Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever! I'm so happy i cannot contain myself. I desire to share of God's mercy to ME and a bit to my family. Although I cannot do so in detail about all, i ache to share the detail i am able to share!
This morning, i left for my walk feeling good and hopeful that the heavy clouds would not burst upon me in the way they did on Wednesday. What an eventuful morning walk THAT was... just getting wet and hanging out under a tree as I did. ^_^
Well, i didn't get too far before they started to drip... those dang clouds started wetting me with a mist and then a full on downpour. I was more worried about babygirl getting wet by that horrible first rain... chemtrial rain that is more likely to have lots of the horrible chemicals used by those who desire to poison the earth. So, i took shelter under a tree.
Before i took shelter, though, i must confess that I was less than my best. On my walks i talk to and listen to our Father in Heaven. When it was obvious that the wet was going to be much more than the mist it started out as, i felt upset and told our Father about it. I said, "I feel betrayed. It doesn't normally rain in the morning and i feel betrayed that it isn't held off for me to finish my walk. I know such is possible, but is not being done and i feel betrayed." Soon after i stopped under a tree. It was good shelter and babygirl wasn't getting wet much at all - especially in her sling. She just suckled away and was content.
As I was standing there, i finished griping at Father and began thanking Him. I didn't know what for, but i wanted to thank Him... so i did. Before I got very far, I noticed a car drive by. And then, a moment later, i noticed the same car driving back toward me in reverse. When parallel to me, the driver (a woman in workout attire), holding up an umbrella verbally offered it to me. I was a little shocked, but very happy and even more thankful. I asked if there was some way i could return it to her, she said no, i took it and she drove away.
If I'd had to wait for the rain to abate, I would've been standing under that tree for at least 15 minutes. Praise the Lord for providing me a way to continue my walk with Him! ^_^
Even now i feel some of the swellings in my heart that i felt in the moment. SUCH gratitude and Love. Some of it is my own (especially the gratitude), but most of the Love is me feeling what Father was communicating to me for and about me. How awesome! And although I am special and dear to Him, I am no more so than you! He loves us all exactly the same, though still differently! ^_^ I felt chastened, too, and blessed and SO Loved.
Our Father is EVER Faithful. It is our challenge, seperated from Him as we are by the veil of forgetfulness, to be Faithful to Him!
The other thing is something I've been praying over for weeks. I've been so worried and even tearful during prayer to Father about this other thing. More recently I began to hear that something pertinent to the issue over which I have been praying would appear before the end of the month (August). Even more recently, I heard that a piece of the puzzle that I need will be provided on August 26th. Well, I received a call about an hour ago that communicated to me that the puzzle piece i do not have, but need, may well be provided on Monday (OR BEFORE).
Praise the Lord, for His Mercy Endureth Forever!!!! Our God is a MIGHTY God!
Showing posts with label miracle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label miracle. Show all posts
Friday, August 23, 2013
Sunday, December 26, 2010
A Very Merry and totally Miraculous Christmas!
It all started back in late October or sometime in early November. Projecting our finances, especially after the demotion at River Grille on The Tomoka, I knew we wouldn't be able to afford our "regular" $10 gift Christmas (giving each person $10 to spend on each other person in our little family). While our norm is really quite reasonable, when you do not have enough coming in, there isn't anything else to go out!
While, in truth, this was at first sort of depressing to me, I came up with a plan that was exciting to me and would include wonderful lessons for our whole family... The plan? To allocate only $50 ($10 each), which would be a stretch but much easier than the alternative, and spend it on gift certificates which we would then give to individuals at the homeless camp near-ish our home. When we discussed this plan as a family, the girls were, at first, sort of disappointed about not getting any presents themselves, but then they caught the vision and were excited about giving to those who need so much more than we. Ria even came up with a plan to have an art show to sell their art work so that they could have more money to buy gifts for those in need. Jess agreed with the plan.
Unbeknownst to me, Jess began to reconsider our family agreement. He was trying to figure out ways he could have gifts to give our girls on Christmas. Then he was fired from RG and he became, it seems to me, even more anxious to provide gifts for the girls even though the way for him to do so in and of ourselves was even more impossible. All this without telling me a thing about his thoughts or feelings.
Then, one day in early December he received a phone call from our midwife. He was out grocery shopping. She told him about an organization that chooses 100 Chef's in the area each year and then provides gifts for theChef's children. (My midwife did not know Jess had been fired from RG.) Jess told me he was in shock when he heard her tell him this and then ask if she could submit wish lists for our girls. He thanked her while on the phone, but the magnitude of the magnitude of the blessing only hit him when he got to his car, where he promptly began to shed tears of gratitude.
He came home and told me all about it. I felt angry at first (because he started by telling me he'd been trying to think of how to get gifts for the girls), but as I listened I became aware of the blessing and miracle. My reaction: "You know this is not about our girls. This is about YOU. This is a gift from Father to YOU for our girls because He knows your heart and the wishes of it and He wants to show you that He loves you and that you are worthy in His sight." I think Jessie heard me this time.... He acknowledged the truthfulness of what I said, at least.
There's more.
My Ward family (earth angels, in my sight) gave us gift certificates to use at Wal-Mart for the girls. A lot of them.
There's more.
A really sweet family in our Ward was given dresses (just about the sizes of our daughters), which they wrapped and gave to our girls as well as a matching shirt for Mama. Then, Christmas Eve that same thoughtful family came over to deliver gifts for the girls (2 each, I believe, plus a few gifts for all three)! A whole family of earth angels, that!
So, our Christmas Tree, when we moved all the gifts to places around it, was so very FULL of gifts.... More full than any Christmas I can remember from my childhood... and I have 5 siblings! More full than any Christmas Jess can recall (though he does have only one sib). The only "match" for this Christmas is the Christmas Jessie's sister Anni visited and my sweet, dear friend Heather came to deliver more than 3 large black garbage bags full of presents for our family on Christmas Eve back in 2008 (I think).... We are so very blessed!!!
Now, some might consider all this story a series of sweet coincidences. Some might write it off to synchronicity. Others might say it's a chance collaboration of unlikely events. Another might say it's luck, or a happy accident, fate, or some other such verbal "write off" of what is REALLY miraculous. You see, to see miracles, I have learned, it takes an Eye of Faith. It requires Spiritual Eyes, which are only ever opened BY Fiath, to see what can not be seen by those who would name away that which is plainly seen through Faith... who would close their eyes to what is real and readily before us, but easily explained away. Yes, it IS easy to explain away! I used to do it. Jess has only recently stopped! But let's call a miracle a miracle and open our dimmed eyes to see the fine threads, invisible without Faith, of Father's awesome plan. Let's see them as they intertwine and combine to create this magnificent tapestry we live, it makes up our lives! God's got it! For sure. Let Go, Let God. He will bring so much more than we can provide, if we'll just WAIT ON THE LORD in ALL things!
And so, seeing with my Spiritual Eyes, opened by Faith, I proclaim that THIS, my friends... this Christmas is for Jessie (as well as our daughters, of course... and for me, too, I'm sure, but I just feel SO much that it's FOR Jessie most of all cause it's the wishes and hopes of HIS heart that was answered upon the heads and into the hearts of our children!). Do you see how the Lord loves him?? And our Father loves us ALL this way!!! Isn't His Love amazing??!!!?? The way our AWESOME God knows the wishes and hopes of our heart and manifests them in the world when we are simply TRYING to live as He would have us do to the best of our ability at any given time!??!!
Our God is a personal God. He knows us as individuals and Loves us no matter what. He knows what we are capeable of right now... as well as what we MAY do in the future if we'll just submit to Him and His knowledge and His guidance and do our best understanding of His Will! And He blesses us so tremendously for our pitiful and puny efforts to be like our Dear Savior, Jesus Christ. I must confess Christ in all things. We are commanded to do so and so I do: This is ALL from Him and we are SO VERY THANKFUL!!! We are so thankful to those who have acted as instruments in His hands to bless our lives, to bring such temporal manifestations of God's Love into our world this Christmas. THANK YOU!!!!
Thank you, God.
Merry MERRY Christmas! I hope His Birthday was a lovely day for you and yours and that some of the wishes and hopes of YOUR heart were manifest in this temporal and saddly fallen world of ours! :)
This is my truth. This is my testimony. And I bear this, my testimony, in the name of our Savior and Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. AMEN!
