So thankful . . .

Not just an ordinary old truck . . .

Don't you love it when God uses ordinary things in our world to demonstrate His love for us? It's just an old truck . . . for a few days last week we thought it had a blown head gasket, and that it might have been cheaper to replace the whole engine than get to the problem.

There were stages in our reactions. Although we knew God was in charge, we had been asking for confirmation of something big in our lives, and we started out by asking ourselves if this was God saying "no".  Okay, I'll admit it. We doubted! We knew that the fear and confusion we were tempted to feel did not come from God. So we just waited. While we waited, we learned a new appreciation for our truck as the children and I walked to the places we needed to get to.

We thought the truck was "dead" After an entire work week, when I got home on Friday at 5:15 pm, there was a phone message from Sheri at our mechanic's garage that we could come and pick the truck up. Our agreement had been that they would fix the radiator, and by taking it out, Mark would then be able to see if the head gasket was cracked or blown. Then they would call us to decide the next tactic. But this message addressed none of that - just said "Come and get your truck . . ."

We were going to a picnic up in Pleasantville at our friend's house on Saturday. So we waited until then to pick up the truck so that we didn't waste a trip. Oh, the anticipation! It sounded like the truck was totally fixed, but was there a message on the seat?

What would have been previously upsetting (a bill for $600.00) had become a true joy, when we discovered that the gasket was not blown and the truck was good to go.

Here's my spiritual application  and why I am blogging again after so long . . . if we were that GLAD that an old truck we had was thought to be "dead" and was now "alive", how much more glad should we be that Jesus died and is now alive?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How overjoyed should we be that we were once dead and are now alive in Jesus!!!!!

Often times, we get so bogged down in life's cares that we forget the truth that really matters!! I hope this encourages you in your day to day walk! Look around and see past the cares to some of our hidden blessings on this earth, as well as our promised future with the One who gave His life so that we could also live!  

We appreciate our truck so much now! I call her our "pretty, pretty". It's amazing how God can use something "bad" to correct our attitudes and remind us that everything we have is a blessing from Him!

 

"He is not here, He has risen, just as He said!"  Matthew 28:6

 

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life!"  Romans 6: 4

 

 

Did you ever think about how big God is?

Did you ever think that a "yes" answer to my prayer often means a "no" answer to someone else's prayer? Take adoption, for instance . . .  One mama's prayer for blessing to adopt a certain little child, if answered, might mean that another mama gets disappointed with the answer she receives. One delay in the timing of a family's approval might mean that God was protecting them from an even bigger glitch or problem down the road. Maybe if that delayed family had travelled when THEY thought they should have, they would have been caught up in a dangerous situation or the SAARS outbreak.

But that's just adoption. Think about all the prayers of all types for all the situations for all the believers who pray, and how everyone's lives intersect here and there behind the scenes. Think about prayer in terms of the entire globe! And then know that:

" My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.
   He will not allow your foot to be moved.
   He Who keeps you will not slumber . . ."     Psalm 121:3

and

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."                               Romans 8:28 

You might think about this subject, like I do, but we cannot totally understand how big God is, how He never makes mistakes, we don't wait because He is "busy" with someone else, we wait for our own good. So, folks, God is behind EVERY prayer situation, answers all of them in the way that is best according to His plan, whether we can see that plan or not, and never makes a mistake or a poor judgment.

What is your mountain you need to climb today? Is there a situation that tempts you to fear or worry? Have you ever tried to "manipulate" an answer to prayer to be the one you want? Got your heart set on something? I do. Let's give our fears, our worries and our desires to God. He knows them already!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ . . ."

Our God loves us, He's BIG, and He's got every prayer request in the whole world under control!!!!
So don't be afraid to add yours! As big

as He is, He also calls us by name and considers us precious!

What a boy will do for his first popsicle . . .

 Does this little man look like he had one root canal, two crowns, four fillings, six extractions and three stiches just hours ago?!!!  What a brave kid! Seriously, though, we are praising God for His watch care and for His timing. We brought him home just in time to protect his adult teeth. I can't help but wonder if he had stayed in China and his mouth started to hurt worse and worse, what could have been done? The surgeon says that with reasonable care from now on that there is no reason his permanent teeth should not be strong and healthy. Yahoo! Only four of his permanent teeth were already in (the 4 in the very back) and they were filled with white fillings that should last a lifetime.
After eating applesauce, two pancakes and some water and juice, he asked to go to school tomorrow . . . ah, no, he's staying home with dad one more day whether he needs to or not!

 These are my birthday candles - one from YiLi and one from Sam. How could I possibly decide which one to burn first, so we have been lighting both of them in the evenings.  Very sweet and romantic!

Ah, spring! I was so very proud of YiLi as she volunteered to allow Sam to take turns with her on HER bike, since he does not yet have his own. Considering that having a little brother join us has been, shall we say, a challenge for YiLi, I believe this is very kind and commendable.  She has the love of Christ shining through her! In her own prayer one night she prayed "Jesus, please help me not to be jealous of Sam forever." We should take lessons from our children . . .

Oh, yes, Sam very much enjoyed his first popsicle. He chose orange.

I am a big boy now!

Today was Sam's 2nd day of kindergarten. He liked today just as much as he liked yesterday! For some reason, I am not able to upload any pictures to my blog. I am hoping to figure this out soon, so that I can show you the pics I shot today of him at his school! Stay tuned . . .