I have developed an intimate relationship with my fridge recently.
The shelves, the freezer and the veggie rack as it as slowly but surely emptied out. In fact yesterday it was so empty, I was tempted to switch it off entirely. The car has been on an orange warning light for 3 days because there was is petrol in the car and I was down to the last 20 units of electricity (which is dangerously low for a family of 6 that eat, shower and live in the house all day as we home school and run an office from home).
Oh don't feel sorry for me! This is life. This is our life - every now and then. Not all the time, though mind you. the last time it was so challenging was probably about a year and a half ago, and the memories still linger.
Why share this?
Because I want to be real.
In fact I was a little irritated initially .... like God, we've done this and been through this before, why now again? The irony is that Sean has invoiced a lot of his clients and many of them owe us a lot of money but they are just not paying..... yet (yep, keeping it positive). So the week progressed and things got worse and I thought - now what?
So we started praying - I mean we are always praying but we started praying for breakthrough (Now just on a side note - we are incredibly transparent with our
children. We believe in family and we believe in family being team). But still nothing happened. Which I must say is unusual because when we pray together as a family, God has always faithfully responded to our prayers.
As I was praying and meditating on this, God reminded me of family. Yes, we have family which we can call out to and they can "save us" by helping us but I was reminded more specifically of how we have a family that is family because we belong to God. Our family is not made up of blood and genes but of Spirit. We are not called to struggle alone but to share one anothers burdens as we walk through life. Not that they take our struggles away from us because there is a reason for what we go through them. But not to walk the walk alone.
When I shared this with Sean, he said he had just had the same revelation!
So off we went and sent a brief message to our "family" just asking them to pray.
And then what happened?
Glad you asked....Now at this point it would be wonderful to say that money poured into our account and we were overwhelmed with financial prosperity..... that would probably please most of us who have a desire for happy ever afters - but no that wasn't what happened.
What happened was:
* friends and family responded by saying they would support us in prayer
* scriptures were sent to us to build our faith
* Sean received a phenomenal number of calls for further business
* a special lady (my mom! - yep they do still get in an help and I am not to proud to accept it!) made a small deposit into our account to carry us for 2 to 3 days
* and the children were able to see God's hand through all of this.
In fact God is working something in them too. Two of my children came with their most prized possessions and offered to sell them to help the family. Now you might be horrified that our children were exposed to this but God has done something in their hearts too. They are looking beyond the "me" and "I". What a beautiful moment to have my children come with hearts to serve and sacrifice.
Though we didn't take them up on their offer, we reminded them of Mary who poured her most precious possession on Jesus' feet - her perfume. And to this day we read of this remarkable woman, who didn't heal anyone or perform any miracles but simply gave her best as a sacrifice to Christ. I reminded them of this passage and I was able tell them that to God, what they had just done, was the same. They were prepared to lay down their most prized possession for the sake of others. Wow! What a special moment.
Though we didn't take them up on their offer, we reminded them of Mary who poured her most precious possession on Jesus' feet - her perfume. And to this day we read of this remarkable woman, who didn't heal anyone or perform any miracles but simply gave her best as a sacrifice to Christ. I reminded them of this passage and I was able tell them that to God, what they had just done, was the same. They were prepared to lay down their most prized possession for the sake of others. Wow! What a special moment.
So, back to our empty fridge and empty bank account.....yes its still looking bare .
But if you are going through trials look for the treasure in the trial. And there are so many treasures to be had. Friendship, support, our children, the opportunity to have your faith stretched and grown. But there is no greater treasure than knowing the love of God and "better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere". Psalm 84:10
May your faith be restored today.
May you be encouraged to say : "In Him I can"
May you share your burdens with others so that they can pray with you and walk with you!
May you be filled with the wonder for God and find your first love for Him. Not for what He does or can do for you, but just because of who He is.
*******************
AND THEN SOME MORE
Because I know how much prayer and family has meant to me, I have put a little badge on my site on the right hand column. If you need prayer and don't know who to email, why not pop me a note... you are welcome to remain anonymous and we will pray for you too.
Posts
I can so relate to your post as my husband has been out of work for over 10 months now. But oh how I would not trade this journey for anything. God is showing himself mighty on our behalf providing in ways we never thought possible. And just like Ann said in her post, even when he doesn't answer in the way we desire, HE gives us HIS sustaining grace and strength to make it through. Yes, we too have great family support (in our church and immediate family). What a blessing they have been becoming the hands and feet of Jesus. And most importantly the lessons imparted to our boys through this journey are absolutely priceless. Thanks for sharing your story. I know it will encourage others. It blesses my heart to hear how God is moving in others' lives as well as my own. Blessings to you and your family as you walk this journey with HIM.
ReplyDeleteFall Blessings,
Pam
Thank you Pam. I know its funny isn't it, how the journey changes so much of who we were to who we are meant to be. A few years ago I would have been hysterical to say the least, but now it feels like I have grown and matured. Not too much mind you, I still have my moments and still have a long way to go, but I can literally see how much I have grown by the number of days it takes me to reach panic stations LOL! Hopefully one day - it just doesn't happen!
ReplyDeleteHi there, We have had some tough times as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd it made me wonder, when is it OK to ask for help?
I mean there is always room for cut backs ( I choose to call it compromises). We can always compromise more and more. Choose to have only rice and carrots for supper, because it is cheap. Shower every second day. Drive the bare minimum.
In the end we are miserable because we have made life so miserable with all the compromises? When is OK to ask for help? Or should you be so closely entwined with your family and community of saints that they will reach out and help before you ask?
I don't have an easy answer. I know that I often ask for help when its so bad that friends and family are mortified that I haven't spoken up sooner.
ReplyDeleteBut asking people to pray - well that just changes the dynamics. It takes the focus off us and our friends and family and it becomes all about God - so when he stirs people to give - then they give and if they don't - well He is still in control. I am constantly reminded that no person, no client who owes us money, no family member, NO ONE is my provider but God. So instead of looking around I look up and I ask others to look up with me to find out what God has to say.
Err on the side of honesty and transparency. People love to help and they love to know that they can help - and let me tell you, half the time they already know but we try and cover it up.