While, in truth, this was at first sort of depressing to me, I came up with a plan that was exciting to me and would include wonderful lessons for our whole family... The plan? To allocate only $50 ($10 each), which would be a stretch but much easier than the alternative, and spend it on gift certificates which we would then give to individuals at the homeless camp near-ish our home. When we discussed this plan as a family, the girls were, at first, sort of disappointed about not getting any presents themselves, but then they caught the vision and were excited about giving to those who need so much more than we. Ria even came up with a plan to have an art show to sell their art work so that they could have more money to buy gifts for those in need. Jess agreed with the plan.
Unbeknownst to me, Jess began to reconsider our family agreement. He was trying to figure out ways he could have gifts to give our girls on Christmas. Then he was fired from RG and he became, it seems to me, even more anxious to provide gifts for the girls even though the way for him to do so in and of ourselves was even more impossible. All this without telling me a thing about his thoughts or feelings.
Then, one day in early December he received a phone call from our midwife. He was out grocery shopping. She told him about an organization that chooses 100 Chef's in the area each year and then provides gifts for theChef's children. (My midwife did not know Jess had been fired from RG.) Jess told me he was in shock when he heard her tell him this and then ask if she could submit wish lists for our girls. He thanked her while on the phone, but the magnitude of the magnitude of the blessing only hit him when he got to his car, where he promptly began to shed tears of gratitude.
He came home and told me all about it. I felt angry at first (because he started by telling me he'd been trying to think of how to get gifts for the girls), but as I listened I became aware of the blessing and miracle. My reaction: "You know this is not about our girls. This is about YOU. This is a gift from Father to YOU for our girls because He knows your heart and the wishes of it and He wants to show you that He loves you and that you are worthy in His sight." I think Jessie heard me this time.... He acknowledged the truthfulness of what I said, at least.
There's more.
My Ward family (earth angels, in my sight) gave us gift certificates to use at Wal-Mart for the girls. A lot of them.
There's more.
A really sweet family in our Ward was given dresses (just about the sizes of our daughters), which they wrapped and gave to our girls as well as a matching shirt for Mama. Then, Christmas Eve that same thoughtful family came over to deliver gifts for the girls (2 each, I believe, plus a few gifts for all three)! A whole family of earth angels, that!
So, our Christmas Tree, when we moved all the gifts to places around it, was so very FULL of gifts.... More full than any Christmas I can remember from my childhood... and I have 5 siblings! More full than any Christmas Jess can recall (though he does have only one sib). The only "match" for this Christmas is the Christmas Jessie's sister Anni visited and my sweet, dear friend Heather came to deliver more than 3 large black garbage bags full of presents for our family on Christmas Eve back in 2008 (I think).... We are so very blessed!!!
Now, some might consider all this story a series of sweet coincidences. Some might write it off to synchronicity. Others might say it's a chance collaboration of unlikely events. Another might say it's luck, or a happy accident, fate, or some other such verbal "write off" of what is REALLY miraculous. You see, to see miracles, I have learned, it takes an Eye of Faith. It requires Spiritual Eyes, which are only ever opened BY Fiath, to see what can not be seen by those who would name away that which is plainly seen through Faith... who would close their eyes to what is real and readily before us, but easily explained away. Yes, it IS easy to explain away! I used to do it. Jess has only recently stopped! But let's call a miracle a miracle and open our dimmed eyes to see the fine threads, invisible without Faith, of Father's awesome plan. Let's see them as they intertwine and combine to create this magnificent tapestry we live, it makes up our lives! God's got it! For sure. Let Go, Let God. He will bring so much more than we can provide, if we'll just WAIT ON THE LORD in ALL things!
And so, seeing with my Spiritual Eyes, opened by Faith, I proclaim that THIS, my friends... this Christmas is for Jessie (as well as our daughters, of course... and for me, too, I'm sure, but I just feel SO much that it's FOR Jessie most of all cause it's the wishes and hopes of HIS heart that was answered upon the heads and into the hearts of our children!). Do you see how the Lord loves him?? And our Father loves us ALL this way!!! Isn't His Love amazing??!!!?? The way our AWESOME God knows the wishes and hopes of our heart and manifests them in the world when we are simply TRYING to live as He would have us do to the best of our ability at any given time!??!!
Our God is a personal God. He knows us as individuals and Loves us no matter what. He knows what we are capeable of right now... as well as what we MAY do in the future if we'll just submit to Him and His knowledge and His guidance and do our best understanding of His Will! And He blesses us so tremendously for our pitiful and puny efforts to be like our Dear Savior, Jesus Christ. I must confess Christ in all things. We are commanded to do so and so I do: This is ALL from Him and we are SO VERY THANKFUL!!! We are so thankful to those who have acted as instruments in His hands to bless our lives, to bring such temporal manifestations of God's Love into our world this Christmas. THANK YOU!!!!
Thank you, God.
Merry MERRY Christmas! I hope His Birthday was a lovely day for you and yours and that some of the wishes and hopes of YOUR heart were manifest in this temporal and saddly fallen world of ours! :)
This is my truth. This is my testimony. And I bear this, my testimony, in the name of our Savior and Risen Lord, Jesus Christ. AMEN!
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Waiting on the Lord
I know I've already shared my sense of dreading the drive north. Perhaps dread is too mellow a word. hmmm Well, I think that dread may be correct for the drive north... but there must needs be a stronger descriptor for the return trip since we'll be doing 12+ hours without much break (so we can go to the temple the day after we get home, of course! as per our standing plans at this point).
Well, I was sharing the good news of the trip with a friend from the homeschool PE group. She immediately asked if I would like to borrow her portable DVD player. At first I said no because I was worried about borrowing such equipment, but the more she talked about it, the more I thought it really might be helpful... especially on the return trip. So, I agreed to happily and thankfully borrow it.
My friend brought the equipment over a couple hours later with a bin of a bunch of DVDs (among them many we haven't seen). I felt overwhelmed by her generosity of the offer to let us borrow the DVD player alone, but then when she brought movies too... well, I was tickled, for sure. As we were talking about things, my friend's daughter said something like, "We hope you'll enjoy your new system." (Or something really similar.) I corrected her and said, "We will certainly enjoy borrowing YOUR system!" Then her Mom, my friend, said, "Oh no! Jesus told me when I was packing it all up that it was yours. So, it's yours!" That alone is pretty amazing and wonderful. But there is more.
Jessie came home and I was excited to show him the family Christmas gift from one of our PE friends. He was well pleased and reminded me that the system we'd been given was the same one he was looking at and wanted to buy for the girls for Christmas last year. I had COMPLETELY forgotten about that, but totally remembered it when he reminded me. There is someone else who totally remembered without a reminder! And HE gave it to Jessie/us in His own due time. I told Jessie, "All we have to do is wait on the Lord." And it's completely true. I know it. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know us as individuals. They know what we need temporally and what we need spiritually and they give us that which they know we need. I'm so grateful for this knowledge and another testament of it in a joyous miracle! I hope you will rejoice with me in knowing, especially, that Tori is less likely to arrive completely off her rocker to her multiple destinations. ;)
Well, I was sharing the good news of the trip with a friend from the homeschool PE group. She immediately asked if I would like to borrow her portable DVD player. At first I said no because I was worried about borrowing such equipment, but the more she talked about it, the more I thought it really might be helpful... especially on the return trip. So, I agreed to happily and thankfully borrow it.
My friend brought the equipment over a couple hours later with a bin of a bunch of DVDs (among them many we haven't seen). I felt overwhelmed by her generosity of the offer to let us borrow the DVD player alone, but then when she brought movies too... well, I was tickled, for sure. As we were talking about things, my friend's daughter said something like, "We hope you'll enjoy your new system." (Or something really similar.) I corrected her and said, "We will certainly enjoy borrowing YOUR system!" Then her Mom, my friend, said, "Oh no! Jesus told me when I was packing it all up that it was yours. So, it's yours!" That alone is pretty amazing and wonderful. But there is more.
Jessie came home and I was excited to show him the family Christmas gift from one of our PE friends. He was well pleased and reminded me that the system we'd been given was the same one he was looking at and wanted to buy for the girls for Christmas last year. I had COMPLETELY forgotten about that, but totally remembered it when he reminded me. There is someone else who totally remembered without a reminder! And HE gave it to Jessie/us in His own due time. I told Jessie, "All we have to do is wait on the Lord." And it's completely true. I know it. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know us as individuals. They know what we need temporally and what we need spiritually and they give us that which they know we need. I'm so grateful for this knowledge and another testament of it in a joyous miracle! I hope you will rejoice with me in knowing, especially, that Tori is less likely to arrive completely off her rocker to her multiple destinations. ;)
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Miracles Pouring
So, a mere week and a day ago there was some reason for concern (as well as me talkin' myself back up to faithfulness) and some excitement. There is progress I want to share regarding both.
