I truly believe that all things are a compound in one. Blessings can/are trials and trials are (contain within them) blessings. Even though that is true, in my experience, Heavenly Father doesn't stop at giving us the blessing within the trial, but continues beyond that and loads blessing upon blessing into our lives when we pass through "trials" trying to keep our eyes on Him and seeking always to do His Will. Seriously awesome, good, kind, and over-generous stuff to my way of thinking! And that is descriptive of our God! :)
In my experience and comparing my life to the analogy of the orchard-man in the Bible... the trials of my life are the times of pruning. The pruning is necessary at those times because those times happen to be the oppropriate "season" in the development of my "tree-self" for them. The trials are the cutting away of certain places of my tree-self which result in either humbling and/or refining (usually AND! ^_^). I often, if not always, see how the "pruning" work is really necessary because of how hugely imperfect I am. Ever more and more I can see how the pruning is changing me to become a more productive and better individual in the whole orchard that I may provide more and better fruits for my "orchard-man." And these times of pruning are truly and hugely necessary. Whether I pass through with stellar performance (keeping my eye on Christ and striving with all my might to be as He is) or sub-par, Heavenly Father provides solace, comfort, and blessings so long as I've been striving in Christ, regardless of my actual performance.
I told you about the full van load of blessings the Lord gave me through my dear friend just this past Saturday.
Well, yesterday He gave more! Truly pouring out the blessings!
I've been feeling VERY urgent about preparing our 7 day kits. We have 72 hour kits (minus cash in small bills and quarters... working on that!), but building thos kits up by 4 more days is a rather big task to my small mind - considering our very small income currently! One thing I've been worrying my little head about is the entertainment issue of children in emergency situations. Silly, you may think... but we've been through some stressful situations just at home, and let me tell you... some "new" things to do are SUCH a relief and blessing! Games. Color books. Books. You know the drill. Well, among all the gifts my friend gave us are loads of new-to-us books. I will sneak some away to our 7 days kits! YEAY!!
Yesterday, a dear sister in my ward family gave me a bag of wonderful school supplies. Among the supplies I was blessed to find more than SIX new card games. Among those were GO FISH, OLD MAID, and more! I've snuck them off to load into the 7 day kits! God IS Great!!!
Another sweet sister gave us a bag of girls shoes. Awesome! God is THE provider! I just noticed among the bags of clothes my friend gave me on Saturday are shoes for Ria... sneakers in the size she needs! I've been worrying my little head over that lately... when I should not, for I have had enough witness that the Lord will provide for ALL our needs. Not just some. ALL!!!! Praise God, my Father in Heaven. We are so very blessed to be loved by Him who loves us without condition!
Why all of these blessings? I'm certainly not deserving and I recognize this truth poignantly. I must stipulate that truth which I acknowledge and declare first. Yet, I've done better in and through our more recent series of trials than ever before. I love that I can see my personal progress by way of the mile markers of my trials! The trials? Here are some of them, starting with the tougher and moving down the list: the job at Capt's Tavern. That was a huge trial for me as well as (obviously) for Jessie. When he suffers, I suffer. And though I listen and advise, I cannot MAKE him do what is best. He must. So, in essence, I end up in a rather powerless position, which is excruciatingly painful and difficult for me. Kat, Tea, and I being ill. My Grampa Storms dying. Worrying about my Mom (that was her Dad who died). Worrying about my neice who was ill and had 2 febrile seizures within 24 hours. Unemployment. Uneremployment (which continues). No success in finding host families for the foreign exchange students I've committed to find placements for. And, of course, there are the constant and necessary stressors of: being a Mama. Homeschooling. Maintaining our home. Entertaining. Visiting Teaching. etc. etc. etc. These are all just part of life and living. Yet they combine and compound at times. We must endure... AND endure it WELL! Although I could always do better... I did better than I've ever done. And the blessings have come pouring out to us. We are SO grateful! God IS Great!!!!!
Showing posts with label windows of heaven. Show all posts
Showing posts with label windows of heaven. Show all posts
Monday, May 16, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The Windows of Heaven
I wished for bowls. We don't have enough for our family (we have 3 ceramic and 1 plastic), much less than enough if we were to have guests and serve something that should appear in a bowl (like soup).
I wished for silverware. We've got just enough for guests... so long as the family we've invited to join us to dine is not "too" large. And if you know me, you know that I do NOT think any family is too large... but when you have a limited number of _____ and you want to have a family over... you need enough of ____ for each additional person you desire to welcome.
I've realized quite often lately that we do not have enough glasses from which to drink for guests. We totally make do. I finally gave up feeling embarrassed that I was directing my sister and her hubby to use our "canning" glasses as drinkware. But, OH!, how I wished for glasses enough for my family AND guests!
