Let me count the ways....

I cannot even begin to recount all of the blessings we continue to receive from the hand of God each day. I'm sure you have noticed that I don't post specific stories quite so much these days, and it is not because God things aren't happening... but more because we've moved to a different phase in our situation. We've come to the place where we are typically asking God to meet that day's needs, and then thanking him each day that He has! We cannot always point to exactly how it happens, but we still have not had our oil and flour become empty. I just wanted to take a few minutes today to share some things He has done over the last few months.

We still receive gifts of various kinds from time to time. I am so humbled by the generous and amazing people of God, who have reached out to us, loved us, supported us with gifts and prayer, blessed us with notes of encouragement, etc. Thank you to each of you for every way you have blessed us.

Our family had the flu a few weeks ago. It was just after our COBRA coverage ended, so we had some pretty expensive medicines and doctor visits to contend with. That week we received very generous gifts that helped us SO very much in meeting the needs we had. In addition, a friend of mine gave me a BIG grocery sack of soups the week before! God provided the soup before we knew we had the need!

I have a friend who has won a grocery gift card from her work THREE times now during these many months. She has passed these on to us, and they have been a true blessing.

I have been volunteering at a community clothing closet in order to get free clothing there. This has helped several times when the kids or I needed something specific... I have found almost everything I've looked for while there.

Our bread ministry continues to bless us and helps others in the community. I deliver the leftover bread to a family in need, and am almost always blessed back with something in return.

Our daughter, Hannah, doesn't have a job (she's still a little too young for one) and she has a pretty active Shepherd's Group at our church. Unfortunately, everything this little group does seems to require money. But, God has been very faithful in providing the funds Hannah needs to participate in most of these outings. Just last week, she was completely penniless and was wanting to go ice skating with her Shepherd Group. That week, she received a card with $5 inside. Not quite enough, but she was $5 closer! Then, a couple days later, she was called about a babysitting job. Turns out they needed her to babysit several hours that Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon was the Shepherd Group outing! She did the babysitting and then had plenty of money to go, thanks to God's perfectly timed provision!!

I will also say that our freezer and pantry never seems to run out of food. We are completely amazed at how this happens. God multiples what we have and sometimes brings food from unexpected sources!! Same with our bank account. Mark can tell this story better than I can, but one day he looked at our bank balance in Quicken and in seeing the scheduled payments that would go out in the next few days, he could see that we'd be in the red by the end of the week. Next time he checked, some how, some way, there was money and we were not in the red even though we had made no deposits. How? Who knows, but Mark firmly believes it was a miracle.

Well, I could go on, but this post is long enough! Just know that God's Word is true and our God is faithful!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.....
Phil. 4:6

Before I close, I want to tell you how God is answering your prayers for our business. I've asked you to pray that the work would become more consistent. Well, for the last 2 months that is exactly what has happened. Mark has had an inspection each week! He is getting wonderful feedback from Realtors and customers. Things are going well. Keep praying! We need the consistency to continue and we also need for the amount of work to increase. We are getting closer to being able to write ourselves a paycheck!

With God All Things are Possible

This has been one of my favorite scriptures throughout the many months of challenges and struggles. There is another scripture that frequently comes to mind, too. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." These verses are a source of comfort and inspiration to me, and the other day I was reminded of just how powerful God's Word is.

I was at WalMart and was very slowly trying to make my way down a crowded aisle with my cart. As I was trying to maneuver around a pole and avoid bumping anyone, a woman suddenly put her hand out and grasped my arm. I stopped. She was looking down at my purse, which was sitting in the seat of the shopping cart. With great emotion in her voice she slowly read the scripture that is embroidered on it out loud, "With God all things are possible." Then, she looked up at me with wide eyes and said, "I needed to see that today." I smiled and said, "Me too." We exchanged smiles again and I went on my way.

Don't you just love the Word of God? It is a soothing balm. It is God's tool and is so powerful.

I mentioned already that I won a blog contest, and I should've shared the link to the store in case you are interested in getting a scripture quote or something else for your walls. It is from: Quote the Walls. I am going to order the "...all things are possible... " scripture. My scripture purse was also won in a blog contest, and it came from Leigh Gray's blog.

Isaiah 55:11 tells us that God's Word will not return void. Here is how The Message puts it:

"Just as rain and snow descend from the skies

and don't go back until they've watered the earth,

Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,

producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,

So will the words that come out of My mouth not come back empty-handed.

They'll do the work I sent them to do, they'll complete the assignment I gave them."

Draw Near

The video of our church's services is up on the web site now. The title of the sermon is Draw Near. Unfortunately, it doesn't allow you to fast forward, so you do have to watch the music portion of th e service. Not that it is necessarily bad, but it makes it a little harder to have time to view it. I must say, it is well worth taking the time to watch it though. Dr. Blankenship's sermon was amazing and his wife's testimony at the beginning was just as incredible. Keep your hanky handy.

You can also download the mp3 through itunes (here) or though the church web site. I think that the mp3s only have the testimony and sermon, not the music.:

Let me know what you think in the comments!! By the way, Sherry's book, Draw Near: One Pilgrim's Journey Through Grief into the Lap of Jesus is available at Amazon.

Also, just a quick mention that I won another blog contest on the fabulous Pennies In My Pocket blog!! Check it out for information on bargain shopping and saving money. It is so funny, of the two blog contests I've won, both prizes have been items with the scripture "Everything is possible with God." I think God is trying to make sure I don't forget it!

When You Pass Through the Waters

I mentioned before that our pastor is doing a series of messages on the Grace of God. He had a guest speaker come yesterday and he preached a powerful message. His family went through a trial of immense proportions. I will share a link to where you can view the sermon online or listen as soon as it becomes available (probably Wednesday).

The focus of the message was this passage, from Isaiah 43

"...Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine!
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
"For I am the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior..."

I'm sure I have read this passage before, but it truly touched me in a new way. One thing our speaker pointed out is that this scripture says "WHEN YOU pass through the waters....". It doesn't say IF. This is a certainty of life --- we will encounter trials and difficulties. No one escapes it. But, there is another certainty in the life of a believer. We should not fear when we pass through the river of trouble because He has redeemed us and we are His. What a precious thought! God has staked claim over a believer's life. We can be certain that when we pass through trials He will be with us. We are never alone in our difficulties, in our miseries, and in our pain!

Think about that for a moment. The One and only true God.... the One Who is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient is with us at every single moment. And this is the One Who has claimed you for His own, and promises to love you always. He says that even though He will not spare you from troubles in life, He will not allow them to defeat you. He simply will not allow it! That is a pretty powerful promise.