Before I begin, I hope you will keep in mind throughout that I am sharing much in hopes of relating to you how truly amazing, wonderful and loving I know Heavenly Father is to me and my family. AND how He is a personal Father. He knows us as individuals and meets our needs as we live in Faith... and as we NEED (whether for physical necesity or testimony fortification OR both). There are things we have been dealing with that have been difficult and while I may mention some, I hope you will realize that I do so more to relate how trials are here, too. ;)
I believe I mentioned that we didn't have grocery money for this past week. We didn't. And we didn't spend any money on groceries. Kat asked to go to the grocery store any number of times, which I mention only because I find it really funny! (A kid who WANTS to go to the grocery store?? Obviously, Kat likes to eat.) After I finished my last post I felt a tremendous warmth and peace flow over and through me. I believe I needed to write what I wrote more for me than as any way of sharing our experiences!
Last Sunday we were given a bunch of bananas (about 7 individual bananas), 3 dozen eggs, and a pork shoulder! The combination of eggs (mixed up with some beans to make our bread) and pork made up our "big" meals throughout the week. What an awesome blessing and even miracle for us!
Monday we found out that the sellers of the house we made an offer on signed our offer late Friday night. That same day I was feeling really rough... SUPER tired. We had Family Home Evening in "our new home"! ^_^ It was, perhaps, silly, but we really wanted to start "owning" it! :)
Tuesday evening we found out that the seller's bank ('cause the property is a short sale) countered our offer. That same day I was feeling even more rough and my right boob had started hurting really badly. I went to bed quite early that night with a fever. ... ...the dreaded M... ... mastitis! :( Thankfully I know a "quick" remedy: buffered vitamin C, echinacea, sleep, and lots of nursing the baby on the sore boobie! I wasn't able to sleep as much as would have been best, but the fever broke during the night. My boob still had a fever through Thursday morning, though.
Tuesday we found out that the bank we're using for the mortgage needed 2007 and 2008 W2s. We'd sent those a while back when we first faxed over a ton of info. Jess brought the envelope back after he sent the fax and I proceeded to pack it. Tuesday night I went through the packed boxes TWICE and could not find the W2s. :( Thankfully we've used the same accountant for a few years, so Wednesday Jess called them to ask them to fax the W2s over to him. As the lady was doing that for him, she found a 2007 W2 stuck in with the 2008 tax return stuff. She told him she would be filing an amendment, so we would get a small check (BUT MONEY!) at some point in the future. uuummm... Can you say: YEAY? We sure do! Please remember this happened soon after we've felt very poignantly and upsettingly that we don't know how we're going to pay for all sorts of closing costs and other out of pocket expenses associated with buying this house... and then letting those concerns go because: God's Got It.
By Thursday night Jessie signed the contract and faxed it to our Realtor. As of now, we're waiting to hear that the other parties have signed before we order the appraisal. Amazing, right?! We're excited.
Friday Jess called a friend, who had suggested he might be able to take care of the survey (an out-of-pocket expense), to see if he was serious. He was serious and the only qualifier is that he wants Jess to be there when the survey of the land is done. We definitely have more time than money, so that's do-able! :)
Yesterday was a relatively quiet day (by the standards of the preceeding week!). I was able to finish (FINALLY) Tea's baby blanket and get some work done on her Tigger-doll.
Today a friend came by to deliver a 21 pound turkey and some fixins for Thanksgiving dinner!!! We do actually have grocery money this week, but we won't have to spend near as much (if anything) on meat now. What a HUGE and awsome blessing!!!!! With the food gift she also gave a cash gift, which will bolster our grocery budget very nicely! I may be able to get some plastic wrap! Let me tell you, it's difficult to store things without plastic wrap. ;)
Also today I found out that I may be able, through a gift, to make it to VA for Christmas. I'm afraid to be completely excited about that possibility.... I haven't been able to see my family together since my little sister's wedding. I'm nervous to be excited, but still feel really excited about that possibility! I hope it all works out so I can get up there.
Isn't it amazing? I mean, if we just talk ourselves up to being Faithful... Heavenly Father always is and when we work on our end.... It's just amazing!
I need to add here that I KNOW these things are wonderful and I feel totally loved an blessed... but I'm not special! Heavenly Father isn't favoring me over any one else. He has ready all kinds of similar and even totally different miracles for EVERYONE who comes Faithful to Him. The work we have to do (that I continue to struggle to do from moment to moment) is to remain Faithful and Obedient. How amazingly simple! And totally and completely difficult!! And awesomely, wonderfully, powerfully GOD!
I feel the need to bear witness to the way that Heavenly Father is a Father of intimacy, of individual attention, and of Love. His Love is unconditional. He cannot love me more now than He used to OR more than He loves anyone else because His love is not based on what I do or do not do. I know it. And I bear testimony of it. In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Before I begin, I hope you will keep in mind throughout that I am sharing much in hopes of relating to you how truly amazing, wonderful and loving I know Heavenly Father is to me and my family. AND how He is a personal Father. He knows us as individuals and meets our needs as we live in Faith... and as we NEED (whether for physical necesity or testimony fortification OR both). There are things we have been dealing with that have been difficult and while I may mention some, I hope you will realize that I do so more to relate how trials are here, too. ;)
I believe I mentioned that we didn't have grocery money for this past week. We didn't. And we didn't spend any money on groceries. Kat asked to go to the grocery store any number of times, which I mention only because I find it really funny! (A kid who WANTS to go to the grocery store?? Obviously, Kat likes to eat.) After I finished my last post I felt a tremendous warmth and peace flow over and through me. I believe I needed to write what I wrote more for me than as any way of sharing our experiences!
Last Sunday we were given a bunch of bananas (about 7 individual bananas), 3 dozen eggs, and a pork shoulder! The combination of eggs (mixed up with some beans to make our bread) and pork made up our "big" meals throughout the week. What an awesome blessing and even miracle for us!
Monday we found out that the sellers of the house we made an offer on signed our offer late Friday night. That same day I was feeling really rough... SUPER tired. We had Family Home Evening in "our new home"! ^_^ It was, perhaps, silly, but we really wanted to start "owning" it! :)
Tuesday evening we found out that the seller's bank ('cause the property is a short sale) countered our offer. That same day I was feeling even more rough and my right boob had started hurting really badly. I went to bed quite early that night with a fever. ... ...the dreaded M... ... mastitis! :( Thankfully I know a "quick" remedy: buffered vitamin C, echinacea, sleep, and lots of nursing the baby on the sore boobie! I wasn't able to sleep as much as would have been best, but the fever broke during the night. My boob still had a fever through Thursday morning, though.
Tuesday we found out that the bank we're using for the mortgage needed 2007 and 2008 W2s. We'd sent those a while back when we first faxed over a ton of info. Jess brought the envelope back after he sent the fax and I proceeded to pack it. Tuesday night I went through the packed boxes TWICE and could not find the W2s. :( Thankfully we've used the same accountant for a few years, so Wednesday Jess called them to ask them to fax the W2s over to him. As the lady was doing that for him, she found a 2007 W2 stuck in with the 2008 tax return stuff. She told him she would be filing an amendment, so we would get a small check (BUT MONEY!) at some point in the future. uuummm... Can you say: YEAY? We sure do! Please remember this happened soon after we've felt very poignantly and upsettingly that we don't know how we're going to pay for all sorts of closing costs and other out of pocket expenses associated with buying this house... and then letting those concerns go because: God's Got It.
By Thursday night Jessie signed the contract and faxed it to our Realtor. As of now, we're waiting to hear that the other parties have signed before we order the appraisal. Amazing, right?! We're excited.
Friday Jess called a friend, who had suggested he might be able to take care of the survey (an out-of-pocket expense), to see if he was serious. He was serious and the only qualifier is that he wants Jess to be there when the survey of the land is done. We definitely have more time than money, so that's do-able! :)
Yesterday was a relatively quiet day (by the standards of the preceeding week!). I was able to finish (FINALLY) Tea's baby blanket and get some work done on her Tigger-doll.
Today a friend came by to deliver a 21 pound turkey and some fixins for Thanksgiving dinner!!! We do actually have grocery money this week, but we won't have to spend near as much (if anything) on meat now. What a HUGE and awsome blessing!!!!! With the food gift she also gave a cash gift, which will bolster our grocery budget very nicely! I may be able to get some plastic wrap! Let me tell you, it's difficult to store things without plastic wrap. ;)
Also today I found out that I may be able, through a gift, to make it to VA for Christmas. I'm afraid to be completely excited about that possibility.... I haven't been able to see my family together since my little sister's wedding. I'm nervous to be excited, but still feel really excited about that possibility! I hope it all works out so I can get up there.
