Today at church Pastor Randy asked some among us to stand up and say what we are thankful for... And I am so glad he didn't ask me! Seriously, the ONLY thing I could think of sitting there was the song, Grace Like Rain, that we had just sung. Had he called on me (if he dared!!) he would have got "Gary and the guys singing Grace Like Rain." as an answer!! But it did get me thinking about the blessings in the middle of the MUCK that is my life these days, so I thought I would write tonight, and perhaps throughout this week on some of the things that I am thankful for right now.
I am thankful that on Friday (payday for me) I was able to pay ALL of the utility bills!! AND I was able to purchase bras too. Now this might seem silly to you, but when you are a 40GG in bra size it is NOT cheap to buy bras! I broke my last two this week and it's just not socially acceptable to go to work without, so being able to buy some was a HUGE blessing to me! We might not eat much this week, but we will be warm, the lights will be on and mommy will be able to go to work dress appropriately!
Today, as I TRY to do every Sunday, I prepped the meals for the up coming week. I am SO THANKFUL that I had enough food to make all the meals for the week! I even found the ingredients in the fridge for the kids favorite veggie pasta salad, which was a huge blessing since they will only be in school 2 days this week, and I will have to feed them lunch way more often than I am used to! We are a bit short on fresh things and snack stuff, but I KNOW that God will provide all of this for us, He always does! And I am thankful that I have FAITH that God will provide the food my children need so I don't have to stress over that, even when my cabinets are as bare as they are!
One of the ladies at church today was sharing that Salvation Army needs help right now in our area, and it reminded me that I am thankful that there are organizations around us that can help families like mine. Thankfully we haven't had to use SA's services this year, but there have been years in the past that we were blessed with their assistance in paying some of our utility bills. I am thankful that people with extra share so that those in need can get help.
And I am SUPER thankful that God takes care of us in ALL things, as He so pointedly proved to me yet again this week. We have been facing foreclosure in our home. I have been fighting so hard trying to hang onto our house in the midst of so much and it has made me SO TIRED. Finally I hit my knees and GAVE UP. Seriously, I gave up. My prayer was something like this: "I am done fighting this God. I am done trying so hard to hang on to this structure. Yes, it means a lot to me. Yes, it makes me cry knowing that we are loosing it. Yes, I have no idea how to explain this to my kids. But I know that YOU have a plan. YOU are in control and YOU will be with us no matter where we go. I give it all to you Lord. Guide my feet on this path, since I can't see it through the tears!" Then I got up, went looking for rentals for the kids and I. It SUCKED!! I HATE rentals, but this is what needed done. I finally found a place, still in LO, but cheap enough that I could afford and big enough that we wouldn't go stir crazy. The landlord was a down to earth guy, and offered it to me that day. It was trashed, and I was sad about it, but it was a house. A roof over our head. And I could afford it. I said it looked great, but could I have 24 hours to pray over it. He was down with that. So I went home resigned that this would be our new reality. I don't know why I stalled, but I just did. And AMAZINGLY that night I got a phone call that changed everything! I have NO IDEA what changed, but something did, and the kids and I have a chance to stay in the house!! For sure through the holidays and into the new year! This is a total miracle, since the house was scheduled to be sold in a foreclosure sale on Dec 14th, but now we have till Jan 20th AND there is a possibility that things will work out even better than that in the long run. I am still totally dependant on HIM to work this all out, but He again has shown me HOW AMAZINGLY he cares for each of us, especially when we give it all up to Him!
And lastly tonight I am thankful that I got all 4 of my kids a WONDERFUL surprise for Christmas before everything went topsy turvy. There are still many details to work out, but I have faith that they will all be smoothed over and this will be a trip to remember forever for my children! Just tonight another of the details got worked out in an amazing way that I was not expecting!
So what are you thankful for this day? What are the bright spots in your muck, if you have muck? And if you don't have muck, what can you do to bless those that do?
Blessings!!
I am thankful that on Friday (payday for me) I was able to pay ALL of the utility bills!! AND I was able to purchase bras too. Now this might seem silly to you, but when you are a 40GG in bra size it is NOT cheap to buy bras! I broke my last two this week and it's just not socially acceptable to go to work without, so being able to buy some was a HUGE blessing to me! We might not eat much this week, but we will be warm, the lights will be on and mommy will be able to go to work dress appropriately!
Today, as I TRY to do every Sunday, I prepped the meals for the up coming week. I am SO THANKFUL that I had enough food to make all the meals for the week! I even found the ingredients in the fridge for the kids favorite veggie pasta salad, which was a huge blessing since they will only be in school 2 days this week, and I will have to feed them lunch way more often than I am used to! We are a bit short on fresh things and snack stuff, but I KNOW that God will provide all of this for us, He always does! And I am thankful that I have FAITH that God will provide the food my children need so I don't have to stress over that, even when my cabinets are as bare as they are!
One of the ladies at church today was sharing that Salvation Army needs help right now in our area, and it reminded me that I am thankful that there are organizations around us that can help families like mine. Thankfully we haven't had to use SA's services this year, but there have been years in the past that we were blessed with their assistance in paying some of our utility bills. I am thankful that people with extra share so that those in need can get help.
And I am SUPER thankful that God takes care of us in ALL things, as He so pointedly proved to me yet again this week. We have been facing foreclosure in our home. I have been fighting so hard trying to hang onto our house in the midst of so much and it has made me SO TIRED. Finally I hit my knees and GAVE UP. Seriously, I gave up. My prayer was something like this: "I am done fighting this God. I am done trying so hard to hang on to this structure. Yes, it means a lot to me. Yes, it makes me cry knowing that we are loosing it. Yes, I have no idea how to explain this to my kids. But I know that YOU have a plan. YOU are in control and YOU will be with us no matter where we go. I give it all to you Lord. Guide my feet on this path, since I can't see it through the tears!" Then I got up, went looking for rentals for the kids and I. It SUCKED!! I HATE rentals, but this is what needed done. I finally found a place, still in LO, but cheap enough that I could afford and big enough that we wouldn't go stir crazy. The landlord was a down to earth guy, and offered it to me that day. It was trashed, and I was sad about it, but it was a house. A roof over our head. And I could afford it. I said it looked great, but could I have 24 hours to pray over it. He was down with that. So I went home resigned that this would be our new reality. I don't know why I stalled, but I just did. And AMAZINGLY that night I got a phone call that changed everything! I have NO IDEA what changed, but something did, and the kids and I have a chance to stay in the house!! For sure through the holidays and into the new year! This is a total miracle, since the house was scheduled to be sold in a foreclosure sale on Dec 14th, but now we have till Jan 20th AND there is a possibility that things will work out even better than that in the long run. I am still totally dependant on HIM to work this all out, but He again has shown me HOW AMAZINGLY he cares for each of us, especially when we give it all up to Him!
And lastly tonight I am thankful that I got all 4 of my kids a WONDERFUL surprise for Christmas before everything went topsy turvy. There are still many details to work out, but I have faith that they will all be smoothed over and this will be a trip to remember forever for my children! Just tonight another of the details got worked out in an amazing way that I was not expecting!
So what are you thankful for this day? What are the bright spots in your muck, if you have muck? And if you don't have muck, what can you do to bless those that do?
Blessings!!
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