I reheated some leftover soup for lunch on Wed- nesday. As the microwave in the copy room dinged, I wasn't quite feeling sorry for myself, but the prospect of sipping some bland soup alone in my office staring at a computer screen that had been refusing to yield brilliant ideas didn't float my boat. Had the soup been any less interesting or my deadlines any closer, I could've silently sighed, "what did I do to deserve this?" For this Christmas week's Message About Purpose and Strategy, I'll share what happened next and how I felt about it. Carrying my Tupperware, I was met in the hallway by Sue Hood, our church secretary. She had a problem and asked for help. "Larry, my lunch came with chip and salsa, can you take care of this?" I thought it was too good to be true. Maybe the chips would be stale or the salsa container small? But no! The blessing was abundant! No sooner had I sat at my desk to accept her challenge and chips, but I heard Sue talking to someone in the outer office. I caught only one phrase, "Tell him it was too hot for me." Sue then came into my office with a second, even larger bag of chips and a second container of salsa from another restaurant! Tamra Burleson apparently needed my help as well! One thought leapt to my mind: "What did I do to deserve this?" The answer, which has surfaced time and time again in our Sunday evening study of Romans in the young adult Rooted service, is that we have done nothing to deserve God's love! He has shown amazing grace - unexpected and underserved. The overlapping surprises reminded me of the many abundant blessings I don't deserve. At the very top of the list is God's original Christmas gift of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 2 Cor. 9:15 - "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift." Have a Merry Christmas!