Catching Up on Some Praise!

During tax season, I'm a wee bit busy. So I've neglected to stay current about blogging the blessings that have come into our lives recently. Just to back up a little because I don't think I've already posted this, my husband was laid off from his temp job the second week of January. And while we knew he was being converted to a permanent employee on 1/31, that didn't ease my mind about where two weeks of pay was magically going to come from.

Obviously, I prayed and I wish I could honestly say that I prayed enough that Holy Spirit was able to give me "the peace that passes all understanding"...but I didn't. Instead, it looked like it would be a stressful 4 weeks (2 weeks no work & 2 weeks before the first paycheck came). We did have someone tell us that if we needed anything, his resources were at our disposal. That was a comfort, but even though we've been living by God's good grace & provision for over a year now, it IS still very humbling (& sometimes humiliating) to have to actually speak up and ask someone for help.

The interesting thing is we did have to ask for help (not from the one that had offered, because we'd already asked someone else when our friend made the offer). Then to our surprise we received another gift of $100 grocery card & $200 that was just enough to help us buy groceries and still pay some bills that were due. If this was the end of the blessings, it would have been enough to reinstill in me the God will not fail to provide. But...

then someone from church anonymously gave us $80 and that was enough to see us through until my husband & I each received a paycheck and our tax refund arrived. Also, someone donated $50 to cover our teens being able to go to a Lazer Craze overnighter for church.

With our tax check, I was downright giddy to pay bills. This was something new for me so I enjoyed the feeling! It was such a blessing to be able to pay bills without stress and worry. I was thankful to be able to pay our sponsorship for Lazarus for the next year so we don't have to worry where that will come from each month. There's a Christian musician that my husband's been wanting to make a donation too, that we're going to be able to do now. I bought a lunch gift card for a friend that is sacrificially helping her friend in need by watching her friend's children & homeschooling them every day. I'm so impressed by her act of kindness that I want her to be able to take those babies to lunch & have a fun time together. There's also a couple of people that we know need a little help & we've already been thinking of ways to try to do that.

Then, I walked into church today & someone handed me an envelope. Clueless as to what it was, I opened it to find a $200 check that had been donated through the church, two $100 gas cards and three $50 American Express gift cards. WOW! I told my friend, "I'm appreciative, but I don't know what to say." Three hours later...and I still don't.

All the gifts we've given and the plans that we've had to give more, pale in comparison to all the gifts we have been given. I don't share what we're doing to boast. I can't boast because none of it comes from me. I am just a sieve that God pours His blessings into. We're given the privilege of keeping a few pieces for ourselves, but the rest flows out of my life and into others to nourish, enrich and bless them.

I can't even begin to explain why we are receiving this blessing now. What I do know is that it's going to be shared and I'm looking forward to the joy and the fun that will come from being a part of passing the blessing on to someone else. I'm already dreaming!