In this broken world it is SO
good and SO IMPORTANT to recall the faithfulness of God through the little and
BIG moments of life.
Whether it is recalling…
Or the time he literally
moved in my heart to contact a complete stranger, our embryo donor mom, with the
strangest question of all… “Would you consider our family for your embryos?”
And then came Levi… and some most precious relationships to my heart….
Or the time he literally
moved a stranger’s family all the way from Sweden
Or the time we arrived at our
new home here to find the refrigerator stocked upon our past midnight arrival…
Breakfast for 9 coming right up after we woke up exhausted after literally
dodging tornadoes in the van and moving truck on the move up to Illinois
Time and time again I can
recall His incredible faithfulness to protect and provide for us… and this past
fall and Christmas has been no different…
The adoption journey is a
stretch for most people… It is costly, both emotionally and financially…
With each
adoption we have opened that door saying, “ Yes Lord, we are willing to open
our hearts and home to another precious child to love… Move if it is your
will…” And move He has… At times I look back and am amazed at the
fact that He multiplied our finances to allow us to adopt Hope, Isaiah, and do
Levi’s embryo adoption all within 4 years… It should have been
impossible on a pastor’s salary… But that is always when God moves…
And moving mountains is
exactly what God has been doing behind the scenes as of late. Let me explain our recent car situation… We
have a big van that carries all of us, a small car that gets good gas mileage, and a vintage 1993 jeep that came to us at a steal of a price from church members that were moving. (Caleb did recently purchase his
own car that is up on blocks in the garage providing the perfect bonding
opportunity for Greg and him as they work to fix it up)
This past fall, on my way to
work I literally phoned a friend asking to borrow their moped… The car I was
driving was making me deaf (muffler troubleJ) and almost had me asphyxiated by the time I got to
work… It just so happened that our cars were having trouble all at the same time and we only had one working car… And with Greg’s job, me working very part
time for FMSC, 2 teens with jobs, a busy houseful… it just wasn’t cutting it on
a daily basis while Greg worked to get the cars repaired. These friends were so very gracious to loan us a
car till we had ours up and running again.
We knew we had to do
something because all of the cars were getting high in miles and replacing them
all at the same time wouldn’t be feasible for us financially… So Greg began to
look at different options for replacing our smaller vehicle… After a few months
of looking we did find a good deal on a car with good gas mileage… We were so
grateful that now we could have one newer very reliable car.
That brings me to the
present… On the 23rd of December Greg, most of the kids and I, and a
close friend went down to the city to give a Christmas party for about 30 kids
at an inner city school. We arrived home and
right before dinner our head pastor called and asked that we all bundle up and
meet him up by the front of church in 10 minutes.
We all got ready and headed
up to church across the snowy parking lot… When we got up to church we were
greeted by the head pastor’s family, a few more close friends, the church
communications director, and a gal that works for a Lutheran Charity organization near
by…
The kids were all asking what was up... and I told them I felt like there must be members coming to Christmas carol to us or something...
The kids were all asking what was up... and I told them I felt like there must be members coming to Christmas carol to us or something...
They had us all lined up by
the door…
And up drove a brand new 2017
Ford Transit van…with a huge red bow on it...
There before us was a gift for our family from a very generous donor… a gift from God… a new van…
It has so many things on it that I would never
think we would have in a car… It is beyond my wildest dream of what I would
think we could ever own…
We were absolutely floored!
It took Greg 5 minutes to pick his jaw up off the floor… I was in tears as well
as a few of the kids…
I was just totally blown
away… How could someone be so very generous?
Why would someone do this? We are
so undeserving of this amazing gift…
And just like that God knocks
our socks off with His continued provision for us… And as usual, it isn’t just
a van that works, but He goes above and beyond to give us so much more than we thought
possible…
I spoke with the donor last
week and the wife said, “We have been so blessed! It is from God, our money is your
money.” And she meant it… She knows that
their financial security is a gift from God and they wanted to share with us what
really has come from HIM… Wow, it seriously reminds me of the early church where everyone shared what they had with those in need... That doesn't happen that often anymore... and most have a very different view of their own money certainly being their own... I was blown away by their amazing view on their finances, their kindness, and their tremendous generosity to us!!!
So I share this not at all to
boast about this gift, that couldn't be further from my heart... I share rather to encourage your hearts…
Don’t ever underestimate the
power of God to do whatever it is that you need him to do… If you feel Him leading you to do something... GO FOR IT! Take that leap of faith... I know HE will be faithful to you, just as I have seen his faithfulness time and time again.
Early on January 1st, I was reflecting on
all the ways He has taken care of us and all that He is to me… He has taken me from broken hearted and redeemed my shattered life...
He is my healer, my comfort, my salvation, my rock, my daily provider.
He is my healer, my comfort, my salvation, my rock, my daily provider.
He will do the same for you…
Save you…
Comfort you…
Heal you…
Be your joy and rock…
And be your PROVIDER!!!
Things certainly don’t always
come to pass as we would think or hope that they might. His ways are certainly not our ways… but His
ways are best for sure…
Rest in the promises of His
love for you… and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt He wants to take care of
you… Never does He leave or forsake us… and so often He will blow us away with
the amazing ways that He takes care of us in the best ways possible for us…
His way…
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