Praising Him through the Doozies
Yesterday was a real doozie of a day:
I went out to my car to go to work and the hard working battery was dead…thanks for 6 years of effort little battery. So I cruised off in the family vehicle. No problem.
I came home to a glum Nicholas. He didn’t get the job he really wanted. He was sad. Crushed. Kisses and hugs, prayers and consolations. How I love that man. It pains my little heart to see him not in good spirits.
As we were getting ready to leave our house our refrigerator started making a really funky noise. I mean a Funky Winkerbean kind of noise. A call to Nicholas’ child hood neighbor gave us some suggestions of what to do. And lo and behold it was fixed!
We are trying to praise God in all things. ALL things. The crappy unexpected things where your heart is crushed and you feel like you can’t breathe. Or the sudden things that could ruin your day. I will praise God in all of those things. I am determined.
I must tell you when Nick was first laid off I was TERRIFIED. To be honest, we only had a few hundred dollars in our savings account. Yikes. You can’t survive for very long on that much. But that money has grown. Seriously it has, I'm not just bad at math. Money doesn’t just grow on its own you know? God has made that money grow. There is no doubt in my mind. Now in all honesty we don’t have money just oozing out around us. But we are okay for now.
God has provided in ways we had never thought possible:
Monetarily we have been blessed by friends and family over the past months. We’ve found money left in trash cans for us, checks slid over the table at casual lunches, and a simple gift of cash just given without being expected. We weren’t looking for such gifts but God has pulled on these people’s heartstrings to give, and they obeyed.
We’ve also had an abundance of bills that were lower than expected. Credits showing up that make no sense and things that we know God was behind.
In other ways of being blessed our friends and family have been working overtime to make sure we are refreshed and provided for. Watching the kids so Nick can job hunt or study has been such an enormous blessing. Babysitters so Nick and I can go and window shop or get a cup of coffee, just the two of us, has meant more than you’ll ever know. Seriously, Nick and I are strong but umemployment kind of just sucks the life out of a marriage. Its times like those that help us to stay strong and puts wind in our sails to fight together and not one another. Chicago Bears tickets, paying for meals, taking us out to dinner, bringing a bottle of wine for a night of cards, gifts for the children…all of those things bring tears to my eyes that we have been blessed with all of you.
And we now have fairies. We have a diaper fairy, a chicken fairy, a meat fairy, a wipes fairy, a Christmas shoes fairy. Most of these fairies are Nick’s mom who without I don’t think we would make it at all. But to know we have people in our lives we can call and they will help makes us feel as though we are going to be okay. It reminds us of God’s love because we see it in these people.
I don’t tell you all of this for you to think “geesh they are down and out” or “I need to help more”. Please don’t think that way at all. Rather I want this time to be a testimony to God’s power.
All of these things remind us and encourage us that God is in control and provides for us…constantly. So when I have a doozie of a day I can take solace in knowing God will pull us through. Just look at what he has done this far. And when thinking of all the ways he has helped us doesn’t perk me up I simply lift my eyes. I look at the hottie of a husband I have and the two amazing children. God has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams. I can look higher up and see the sky: the vastness of God’s power and beauty. And I know, I KNOW, he holds the future.