Isn't it amazing? I mean, if we just talk ourselves up to being Faithful... Heavenly Father always is and when we work on our end.... It's just amazing!
I need to add here that I KNOW these things are wonderful and I feel totally loved an blessed... but I'm not special! Heavenly Father isn't favoring me over any one else. He has ready all kinds of similar and even totally different miracles for EVERYONE who comes Faithful to Him. The work we have to do (that I continue to struggle to do from moment to moment) is to remain Faithful and Obedient. How amazingly simple! And totally and completely difficult!! And awesomely, wonderfully, powerfully GOD!
I feel the need to bear witness to the way that Heavenly Father is a Father of intimacy, of individual attention, and of Love. His Love is unconditional. He cannot love me more now than He used to OR more than He loves anyone else because His love is not based on what I do or do not do. I know it. And I bear testimony of it. In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
A Dark Cloud Fell
So, I've always (at least as long as I can remember) really admired those who seemed to just HAVE Faith. You know the ones... things happen in their lives that are just not so great and they have all their feathers right in place the whole time. There have been a few that have said they think I have this gift. Unfortunately, I argue that point simply because I know my doubter's heart! Had I been a disciple, we would use the phrase "doubting Tori" not "doubting Thomas"!!! Well, Monday night I asked (again) in prayer for the gift of Faith. Be careful what you ask for really is a good phrase... thus its oft usage. :)
Some sort of important facts to set you up for the story to follow:
I've been worried about where diapers (nights ones for Kat and everyday ones for Tea) would be coming from for about a week and a half. As of tonight Kat has on the last diaper that fits her and I have, maybe, 5 left for Tea. Additionally, and probably BECAUSE of the diaper issue, I've been worried about how to purchase enough groceries for the week (cause we get paid weekly now). Luke, chapter 12 verse 29 comes to mind: "And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind."
On to the Story:
So, yesterday was going to be the best day to get to the temple. Jessie's food class is next Tuesday and I really don't like waiting till the last week of the month to go. Still, I bickered with myself over the trip because of the fund-age issue. We also signed up to have the missionaries scheduled to come for dinner, but I was pretty confident we would be back in plenty of time to finish dinner and feed them especially since I'd done most of the meal prep on Monday night. Finally, I decided to go ahead with the trip, but we ended up leaving about 5 hours later than I initially planned (we normally leave at about 5-5:30am).
Got to the temple just fine. Had a lovely time doing some Initiatories. Finished and plopped down in the main waiting area to read. Sometimes I do this, sometimes I don't. Out comes Brother Recker, my Ward's High Priest Group Leader, heading to man the front desk. He works in the temple once a month. Interesting. So nice to see a familiar face in the temple!
I left the temple and looked for the van as I called Jess. He tells me they're still at the playground, but he'll pack up right away and be right over. No problem. Little longer wait than I expected, but still just fine. Next thing I know he's calling me back to tell me the van won't start. Now, keep in mind Jess had just been to the shop the day before to get a job finished that we'd just had done a week prior. However, the problem he faced at the playground was totally different. He thought it was the fuel pump. The previous problem had been the catalytic converter. He'd tried to repair it himself, but the job required a lift. Something our wonderful home at the beach just doesn't have.
I tell Jess I'll be there as soon as I can and get some directions from him. (I thought it was really close.) I set out walking while I was still talking to him. A little while later he calls me and realizes I'm walking and freaks out a little because he's like 10 miles away and there aren't good sidewalks all the way to him. *sigh* So, I turn around and try to problem solve with him. He's not up for it. So, I get off the phone with him and call our Home Teacher (the one we've had since we moved here) for a suggestion on where to take the van (hopefully). No such luck, but in talking with him, I do realize a couple of actions I CAN take. So, I go back to the temple.
Back at the temple I wait a lot. I was able to speak to Brother Recker about the situation and he was thoughtful and generous in offering to bring us back with him when he finished (at 9:30pm) if we still needed that help. Additionally, after a bit, I was given information on the Transient Bishop. Did you know there was such a thing?? I didn't. What a valuable (ADDITIONAL) service those hardworking, unpaid, leader-guys do!! As I learned, the Transient Bishop alternates among the Bishops in the Stake. Finally, a plan develops to get me to my family. Fernando, a grounds worker, and Joe B., the security guy, take me out to my family at the playground AND THEN THEY WAIT with us until we know what's going on with the van.
While Jess was stuck, he ended up meeting a Grandma with her grandson and chatting with her, sharing a bit about the situation and some of his frustration. Judy, the Grandma, contacted her son who is a mechanic. Chris, Judy's son, arrived at the playground soon after I got there. He and Jess work to try to jimmy-rig a start up for us to get home. It doesn't work, but the Christ-like love Chris showed through his service was READILY apparent. During this time Judy went home (a couple blocks away) and came back with drinks and chips for Jess and the girls. I arrived while she was away. I think she left again and returned, but I'm not sure. In any event, before she left the final time, she hands Jessie something. Jessie hands it to me. A grocery store gift card for... FIFTY dollars! That's a big sum for us... for groceries. That's the total of what we normally spend on groceries in a week during a FULL refrigerator week!!!!! (Full fridge weeks are when we're living posh... not as often occurring as bare fridge weeks, lately. We DO have sufficient for our needs, though! Father is faithful and always makes things last longer than I think they will.) Since I did have SOME money budgeted for groceries for this week, this tremendous gift is going to buy the desired diapers, buy some dish soap (which we're almost out of), two notebooks (needed for record keeping/school stuff) and a bit of food to boot! What a mighty merciful Heavenly Father we have!!! What a marvelous miracle and some silver lining to the black cloud of the van putzing on our Temple trip day.
If it wasn't for this temple trip, I still wouldn't know what to do about diapers and we'd have a really bare fridge. Elder Howard W. Hunter (at the time) said, "It has always been encouraging to me that the Lord said it is the “willing and obedient [who] shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days." (D&C 64:33-34) All of us can be willing and obedient. If the Lord had said the perfect shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days, I suppose some of us would be discouraged and give up." In the conference talk: “Developing Spirituality,” Ensign, May 1979, 24. Yall so totally know I'm not perfect, but I'm willing and REALLY truly trying to be obedient. And I can testify to the fact that Heavenly Father will bless us to '0eat the good of the land' is we do our best. Isn't that what all this is?
The weather was not horrible through all this. But I was worried about the girls spending too much time outside. I thought it would be better for us to have a place to be after the van was towed away (thankfully we have AAA+... up to 100 mile tows are free and it was 88.8 miles from where the van was to our home). So, in speaking to my Transient Bishop, I did ask him to find a place for us to BE until Brother Recker finished his work in the temple (9:30pm). He did find us such a place.
Apparently, this month "my" Bishop is either the Bishop for the area directly surrounding the temple OR the Spanish Ward Bishop, because he has a member who lives in a house RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the temple. Seriously. So, Fernando and Joe drive me with my girls from the playground to the Ordinalo Family's home. WOW. BIG. The family is BIG-hearted and wonderful! They are truly more beautiful than their amazing home!!! Thankfully they have a 7 year old daughter who enjoys young girls because Ria and Kat just had a wonderful time with her! Brother and Sister Ordinalo are gracious and kind. Their children were wonderfully tolerant (especially the youngest).
Brother Recker picks us up from the Ordinalo's home just after 9:30pm and brings us home. The van is sitting ever-so-nicely in the driveway... mocking us? We go to sleep.
TODAY
This morning saw Jessie bring the van to a shop in town (via another tow). There he received a quote for another $300 job. (The previous one was $100). Thankfully, the guys at this shop pushed the van job to the head of the que (because Jess had to be at work by 3pm). It was completed in time for Jess to get to work! Amazing, right? We've paid for the necessary part as well as labor out of our Rent money for October. Not good. But I have to have Faith. Father is faithful, thus must I be! After the marvelous miracles He's made manifest in the last 36 hours, I must keep a firm mind and focus on Faith. I REALLY do want that Gift of the Spirit! I REALLY want to be like Helaman's Son's Mothers... the Mothers who KNEW! *sigh* So, if you think of it, please send up a prayer for us!
Another bit of silver lining is the possibility that this stumbling block may be the pressure Jess needs to have a specific conversation with his employers. This is a GOOD thing. If you think to pray for us, please pray for Jess to speak with the best words to present his case for an increase in pay that truly is deserved.