This past winter was not cold. I mean... it was cold for where we live in Florida, but it wasn't as cold as, say, Michigan. I know we have it easy as far as the cold goes. Truly. I DO know! But after a year anywhere, one becomes accustomed to the fluxuations of their clime. When we moved down here, it was November and we thought it was hilarious that people were wearing jackets, coats, etc. We thought AND said to one another, "We'll never need a coat down here! Feel this WEATHER!" HAhaHAha The Lord has His way of humbling us!!! A year later we were wearing jackets with shorts. A year later full on coats and shivering in them (even me!). Another year or so and we went "up north" to visit family and were freezing our Florida acclimated tushies off! Amazing. And then last year. Living without AC all the year through... okay, well, come winter, we moved into living without heat because our central unit no longer functions at all and we were in no way able (especially given the joblessness) to repair it... and probably couldn't have afforded the utility bill had we been able to use the central heat. We did buy a couple space heaters. But folks, it gets COLD when you don't have any heat! Even here. And we found ourselves wishing we had better blankets under which to sort of hibernate the coldest months. Oh, a down comforter would be heavenly, we realized. Oh, how we wished for a down comforter!
We have a few mixing bowls. But not nearly enough for my Sour Dough Starter when I get into propogation mode (like trying to make enough to make a BUNCH of bread in any given week). And I found myself wishing I had some nice serving bowls. How nice it would be to have nice bowls in which to serve things when people came over to eat. How nice it would be to bring a pretty bowl of something to a pot luck dinner at church or someone's house... we (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) have them at least once a month somewhere! Even all the way out here in the "mission field" (read: where not quite as many "Mormons" live relative to the area.)) ;) Oh, it would be lovely to have pretty bowls for food transport and dinner service... and enough bakeware in which to prepare meals that I might bring to those in need... *sigh*
A friend gave me some lovely sheers to hang over a window somewhere in my home. I truly love them. But I didn't have a rod on which to hang them. So, I determined to wait patiently until I could afford the items necessary. She gave them to me. Now I'm simply waiting for Jessie to help me hang them. But after sheers (and especially as we are trying to keep sunlight OUT during the summer to keep the inside of the house cooler), I'll need some heavier curtians and a big rod is necessary to hang that sort of thing. Don't have it. I wish I had a sturdy, pretty rod so that I could hang curtains (which I also hope to have sometime soonish)!
Tea has some great little potties and uses them. But sometimes she really prefers to use the big toilet. In one bathroom that's not really a problem because we have a stool in there, but in the other we do not. I've wished on a few occassions that we had a stool for that bathroom so Tea could transition at her discretion (wihtout nagging Mama and Daddy) to using the big toilet regularly.
Now, all of these thoughts and wishes of my heart did not transpire in the course of one afternoon... or even one week... or even one month. I've had a thought here or there. A little thought would come as almost a whisper to my mind as I would ponder on some thing or other since October 2010.
I think it was Wednesday when a friend of mine from our last neighborhood called, after a year or so!, to see if I might be able to come visit her because they'd sold their vacation home and she was coming to pack up the last things in it and wanted to give me a bunch of clothes and things she didn't want or need anymore. I would've gone out of my way to just go visit her (which, in my perception of reality I sort of did because I completely forgot she wanted to give me stuff and left ALL the orange-ade stuff in the van when I went to visit her! I'm such a goof-ball. I know!). It had been so long since we last talked that she didn't know I had another baby!!! Fun surprise, eh!?? ^_^ heeheehee
Anyway, so we went to visit her. It was a joy to see her, speak with her, and be in her presence. She was lovely and sweet as ever. She fed us and I enjoyed her company very much! In addition to all of that she loaded our van. Seriously full! And among all the lovely and wonderful things: THREE stools and I could easily use any one of them for Tea in the bathroom that did not have one before! She also gave me a really pretty rod for the curtains I'm determined we will get eventually! She gave me bowls in which to serve food at table, serving platters, and glass bakeware. She gave me a full on down comforter in a duvet as well as a smaller throw-type down blanket. She gave me 8 glasses, silverware, and the bowls I'd been wishing for. She also gave me plates of various sizes (ALWAYS useful! especially with children using them and some breaking here and there!) and coffee cups. The list goes on of the wonderful things she gave me and I'm certain I probably had thoughts about them at some point or another. :)
Other than the full-on curtains I mentioned, the Lord has answered every wish of my heart that I can remember thinking in the last 7-8 months PLUS MORE!! all in one fell-swoop via my dear friend and earth angel! God IS Great!!! How awesome is He who knows the wishes of our hearts and answers them in His time and in His way. Our God is an AWESOME God!! Thank you, my friend angel!
Malachi 3:10 "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
Is not this story a relation of the windows if heaven being opened and God pouring our a blessing upon us? I can testify that we are definitely on the verge of not have enough room in which to receive it! :) Our God is an AWESOME God!
I wished for silverware. We've got just enough for guests... so long as the family we've invited to join us to dine is not "too" large. And if you know me, you know that I do NOT think any family is too large... but when you have a limited number of _____ and you want to have a family over... you need enough of ____ for each additional person you desire to welcome.
I've realized quite often lately that we do not have enough glasses from which to drink for guests. We totally make do. I finally gave up feeling embarrassed that I was directing my sister and her hubby to use our "canning" glasses as drinkware. But, OH!, how I wished for glasses enough for my family AND guests!
