The craziness just keeps coming around here.
As we were warned that it would.
First it was the late night delivery of groceries on our doorstep, which has already provided for us in so many ways. My favorite is the material witness of God's goodness and provision to my four-year-old. Some lessons are so much more powerful when you experience them in real life. True object lessons. When Matthew woke up the morning after, I said, "Look at all these groceries that God gave us last night!" He didn't skip a beat, before speculating with childlike excitement, "Maybe God made them all fall from the sky and land right on our porch!" I smiled. "He could have. But this time, he had some awesome people buy it at a store and deliver it to our door." But he was pretty much right on: God pretty much did plop a giant blessing on our porch that night.
But it didn't end there.
That same week --two days later actually-- a dear friend handed me an envelope full of money. It's so hard to take things like that. She said, "Just take it." Which I did and just thinking about it now I get tears in my eyes.
And the craziness didn't even end there.
That Sunday my dad handed me another envelope full of money. He was just passing it on to us. It was given anonymously. There was $200 and a note that said they hoped this would bless our family.
We were beyond overwhelmed. And didn't even know what to do but shake our heads in wonderment.
And guess what? It didn't end there either.
Maybe after all these unexpected gifts, I should have expected the unexpected. But honestly, I felt like we had already been given so much that I couldn't even fathom more.
So, instead of any other emotion, today left me shocked. And overwhelmed.
I walked out of the bathroom at church and saw my husband calling me over to meet someone. Her name was Kelly* and she was wearing a cute pink coat. That's what I was thinking while we were being introduced, What a nice coat. I wasn't thinking that what she would say next would be, "I'm going to give you groceries next month."
I didn’t know what to say as she detailed what she would be giving us. It was too much. I had to hug her. Then, apparently, I had to sob on her shoulder for a minute. Sometimes there aren't words. Except that I know I said thank you way too many times.
I'm the type of person who hates to ask for help. Even when someone offers it, I have to think that they really, really – I mean really-- want to before I take them up on it. Or that it's not inconveniencing them too much. Or I have to feel completely desperate. Perhaps it's human nature to be prideful and think - Not us. There has to be someone who needs it more.
I'm already beginning to see that it's the trials in life that show you more than you will ever see in the good times. Like who God is and that he is everything he says he is, all the time. Who your friends are. And the hardest of all, who you are. The way I am. The ways I need to change. To humble myself.
And I'm sure it won't end here either. I’m not sure if I should be scared or excited – but before this ride is over, I’m sure I’m bound to be shocked again.
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*Bob called me from work tonight, after reading this post, to inform me that our sweet pink-coated blessing is named Becky, not Kelly. I guess it just shows how truly overwhelmed I was in the moment. Sorry, Becky.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
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7 comments:
That's awesome!
God is awesome! Thank you for sharing. This has blessed me!
Dianne Stobbe
I was a little worried when I saw the title to your post today, Shelley. For some reason, the first thing that crossed my mind was that someone had given you a PINK coat for one of your boys and that you had to accept it because ... well you had to!
Whew. I'm glad the story was happier than what I first thought! What a lot of love from friends, family ... God! Lots to smile about ... so I'm smiling! :)
LOL! I love you, Aunt Carol! You crack me up. Now I have a huge smile on MY face...thinking of one of my boys having to wear a pink coat. =)
So awesome Shelley! My BS recently was on the blessing that giving is to the giver -- not just for the receiver. God is working on both ends of all of these great stories!
That's a cool way to look at it too, Taylor. I hope that it is as much a wonderful blessing for them as it is for us. And hopefully some day soon, we'll be able to be on the other side of things. =)
As Cyndi Essian would say, "We serve an awesome God!"
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