God's Unexpected Blessings

I had a very humbling thing happen today. I was out grocery shopping with Anne. She was acting pretty good considering she wasn't feeling good.  After getting all our food, we were standing in the checkout.  The lady standing behind us only had a few things, so I asked her if she wanted to go ahead of us. At first, she said, "no" because I had a little one but I insisted. I had a WIC voucher and I know those can sometimes take extra time.

I didn't expect what would happen next. When I got to the cashier,she said the lady in front of me insisted that she give me her change.  The cashier actually said, "I guess there are good people in the world."  Wow. I was shocked. I told the cashier to save it for someone more in need but the cashier said the lady made her promise to give it to me.

I wish Anne was old enough to understand the kindness that was showed to us.  I didn't count it until I had met Steve for dinner at Sears. I figured it was just a few dollars.  It was $83 and change.

I definitely plan to pay it forward.

We are so Blessed

If there is one thing that I have learned in the last year, it would be the value of friendship.  Some friendships come and go but there are some friends that stick with you through the good times and the bad.  Some friends will walk away when things get tough, but others run towards you when you feel like the world around you in falling in.

We know that we are blessed with some amazing friends and a spectacular family.  I'm so glad that we got to spend some time with them this weekend.  The amount of people that have called or emailed us offering to give us things for our baby or for our garage sale or to partner with us in our ministry has been humbling.  It really is humbling to see God use His people to provide for your needs when you feel so unworthy.  This has been a year of a great change and great anxiety, but God has continued to show that He is still there and He continues to provide for everything we have needed.  We have learned new lessons this year about where to put our trust and our hope.  Our trust and our hope is planted firmly in Christ.  We look forward to what's next.

Our beautiful rainbow is going to be so blessed and such a loved baby because of God's amazing people. 

Bible Study - Grieving God's Way: Friday Check-in

Study: Grieving God's Way

Day 12: "Almost every dieter hits wall.  Days, even weeks, go by without any noticeable loss of wieght.  It's enough to make you want to sink your teeth into the nearest candy bar.  Those of us in grief hit the same kind of wall.  We reach a point where we seem to be stuck in depression and it looks like things are never going to improve.  Whether we call this a wall or plateau, it's God's way.

The grief plateau or dieter's wall serves a useful purpose - this slowing down allows the body to adjust to the many physical and emotional changes taking place.  Whether a person shoots up a foot, loses ten pounds, or is traumatized by loss, the brain must make adjustments to accommodate the changes.

Emotions are as taxing to the body as physical exertion. Grief changes how a person breathes, behaves, and even thinks - and this is reflected in speech, movement, and outlook.  The brain can't possibly process this all at once, so we shut down.  We become more reclusive to prevent outside stimili from interfering with the work of the brain. It feels like we are buried in a hole, but in reality we are in God's protective care."

Faith comes to us in the quiet moments and healing takes time.  You may think you are making no progress and are stuck in grief, but God is preparing our body and soul for the next stage of healing.

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VOTD: Job 37:14 - "Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God."

Feel free to respond.

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Question of the Day:

1) When was the last time you stopped and saw something or somewhere that can only be described as "wondrous work of God?

Divine Appointments

My former pastor called Divine Appointments those times when God brings people together in surprising ways to meet a need.  Have you ever met someone and they said or did the exact right thing that you needed at that moment?  You knew that God had to be in it.  Time and time again God leads Christians and sometimes non-Christians together to cross another person's path and great things happen.  My last year has been filled with Divine Appointments.

I have always loved the month of November because it's a month to give thanks.  This year I find myself thanking God for my loving husband, my amazing friends, and an online group of ladies that I have never met in person.  This Spring I stepped out of my comfort zone and joined an online group.  I'm usually a pretty private person, so getting my story out there was hard.  I have found nothing but love and support from this group and I hope that I have given love and support back.

Today, I logged in to the group and what I found did not surprise me.  This year has been hard. 2012 will be a year that we will always remember.  We have not been very open about why today is significant in our lives, but of the few people that do know no one remembered, but this group did.

Here are just a few of the messages that I got today.

• "This am as I was driving the little girl I nanny for to school I saw a sign that said Wycliffe (I think it was the subdivision) and it made me think of you. On the way back to their house after dropping her off I had the sense that I was supposed to pray for you. So while driving I started to pray for you!"
   
  
• Extra ((((HUGS)))) for you today.
   
•  I have been thinking and praying for you extra this week, especially today. I hope that the day is kind to you. I am sending you so many (((hugs)).
  
• More here, honey! Big, huge, squishy HUGS!
  
• Extra hugs to you today dear! I hope the day is kind to you.
  
• Even more bigger hugs your way!  *hugs Bethelgal extra tight*

I believe in Divine Appointments.  I believe these wonderful ladies were brought into my life at the exact time that I needed them.  This is not a group that you volunteer to join, but it's a group that is a god-send and we were all brought together at the perfect time. 

10 Things Tuesday: My Favorite Foods

This weeks 10 things are my favorite foods.  Oh, the simple joys of life.

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV) 

 "And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food."Genesis 1:29 (ESV)

Here are just a few:

1. Corn
2. Frozen Yogurt
3. Fruit Strawberries/ Bananas
4. Chili
5. Fried eggs and Bacon
6. Milk
7. Lasagna
8. Cheese
9. Chocolate Cupcakes
10. Potatoes

10 Things Tuesday: My Blessings

There are things that happen to you in life that make you wake up and realize the things that are really important.  They  make you stand up and count your blessings.  I have so much to thank God for.  If I allow pain and stress to make me forget, then I've given the Devil a foothold in my life.  He would love that wouldn't he?
So instead, today I choose to count my blessings.

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.
John 1:16 NIV

Here are just a few:

1. My Amazing Husband
2. My Mom and Dad
3. My Sisters, Erin and Melinda
4. My Brother, Andrew
5. My Aunt Honey, my Grammie, and my best friend, Shere
6. The best friends anyone could ask for
7. These precious girls make me smile.
8. These incredible people are my family.
9. Lizzy Ann Hostetler! The bestest friend in the world.
10. My Oasis friends.  I miss you guys!