This past winter was not cold. I mean... it was cold for where we live in Florida, but it wasn't as cold as, say, Michigan. I know we have it easy as far as the cold goes. Truly. I DO know! But after a year anywhere, one becomes accustomed to the fluxuations of their clime. When we moved down here, it was November and we thought it was hilarious that people were wearing jackets, coats, etc. We thought AND said to one another, "We'll never need a coat down here! Feel this WEATHER!" HAhaHAha The Lord has His way of humbling us!!! A year later we were wearing jackets with shorts. A year later full on coats and shivering in them (even me!). Another year or so and we went "up north" to visit family and were freezing our Florida acclimated tushies off! Amazing. And then last year. Living without AC all the year through... okay, well, come winter, we moved into living without heat because our central unit no longer functions at all and we were in no way able (especially given the joblessness) to repair it... and probably couldn't have afforded the utility bill had we been able to use the central heat. We did buy a couple space heaters. But folks, it gets COLD when you don't have any heat! Even here. And we found ourselves wishing we had better blankets under which to sort of hibernate the coldest months. Oh, a down comforter would be heavenly, we realized. Oh, how we wished for a down comforter!
We have a few mixing bowls. But not nearly enough for my Sour Dough Starter when I get into propogation mode (like trying to make enough to make a BUNCH of bread in any given week). And I found myself wishing I had some nice serving bowls. How nice it would be to have nice bowls in which to serve things when people came over to eat. How nice it would be to bring a pretty bowl of something to a pot luck dinner at church or someone's house... we (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) have them at least once a month somewhere! Even all the way out here in the "mission field" (read: where not quite as many "Mormons" live relative to the area.)) ;) Oh, it would be lovely to have pretty bowls for food transport and dinner service... and enough bakeware in which to prepare meals that I might bring to those in need... *sigh*
A friend gave me some lovely sheers to hang over a window somewhere in my home. I truly love them. But I didn't have a rod on which to hang them. So, I determined to wait patiently until I could afford the items necessary. She gave them to me. Now I'm simply waiting for Jessie to help me hang them. But after sheers (and especially as we are trying to keep sunlight OUT during the summer to keep the inside of the house cooler), I'll need some heavier curtians and a big rod is necessary to hang that sort of thing. Don't have it. I wish I had a sturdy, pretty rod so that I could hang curtains (which I also hope to have sometime soonish)!
Tea has some great little potties and uses them. But sometimes she really prefers to use the big toilet. In one bathroom that's not really a problem because we have a stool in there, but in the other we do not. I've wished on a few occassions that we had a stool for that bathroom so Tea could transition at her discretion (wihtout nagging Mama and Daddy) to using the big toilet regularly.
Now, all of these thoughts and wishes of my heart did not transpire in the course of one afternoon... or even one week... or even one month. I've had a thought here or there. A little thought would come as almost a whisper to my mind as I would ponder on some thing or other since October 2010.
I think it was Wednesday when a friend of mine from our last neighborhood called, after a year or so!, to see if I might be able to come visit her because they'd sold their vacation home and she was coming to pack up the last things in it and wanted to give me a bunch of clothes and things she didn't want or need anymore. I would've gone out of my way to just go visit her (which, in my perception of reality I sort of did because I completely forgot she wanted to give me stuff and left ALL the orange-ade stuff in the van when I went to visit her! I'm such a goof-ball. I know!). It had been so long since we last talked that she didn't know I had another baby!!! Fun surprise, eh!?? ^_^ heeheehee
Anyway, so we went to visit her. It was a joy to see her, speak with her, and be in her presence. She was lovely and sweet as ever. She fed us and I enjoyed her company very much! In addition to all of that she loaded our van. Seriously full! And among all the lovely and wonderful things: THREE stools and I could easily use any one of them for Tea in the bathroom that did not have one before! She also gave me a really pretty rod for the curtains I'm determined we will get eventually! She gave me bowls in which to serve food at table, serving platters, and glass bakeware. She gave me a full on down comforter in a duvet as well as a smaller throw-type down blanket. She gave me 8 glasses, silverware, and the bowls I'd been wishing for. She also gave me plates of various sizes (ALWAYS useful! especially with children using them and some breaking here and there!) and coffee cups. The list goes on of the wonderful things she gave me and I'm certain I probably had thoughts about them at some point or another. :)
Other than the full-on curtains I mentioned, the Lord has answered every wish of my heart that I can remember thinking in the last 7-8 months PLUS MORE!! all in one fell-swoop via my dear friend and earth angel! God IS Great!!! How awesome is He who knows the wishes of our hearts and answers them in His time and in His way. Our God is an AWESOME God!! Thank you, my friend angel!
Malachi 3:10 "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
Is not this story a relation of the windows if heaven being opened and God pouring our a blessing upon us? I can testify that we are definitely on the verge of not have enough room in which to receive it! :) Our God is an AWESOME God!
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