A NOTE
Recently my "little" sister sent a mail to my girls and me. In it there was a note for my Kitty Kat on a blue cloud with tin-foil around the edge. On the note my sister wrote that she and I had made that cloud and a few others like it many years ago. THAT cloud has been such a blessing to ME (even though it was sent to my daughter)!!! I'm planning to have a FHE about seeing the good during the difficult (training our eyes to SEE) and TRYing to see the glass half-full... and then make more silver lined clouds as a craft during the conversation. My girls seem to listen best when they have something to do. Not always, but often, that seems to be the case. I hope and plan to post and hang these clouds around the house as reminders of my sister's gift AND the need to train our eyes to be the kind that DO see! ^_^
THANK YOU EVELYN!!! I LOVE YOU!
Some sort of important facts to set you up for the story to follow:
I've been worried about where diapers (nights ones for Kat and everyday ones for Tea) would be coming from for about a week and a half. As of tonight Kat has on the last diaper that fits her and I have, maybe, 5 left for Tea. Additionally, and probably BECAUSE of the diaper issue, I've been worried about how to purchase enough groceries for the week (cause we get paid weekly now). Luke, chapter 12 verse 29 comes to mind: "And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind."
On to the Story:
So, yesterday was going to be the best day to get to the temple. Jessie's food class is next Tuesday and I really don't like waiting till the last week of the month to go. Still, I bickered with myself over the trip because of the fund-age issue. We also signed up to have the missionaries scheduled to come for dinner, but I was pretty confident we would be back in plenty of time to finish dinner and feed them especially since I'd done most of the meal prep on Monday night. Finally, I decided to go ahead with the trip, but we ended up leaving about 5 hours later than I initially planned (we normally leave at about 5-5:30am).
Got to the temple just fine. Had a lovely time doing some Initiatories. Finished and plopped down in the main waiting area to read. Sometimes I do this, sometimes I don't. Out comes Brother Recker, my Ward's High Priest Group Leader, heading to man the front desk. He works in the temple once a month. Interesting. So nice to see a familiar face in the temple!
I left the temple and looked for the van as I called Jess. He tells me they're still at the playground, but he'll pack up right away and be right over. No problem. Little longer wait than I expected, but still just fine. Next thing I know he's calling me back to tell me the van won't start. Now, keep in mind Jess had just been to the shop the day before to get a job finished that we'd just had done a week prior. However, the problem he faced at the playground was totally different. He thought it was the fuel pump. The previous problem had been the catalytic converter. He'd tried to repair it himself, but the job required a lift. Something our wonderful home at the beach just doesn't have.
I tell Jess I'll be there as soon as I can and get some directions from him. (I thought it was really close.) I set out walking while I was still talking to him. A little while later he calls me and realizes I'm walking and freaks out a little because he's like 10 miles away and there aren't good sidewalks all the way to him. *sigh* So, I turn around and try to problem solve with him. He's not up for it. So, I get off the phone with him and call our Home Teacher (the one we've had since we moved here) for a suggestion on where to take the van (hopefully). No such luck, but in talking with him, I do realize a couple of actions I CAN take. So, I go back to the temple.
Back at the temple I wait a lot. I was able to speak to Brother Recker about the situation and he was thoughtful and generous in offering to bring us back with him when he finished (at 9:30pm) if we still needed that help. Additionally, after a bit, I was given information on the Transient Bishop. Did you know there was such a thing?? I didn't. What a valuable (ADDITIONAL) service those hardworking, unpaid, leader-guys do!! As I learned, the Transient Bishop alternates among the Bishops in the Stake. Finally, a plan develops to get me to my family. Fernando, a grounds worker, and Joe B., the security guy, take me out to my family at the playground AND THEN THEY WAIT with us until we know what's going on with the van.
While Jess was stuck, he ended up meeting a Grandma with her grandson and chatting with her, sharing a bit about the situation and some of his frustration. Judy, the Grandma, contacted her son who is a mechanic. Chris, Judy's son, arrived at the playground soon after I got there. He and Jess work to try to jimmy-rig a start up for us to get home. It doesn't work, but the Christ-like love Chris showed through his service was READILY apparent. During this time Judy went home (a couple blocks away) and came back with drinks and chips for Jess and the girls. I arrived while she was away. I think she left again and returned, but I'm not sure. In any event, before she left the final time, she hands Jessie something. Jessie hands it to me. A grocery store gift card for... FIFTY dollars! That's a big sum for us... for groceries. That's the total of what we normally spend on groceries in a week during a FULL refrigerator week!!!!! (Full fridge weeks are when we're living posh... not as often occurring as bare fridge weeks, lately. We DO have sufficient for our needs, though! Father is faithful and always makes things last longer than I think they will.) Since I did have SOME money budgeted for groceries for this week, this tremendous gift is going to buy the desired diapers, buy some dish soap (which we're almost out of), two notebooks (needed for record keeping/school stuff) and a bit of food to boot! What a mighty merciful Heavenly Father we have!!! What a marvelous miracle and some silver lining to the black cloud of the van putzing on our Temple trip day.
If it wasn't for this temple trip, I still wouldn't know what to do about diapers and we'd have a really bare fridge. Elder Howard W. Hunter (at the time) said, "It has always been encouraging to me that the Lord said it is the “willing and obedient [who] shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days." (D&C 64:33-34) All of us can be willing and obedient. If the Lord had said the perfect shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days, I suppose some of us would be discouraged and give up." In the conference talk: “Developing Spirituality,” Ensign, May 1979, 24. Yall so totally know I'm not perfect, but I'm willing and REALLY truly trying to be obedient. And I can testify to the fact that Heavenly Father will bless us to '0eat the good of the land' is we do our best. Isn't that what all this is?
The weather was not horrible through all this. But I was worried about the girls spending too much time outside. I thought it would be better for us to have a place to be after the van was towed away (thankfully we have AAA+... up to 100 mile tows are free and it was 88.8 miles from where the van was to our home). So, in speaking to my Transient Bishop, I did ask him to find a place for us to BE until Brother Recker finished his work in the temple (9:30pm). He did find us such a place.
Apparently, this month "my" Bishop is either the Bishop for the area directly surrounding the temple OR the Spanish Ward Bishop, because he has a member who lives in a house RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the temple. Seriously. So, Fernando and Joe drive me with my girls from the playground to the Ordinalo Family's home. WOW. BIG. The family is BIG-hearted and wonderful! They are truly more beautiful than their amazing home!!! Thankfully they have a 7 year old daughter who enjoys young girls because Ria and Kat just had a wonderful time with her! Brother and Sister Ordinalo are gracious and kind. Their children were wonderfully tolerant (especially the youngest).
Brother Recker picks us up from the Ordinalo's home just after 9:30pm and brings us home. The van is sitting ever-so-nicely in the driveway... mocking us? We go to sleep.
TODAY
This morning saw Jessie bring the van to a shop in town (via another tow). There he received a quote for another $300 job. (The previous one was $100). Thankfully, the guys at this shop pushed the van job to the head of the que (because Jess had to be at work by 3pm). It was completed in time for Jess to get to work! Amazing, right? We've paid for the necessary part as well as labor out of our Rent money for October. Not good. But I have to have Faith. Father is faithful, thus must I be! After the marvelous miracles He's made manifest in the last 36 hours, I must keep a firm mind and focus on Faith. I REALLY do want that Gift of the Spirit! I REALLY want to be like Helaman's Son's Mothers... the Mothers who KNEW! *sigh* So, if you think of it, please send up a prayer for us!
Another bit of silver lining is the possibility that this stumbling block may be the pressure Jess needs to have a specific conversation with his employers. This is a GOOD thing. If you think to pray for us, please pray for Jess to speak with the best words to present his case for an increase in pay that truly is deserved.
A NOTE
Recently my "little" sister sent a mail to my girls and me. In it there was a note for my Kitty Kat on a blue cloud with tin-foil around the edge. On the note my sister wrote that she and I had made that cloud and a few others like it many years ago. THAT cloud has been such a blessing to ME (even though it was sent to my daughter)!!! I'm planning to have a FHE about seeing the good during the difficult (training our eyes to SEE) and TRYing to see the glass half-full... and then make more silver lined clouds as a craft during the conversation. My girls seem to listen best when they have something to do. Not always, but often, that seems to be the case. I hope and plan to post and hang these clouds around the house as reminders of my sister's gift AND the need to train our eyes to be the kind that DO see! ^_^
THANK YOU EVELYN!!! I LOVE YOU!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Lessons of Life
Among the many things I'm doing, I joined a new Yahoo!Group recently. It's a group with guidelines for writing stories that have taught the author something that they would like to record for themselves and others. The group, Lessons-of-Life, is open to anyone, but there are some guidelines/requirements. One is that you write one Lesson each month for your first year (basically) and then 4 in each subsequent year. They require participation because those who participate are sharing really special thoughts and feelings, so they want to make sure everyone there is contributing... no lurkers.
