“So God spoke through a donkey. I’m more inclined to listen to a pelican.”~priest

Port Aransas is my sweet spot for replenishment.  Lots of good memories.  I was there a while back, intently reading God’s Word.  I was in the middle of speed reading the new testament.

While sitting in the sand looking across the jetty and into the channel, a pelican flew up and landed next to me.  I mean he literally flew up and landed within 3 feet of me and sat down.  He stared at me and snuggled down into the sand with the idea of staying a while.  I contemplated with God what the purpose of this loony pelican was.  I have to imagine there are few of you that can say a pelican flew in and camped next to you…. Right?

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I took it as an encouragement that God was near and kept reading.  That was about a year, ago.  A couple weeks ago, a new facebook friend and disabled veteran (Joey) told me to read about how the brain can be reprogrammed.  I thought that interesting because of the Biblical concept of taking thoughts captive.

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Part of the process is to identify those things that trigger negative feelings and retrain yourself to use the things to trigger some positive thought.  I wondered what the positive thought might be.  I knew what the negative thought was.  Then, I believe God reminded me of the pelican.  I imagined that God sent the pelican to roost next to me as a sign that He was close and cared for me.

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Maybe this is true.  I don’t know, but in my imaginations, I believe the uniqueness of the pelican hanging out with me was identifying God’s presence.  I figure if God can speak through a donkey, He can speak through a pelican.

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Now when the events occur that typically trigger negative responses, I am retraining myself to think about that pelican.  I am surprised that possibly a year ago, God sent me the pelican for such a time as this.

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Might you need to do a little retraining yourself? What negative trigger can you reprogram to think of God in a positive manner?