby may arrive any moment.

Even with my first baby I did have signs of labor: my water broke, contractions started and got more intense, and there were a couple other things for the TMI category. My labor was just over two hours and very sudden, but it was still labor. I keep hearing crazy stories, though, about babies coming suddenly in the bathtub or the toilet, or obese women who don’t know they’re pregnant until the baby comes suddenly in their pants—it’s distractions like this that have made me consider the possibility that baby two could come without warning as I’m driving or shopping or in any other very embarrassing and inconvenient way. And when I’m so intense in thinking that labor could begin any minute, it hinders my daily life; after all, I wouldn’t want to go somewhere I wouldn’t feel comfortable delivering. :-P

The Christians in Thessalonica made a similar mistake. They had been doing a great job persevering in their faith despite various hardships (Paul gives them many positive affirmations in 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians), but then Paul gives them a couple telling warnings:

1. don’t assume Jesus is coming any minute because He will not come until the apostasy and the antichrist come first (2 Thess 2:1-12)
2. keep working so you can afford to eat; it’s not good to be a burden to other people (2 Thess 3:6-13)

It seems that these Christians in their zeal had misunderstood the spiritual season of their time and put life on hold—quitting their jobs and living off of others—because of their certainty that the Lord would come at any time. Their behavior is almost enduring and goes hand in hand with a long list of praise and encouragement from Paul regarding their faithfulness toward God, and yet they were deceived by their assumptions and made a couple bad choices.

It’s been my mission the past couple days to relax and think less about my upcoming labor. I want to be alert—and I’m so excited for this moment that it is impossible for me not to be—and yet I do not want to be paranoid over every possible symptom or so expectant that I put my normal life on hold. It is an interesting balance to anticipate an event with zeal without going overboard. Paul admonished the Thessalonians to keep living and doing the good things they know to do (2 Thess 2:15, 1 Thess 5:11-28), and I’ve been praying that I’ll be able to relax and enjoy these last pre-baby days as well.