Totally works for me because I've wanted to record, in a more orderly fashion, the marvelous miracles Father has manifested in my life since we moved here. If you're interested in participating, check it out and make sure you share that I suggested it to you. ^_^
So, the main reason I'm telling you all that is... I'm going to post my second contribution to the above group. It's all about a miracle(s) I've received recently. Since I wanted to write about it here AND there, I decided to consolidate the work and do it once. It's a bit long. I hope you enjoy it!
You probably already know that our daughters don’t watch TV (as in public broadcast television of any sort at home), but they do get to watch movies after completing homeschool work. Every once in a while they’ll get a “free” movie, but that is more rare than rule. Most of the movies they watch are Disney. My girls love every bit of their movie time. They ask to watch the previews every time they sit down. As long as it’s a video, they get to watch them. One of the ‘previews’ for at least one of their movies is actually a commercial about a little girl’s first visit to Disney’s The Magic Kingdom (you know, the one with Cinderella’s Castle). At the end of the commercial she’s happy to have been, but feeling downcast because she hasn’t “met” someone she really wanted to meet. And then... He appears. Who? Mickey Mouse, of course! And the little girl runs up to him and, throwing her arms around him says, “I’ve been waiting my whole life to meet you,” with a joyous smile spread across her face.
Could you tell I’ve seen that one quite often? If you’ve figured that out, you may wonder: Why? Well, I’ll tell you. I happened to catch the expressions on my daughters faces as they watched that particular ‘preview’ and it just touched me so much that I wanted to watch it over and over... so, of course, I heard the stuff and did watch it a few times so I could see what they were SO focused on. Well, that commercial was probably the reason my girls, Ria and Kat, started asking me when they could go to Disney and meet Mickey Mouse. If I had to put a time frame on when they started asking, I would say it was about 2 years ago (Ria asked and then Kat started asking as soon as she could put the request to words). No problem. I just told them the truth, that I hoped we would go soon, but I really didn’t know... and, really, we might not get there for a long time. That appeased them and they wouldn’t ask again for another month or two (even though they saw the commercial again before they asked again).
Fast forward to a few months ago. I guess Jess put in a movie with that commercial and the girls asked Daddy, “When will we...” and he responded, “Soon!” ARRRGGGHHH! So, the once a month (or every other month) query began coming every few days. And I, the Mama who had to try to bat the questions away without feeling sad about turning my kids away from their “hearts’ desires” became less and less able to feel like a good Mom for growing intervals of time after the question. Finally, after a couple months of that, I answered my girls the same way as always (perhaps with some added comment about how I didn’t know why Daddy had said soon because I didn’t know how we would get there soon). But in my mind I thought something different. Instead of allowing the feelings of BAD MAMA-ness to run rampant, I turned to one of my old (how did I stop) ways of thinking. This old way of thinking included such ideas as: If it’s meant to be, Heavenly Father will make it happen regardless of how likely I think it is. And so, versions of that became my internal mantra.
Within the same month as beginning those reminder thoughts to myself (an effort to make me feel like NOT such a bad Mom), my Uncle Matt called to chat. Now, you have to realize that my Uncle Matt, to my own mind, has always been the older brother I never had, but wanted. If we have sons, our first will be John Matthew (for my Uncle because of said feelings). Anyway, Uncle Matt called to plan a trip. YEAY! He’d said he was going to come visit us soon after we moved here (almost 3 years ago) and Jess and I were excited about it, but then it just didn’t happen. That was okay, but when he said he really wanted to get out to see us soon, I was totally excited.
During the course of the conversation he mentioned some ideas of things to do. I was happy to do anything, just having him visit would be wonderful. And then he asked if we would like to make a trip to Disney while he was visiting. I felt my spirits plunge and said, “Oh, that would be wonderful, but we really can’t afford such a thing.” And what to my wondering ears did he said? “Oh, you wouldn’t have to worry about anything, it would be my treat.” My response: totally uncontrollable tittering (lame laughing that I just couldn’t stop). Seriously.
Uncle Matt asked, “Well, what do you think? Would you like that? Would Jessie be okay with it? How about your kids?”
I finally collected myself enough to tell my Uncle, amid the continued silly titers, that YES, of course we would all love it, if he would want to spend some of his vacation doing that! He said he would. I had to explain to him a little bit about my ANGEL THEORY. So, I did.
The explanation was speckled with silly tittering (because I still couldn’t control my joy) and I told my Uncle Matt that I believed many Angels were people in our lives that did or said things right when we needed them. I went on to explain that my girls had been asking when we would make it to Disney a LOT more often and I’d felt like a bad Mom because I couldn’t tell them what their Daddy had told them and that he, my Uncle Matt, was my Angel to make it possible, this thing that seemed to totally impossible to me!
Water Park
Fast forward again to picking Uncle Matt up at the airport inOrlando
Blizzard Beach Summit
uuummm... ... ...
I tried to understand how to get to where he was, but I couldn’t lasso my brain back in place to catch the right gears for full comprehension. So, I turned to a lifeguard standing near me and asked him to take me where I needed to be. He did. I wasn’t crying, but I couldn’t breathe properly. I remember the lifeguard guy telling me to calm down that everything was going to be okay and thinking, “I’m totally calm, man, you’re not gunna get any better than this with my Man hurt!” Remember... this is ME we're talking about. I was NOT crying!
Jessie was, in fact, sitting up, but looking down because he was holding stuff to the back of his head. He was shivering and super pale. I went in to nurture mode big time. I asked the onlookers for dry towels. Jessie poo-pooed me and someone came to collect him asking if he could walk. Uuuummm... what ‘guy’s guy’ (like Jess) is going to admit that maybe he shouldn’t walk? Not mine! So, he walked until a wheelchair caught up with us. And my Jessie seemed paler.
Perhaps it was then that someone other than me noticed that Jess was SHIVERING because they guy said something about dry clothes. Yes, I had them... elsewhere. He suggested getting them and meeting Jess at the medic’s office because they wouldn’t be able to keep Jess warm. I remember telling him that I couldn’t understand anything he’d just said except 'Medic’s Office' and not being able to keep Jessie warm. I told the nice lifeguard guy that I would just accompany Jess to where he needed to be so I could SEE it and have a better chance of finding it again, if it was all the same to him. It was.
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Aapostles said, “Be assured that these blessings are poured out equally upon rich and poor alike. As the hymn says, it is “sacrifice [that] brings forth the blessings of heaven,” not the sum of our contributions. Members who freely give a full 10 percent of their annual income receive all of the promised blessings of tithing, whether the amount is a widow’s mite or a king’s ransom. [November 2002, Tithing: A Test of Faith With Eternal Blessings]"
Our tithe is something more than the widow’s mite, but far from a king’s ransom. But even if we paid a ransom, it would not be enough to warrant Father’s outpouring of Love in the various forms and miracles that He bestows upon us. I know that Heavenly Father knows me as an individual. He knows my heart, my needs, my hopes, dreams, wishes, and intentions! I know that he knows us ALL individually, privately, intimately... and He knows us better than we know ourselves! How could it be otherwise? He’s known me since I was an intelligence, after all. Not to mention all through my spirit pre-existence! I just need the reminders, sometimes, it seems. And BOY... Disney from Uncle Matt, an earth-bound Angel and my hubby preserved when he might have been lost to me; WHAT a reminder! Praise to our Loving Father in Heaven for loving us just as we are.
If you've made it through, I hope you will read (or re-read) the quote I have at the top of my blog. I believe it was Elder Holland who said it... something I need to see often and might be helpful to you after reading my story here.
Totally works for me because I've wanted to record, in a more orderly fashion, the marvelous miracles Father has manifested in my life since we moved here. If you're interested in participating, check it out and make sure you share that I suggested it to you. ^_^
So, the main reason I'm telling you all that is... I'm going to post my second contribution to the above group. It's all about a miracle(s) I've received recently. Since I wanted to write about it here AND there, I decided to consolidate the work and do it once. It's a bit long. I hope you enjoy it!
Fantastic Fun
My life has been, often since we moved to Florida, a testament to the truthfulness of Malachi 3 verse 10, which says, “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.” Recently, the blessings that have been poured upon us literally cannot be held in any way in the physical world. Are these blessings due to any personal righteousness? I think not. We do try, Jessie and I, but we fail miserably in at least one way each day.
So, what, you may wonder, has transpired that has been so wonderful? Well, I will get to that, but first let me give you some background.
You probably already know that our daughters don’t watch TV (as in public broadcast television of any sort at home), but they do get to watch movies after completing homeschool work. Every once in a while they’ll get a “free” movie, but that is more rare than rule. Most of the movies they watch are Disney. My girls love every bit of their movie time. They ask to watch the previews every time they sit down. As long as it’s a video, they get to watch them. One of the ‘previews’ for at least one of their movies is actually a commercial about a little girl’s first visit to Disney’s The Magic Kingdom (you know, the one with Cinderella’s Castle). At the end of the commercial she’s happy to have been, but feeling downcast because she hasn’t “met” someone she really wanted to meet. And then... He appears. Who? Mickey Mouse, of course! And the little girl runs up to him and, throwing her arms around him says, “I’ve been waiting my whole life to meet you,” with a joyous smile spread across her face.
Could you tell I’ve seen that one quite often? If you’ve figured that out, you may wonder: Why? Well, I’ll tell you. I happened to catch the expressions on my daughters faces as they watched that particular ‘preview’ and it just touched me so much that I wanted to watch it over and over... so, of course, I heard the stuff and did watch it a few times so I could see what they were SO focused on. Well, that commercial was probably the reason my girls, Ria and Kat, started asking me when they could go to Disney and meet Mickey Mouse. If I had to put a time frame on when they started asking, I would say it was about 2 years ago (Ria asked and then Kat started asking as soon as she could put the request to words). No problem. I just told them the truth, that I hoped we would go soon, but I really didn’t know... and, really, we might not get there for a long time. That appeased them and they wouldn’t ask again for another month or two (even though they saw the commercial again before they asked again).
Fast forward to a few months ago. I guess Jess put in a movie with that commercial and the girls asked Daddy, “When will we...” and he responded, “Soon!” ARRRGGGHHH! So, the once a month (or every other month) query began coming every few days. And I, the Mama who had to try to bat the questions away without feeling sad about turning my kids away from their “hearts’ desires” became less and less able to feel like a good Mom for growing intervals of time after the question. Finally, after a couple months of that, I answered my girls the same way as always (perhaps with some added comment about how I didn’t know why Daddy had said soon because I didn’t know how we would get there soon). But in my mind I thought something different. Instead of allowing the feelings of BAD MAMA-ness to run rampant, I turned to one of my old (how did I stop) ways of thinking. This old way of thinking included such ideas as: If it’s meant to be, Heavenly Father will make it happen regardless of how likely I think it is. And so, versions of that became my internal mantra.
Within the same month as beginning those reminder thoughts to myself (an effort to make me feel like NOT such a bad Mom), my Uncle Matt called to chat. Now, you have to realize that my Uncle Matt, to my own mind, has always been the older brother I never had, but wanted. If we have sons, our first will be John Matthew (for my Uncle because of said feelings). Anyway, Uncle Matt called to plan a trip. YEAY! He’d said he was going to come visit us soon after we moved here (almost 3 years ago) and Jess and I were excited about it, but then it just didn’t happen. That was okay, but when he said he really wanted to get out to see us soon, I was totally excited.
During the course of the conversation he mentioned some ideas of things to do. I was happy to do anything, just having him visit would be wonderful. And then he asked if we would like to make a trip to Disney while he was visiting. I felt my spirits plunge and said, “Oh, that would be wonderful, but we really can’t afford such a thing.” And what to my wondering ears did he said? “Oh, you wouldn’t have to worry about anything, it would be my treat.” My response: totally uncontrollable tittering (lame laughing that I just couldn’t stop). Seriously.
Uncle Matt asked, “Well, what do you think? Would you like that? Would Jessie be okay with it? How about your kids?”
I finally collected myself enough to tell my Uncle, amid the continued silly titers, that YES, of course we would all love it, if he would want to spend some of his vacation doing that! He said he would. I had to explain to him a little bit about my ANGEL THEORY. So, I did.
The explanation was speckled with silly tittering (because I still couldn’t control my joy) and I told my Uncle Matt that I believed many Angels were people in our lives that did or said things right when we needed them. I went on to explain that my girls had been asking when we would make it to Disney a LOT more often and I’d felt like a bad Mom because I couldn’t tell them what their Daddy had told them and that he, my Uncle Matt, was my Angel to make it possible, this thing that seemed to totally impossible to me!
Fast forward again to picking Uncle Matt up at the airport in
uuummm... ... ...
I tried to understand how to get to where he was, but I couldn’t lasso my brain back in place to catch the right gears for full comprehension. So, I turned to a lifeguard standing near me and asked him to take me where I needed to be. He did. I wasn’t crying, but I couldn’t breathe properly. I remember the lifeguard guy telling me to calm down that everything was going to be okay and thinking, “I’m totally calm, man, you’re not gunna get any better than this with my Man hurt!” Remember... this is ME we're talking about. I was NOT crying!
Jessie was, in fact, sitting up, but looking down because he was holding stuff to the back of his head. He was shivering and super pale. I went in to nurture mode big time. I asked the onlookers for dry towels. Jessie poo-pooed me and someone came to collect him asking if he could walk. Uuuummm... what ‘guy’s guy’ (like Jess) is going to admit that maybe he shouldn’t walk? Not mine! So, he walked until a wheelchair caught up with us. And my Jessie seemed paler.
Perhaps it was then that someone other than me noticed that Jess was SHIVERING because they guy said something about dry clothes. Yes, I had them... elsewhere. He suggested getting them and meeting Jess at the medic’s office because they wouldn’t be able to keep Jess warm. I remember telling him that I couldn’t understand anything he’d just said except 'Medic’s Office' and not being able to keep Jessie warm. I told the nice lifeguard guy that I would just accompany Jess to where he needed to be so I could SEE it and have a better chance of finding it again, if it was all the same to him. It was.
Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Aapostles said, “Be assured that these blessings are poured out equally upon rich and poor alike. As the hymn says, it is “sacrifice [that] brings forth the blessings of heaven,” not the sum of our contributions. Members who freely give a full 10 percent of their annual income receive all of the promised blessings of tithing, whether the amount is a widow’s mite or a king’s ransom. [November 2002, Tithing: A Test of Faith With Eternal Blessings]"
Our tithe is something more than the widow’s mite, but far from a king’s ransom. But even if we paid a ransom, it would not be enough to warrant Father’s outpouring of Love in the various forms and miracles that He bestows upon us. I know that Heavenly Father knows me as an individual. He knows my heart, my needs, my hopes, dreams, wishes, and intentions! I know that he knows us ALL individually, privately, intimately... and He knows us better than we know ourselves! How could it be otherwise? He’s known me since I was an intelligence, after all. Not to mention all through my spirit pre-existence! I just need the reminders, sometimes, it seems. And BOY... Disney from Uncle Matt, an earth-bound Angel and my hubby preserved when he might have been lost to me; WHAT a reminder! Praise to our Loving Father in Heaven for loving us just as we are.
If you've made it through, I hope you will read (or re-read) the quote I have at the top of my blog. I believe it was Elder Holland who said it... something I need to see often and might be helpful to you after reading my story here.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Yesterday
We were getting ready to depart for our first activity for the day and I didn't have things planned as well as I thought, so we were running behind schedule. Ria was helping Kat get dressed and muttering quietly. Because I was concerned about what she might be saying, I paid extra close attention. And what to my wondering ears should I hear? "This is so hard. I don't like doing this. It's really difficult. But, you know Kat, like Henry Ford said, 'If you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.' So, I think I can. So even though it's hard, I'm going to do it, you just have to give me a couple more minutes." Yes. Seriously. Ria said the previously quoted series of words almost a word for word! Our efforts at teaching this principle are paying off! YEAY!!! And... drum roll... it's only taken 5.5 years! ;) heeheehee
Seriously, though, I'm really pleased with that first miracle of my day.
Father provided two weather miracles for this bike riding Mama. We went to the playground to meet some friends and stayed for a couple hours. About 5 minutes after we arrived home it started pouring down rain. And it didn't even look like there was going to be a storm!
Fast forward.
Yesterday was Kat's second dance class. The storm of earlier in the day seemed to still be lingering even though the rain had ceased for a while. The sky seemed to get more forbidding. I said a little prayer asking that we might have a dry ride to and from dance. It was dry on the way, just had to avoid a big puddle on the side of the road. Totally do-able. I put the rain guard down on our trailer just in case it rained while we were in the building. What do you think I found when we got out? If you answered LOTS of rain drops and a still-wet-looking-pavement, then you're RIGHT!
In addition to those wonderful miracles (three), Ria's GOOD attitude carried through the whole day.
Yesterday was a GOOD good GOOD day!
Seriously, though, I'm really pleased with that first miracle of my day.
Father provided two weather miracles for this bike riding Mama. We went to the playground to meet some friends and stayed for a couple hours. About 5 minutes after we arrived home it started pouring down rain. And it didn't even look like there was going to be a storm!
Fast forward.
Yesterday was Kat's second dance class. The storm of earlier in the day seemed to still be lingering even though the rain had ceased for a while. The sky seemed to get more forbidding. I said a little prayer asking that we might have a dry ride to and from dance. It was dry on the way, just had to avoid a big puddle on the side of the road. Totally do-able. I put the rain guard down on our trailer just in case it rained while we were in the building. What do you think I found when we got out? If you answered LOTS of rain drops and a still-wet-looking-pavement, then you're RIGHT!
In addition to those wonderful miracles (three), Ria's GOOD attitude carried through the whole day.
Yesterday was a GOOD good GOOD day!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Funny Hubby and SUCH a Hardworker
Jessie is obsessed with growing pineapples lately. I know. Interesting, huh? Apparently, this guy who used to work at the Club (the old full-time job that is now the part-time job) was able to grow 17 (or more) pineapple plants from the tops of pineapples being discarded at the Club. He has also had fruit from them. At least, that was Jessie's understanding.
So, now Jessie is on a mission to grow fruit-bearing pineapple plants. It's amazing difficult from the reading we've done (just this night, actually). Jessie's tops are in step 3 right now.
I think Jess is interested in this NOW because we're getting a garden going again. (Like that alliteration? ^_^) The sort of funny thing (to me) about the plants he's focused on growing is that they require at least 20 months growth (in Hawaii) before they will flower to produce a SINGLE fruit. All of the other things we are growing will bear fruit this year for consumption and/or preservation. Jessie's efforts will require much more EFFORTS! And I guess we'll be living here for at least 2 more years (assuming he wants to get some fruit from his efforts).
At least, the pineapple tops are totally free even if we do have to leave them. ^_^
His Hard Work
Jess has just finished a week of working at the Grille (the new job down South) and the Club (up North). Thursday he worked from 8 to about 10am at the Club, drove to the Grille and worked until about 10pm. Friday was the same at the Club, just later at the Grille and then he went to WalMart for some groceries. Saturday was the same as Friday except that he came straight home from work.
He had ALL of today off!!!!
Tomorrow (Monday) he'll work only in the morning at the Club. Tuesday he's off all day.
Wednesday through Saturday he'll be working at the Grille from 8am until sometime around (or after) 10pm. While this is long and hard, it'll actually be a little easier (Jess anticipates) because he won't have to worry about getting from one job to another on time. It's also quite good for our family because he'll end up with overtime.
The amazing part of all this is that he'll be making more $ during this time of working overtime than when he's on salary. The thing about salary, though is that it's stable. If he were to continue to be paid hourly, his hours would be cut during the off season and we'd either have a hard time or (hopefully) have savings. So far the savings thing hasn't worked out because the income was just covering needs. So, all in all the whole salary thing is good for us. I just hope he won't have to work 14 hour days in general! His boss has told him that during Bike Week, Race Week, and another week (can't remember when) he just sends his wife up North (to family?) because he's basically never home. He has gone so far as to say that Jessie should be prepared to basically just sleep at home during that time. Hmmm... well, that won't be too different from what we've just done 3 days of and will be doing another 4 days of.... I think we'll manage.
Miracle
I've commented to Jessie a few times that this new job is really another amazing miracle in our lives. I asked him if he could see the truth of it (the first time I mentioned it to him). He didn't really respond, which, in Jessie speak, is an unwillingness to agree, which actually almost always means he DOESN'T agree. So, I went on to explain my supposition. And here's how: This IS a miracle and gift from God because Jessie has tried to improve our financial situation on his own,in his own strength, basically, since we arrived here. (Moving here was an effort to that end as well.) It has worked a bit, but not generally and not over-all. Remember, we've been on Food Assistance from my Church very recently! It's only at this time when things are SO bad in the economy at large (our unemployment here in Flagler County is almost FIFTEEN percent!!!!) that we get a lift up... or a pull up. It's not a lift or pull of our own doing or in our own power. It's as obvious as the nose on my face, to me!
And I keep thinking things like: Heavenly Father sure is making it clear that we are not doing these things in and of ourselves. He's making sure to make it difficult for either of us to have any pride in the improvement of our situation. Father definitely wants to make pride in our situation far from the realm of possibility. I'm grateful... knowing as I do my issues with feeling pride.
My girls and I were watching the Ruth Living Scriptures movie the other day. In it Boaz is near kin to Naomi and her hubby (odd/long name I can't remember). Before they leave to live among the Moabites (in the movie) Boaz offers to help them financially and says, "I don't know why the Lord has blessed me when so many other are losing everything, let me help you!" Though the words probably are not word-for-word from the movie, the idea is captured and it is EXACTLY how I feel!!!! It's a miracle! And I'm so beyond-words grateful!!!
Our God is a MIGHTY God.
So, now Jessie is on a mission to grow fruit-bearing pineapple plants. It's amazing difficult from the reading we've done (just this night, actually). Jessie's tops are in step 3 right now.
I think Jess is interested in this NOW because we're getting a garden going again. (Like that alliteration? ^_^) The sort of funny thing (to me) about the plants he's focused on growing is that they require at least 20 months growth (in Hawaii) before they will flower to produce a SINGLE fruit. All of the other things we are growing will bear fruit this year for consumption and/or preservation. Jessie's efforts will require much more EFFORTS! And I guess we'll be living here for at least 2 more years (assuming he wants to get some fruit from his efforts).
At least, the pineapple tops are totally free even if we do have to leave them. ^_^
His Hard Work
Jess has just finished a week of working at the Grille (the new job down South) and the Club (up North). Thursday he worked from 8 to about 10am at the Club, drove to the Grille and worked until about 10pm. Friday was the same at the Club, just later at the Grille and then he went to WalMart for some groceries. Saturday was the same as Friday except that he came straight home from work.
He had ALL of today off!!!!
Tomorrow (Monday) he'll work only in the morning at the Club. Tuesday he's off all day.
Wednesday through Saturday he'll be working at the Grille from 8am until sometime around (or after) 10pm. While this is long and hard, it'll actually be a little easier (Jess anticipates) because he won't have to worry about getting from one job to another on time. It's also quite good for our family because he'll end up with overtime.
The amazing part of all this is that he'll be making more $ during this time of working overtime than when he's on salary. The thing about salary, though is that it's stable. If he were to continue to be paid hourly, his hours would be cut during the off season and we'd either have a hard time or (hopefully) have savings. So far the savings thing hasn't worked out because the income was just covering needs. So, all in all the whole salary thing is good for us. I just hope he won't have to work 14 hour days in general! His boss has told him that during Bike Week, Race Week, and another week (can't remember when) he just sends his wife up North (to family?) because he's basically never home. He has gone so far as to say that Jessie should be prepared to basically just sleep at home during that time. Hmmm... well, that won't be too different from what we've just done 3 days of and will be doing another 4 days of.... I think we'll manage.
Miracle
I've commented to Jessie a few times that this new job is really another amazing miracle in our lives. I asked him if he could see the truth of it (the first time I mentioned it to him). He didn't really respond, which, in Jessie speak, is an unwillingness to agree, which actually almost always means he DOESN'T agree. So, I went on to explain my supposition. And here's how: This IS a miracle and gift from God because Jessie has tried to improve our financial situation on his own,in his own strength, basically, since we arrived here. (Moving here was an effort to that end as well.) It has worked a bit, but not generally and not over-all. Remember, we've been on Food Assistance from my Church very recently! It's only at this time when things are SO bad in the economy at large (our unemployment here in Flagler County is almost FIFTEEN percent!!!!) that we get a lift up... or a pull up. It's not a lift or pull of our own doing or in our own power. It's as obvious as the nose on my face, to me!
And I keep thinking things like: Heavenly Father sure is making it clear that we are not doing these things in and of ourselves. He's making sure to make it difficult for either of us to have any pride in the improvement of our situation. Father definitely wants to make pride in our situation far from the realm of possibility. I'm grateful... knowing as I do my issues with feeling pride.
My girls and I were watching the Ruth Living Scriptures movie the other day. In it Boaz is near kin to Naomi and her hubby (odd/long name I can't remember). Before they leave to live among the Moabites (in the movie) Boaz offers to help them financially and says, "I don't know why the Lord has blessed me when so many other are losing everything, let me help you!" Though the words probably are not word-for-word from the movie, the idea is captured and it is EXACTLY how I feel!!!! It's a miracle! And I'm so beyond-words grateful!!!
Our God is a MIGHTY God.
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