All I have needed...

  GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!  

Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.    

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

This hymn has been singing in my heart.

Humbled. Grateful. Blessed. there are really no other words that would properly describe how I feel.

Christmas Service at our church, we barley make it by the hair of our chinny chin chins as we have all miraculously recovered a day or two prior from one of the most vile illnesses we have had in years. I am feeling at peace and filled with joy for the Celebrations at hand.  We are celebrating the birth of The One who lived and died for me, for us all...He who paid the price on Calvary for all of our sin. I wonder what it must have been like for Him, for Mary and Joseph. Oh what would it be like to hold the Son of God? I cry as we sing Christmas hymns, my heart is full and I thank the Lord for the peace in this time of stretching.

The night prior we were talking about how we have seen Gods visible hand in the past year, it is something my Dad wants us to talk about on Christmas Eve, when we are all together as a family. It is so good to speak of Gods kindnesses and care for us, in the little ways and big. We both agree this year has been the hardest one in all of our married life, major health problems for me, several babies gone to Jesus, medical and other expenses draining us bone dry. But we also agree that it has been the most joy filled year too. 

Plumber bills, the cash is literally being flushed down the toilet - twice. Medical bills are staring us down. Unexpected of all sorts pop up and the money we had saved is now gone, and we are left with not much of anything...I can say thank you Jesus that  we had read Dave Ramseys book but you know when everything happens all at once...that can be a little unnerving, not to mention it is Christmastime. We do not feel obligated to give gifts to anyone at Christmastime, we just really love to give. I think it is a love language thing. Even though our financial situation was not so rosy Wade and I really desired to still be able to give, and I was working hard on trying to figure out how that was going to work. He had called about 10 of his window clients trying to get some work, and no one had called back yet. Then he calls one last person, they said yes! Praise Jesus we now have Christmas gift money! I dance around the kitchen with the phone in my hand. Thy hand Hath provided - Christmas gift money!

Fast Forward about a week - we are sick, super sick. My neighbor texts me "do you want some turkey meat?' I feel a lump in my throat, I want to cry, my husband who has not been sick has been tolerating eating a form of B.R.A.T.S diet with us, poor guy wants some real home cooking...what a blessing.  I ask her what they are doing with the bones. She sends over enough meat to feed us for several meals and the carcass.  Wade enjoys eating some real food and then I help direct him to the making of soup with those lovely bones. We are able to make a ginormous post of soup with it all. Healthy soup for my ailing family. Thy hand hath provided - sweet care and food from our dear neighbors.

I am out and about shopping the Saturday before Christmas, not something I want to be doing this late in the game. But hey what can you do when you have been sick for almost forever (it feels like)? I feel happy, the sun is shining and it is almost Christmas! I smile and hum to the Christmas song on the radio. I go park the car and head towards the outdoor commons of the shopping area, I call my hubby. "Hey whats going on?" I ask him. "The truck is not working right, it might be the transmission, I dunno. I had to get the neighbor to jump it for me and it is shifting really hard." I hear the mild frustration in his voice (he is amazing with how he never gets angry or majorly upset {like I do sometimes}, I am so blessed with a peaceful and calm guy) I start sweating, not because I am hot, it is 20F out here, I sweat because of the mentioned expenses above. "I gotta go" he says. I hang up and just breathe "Oh Jesus please not again!" We have already put a new engine in the thing. I trot across the street and pass a couple who obviously have money. You can see it in the way they are dressed, how the hair is done, the name brand sunglasses, big diamonds and by how many bags they have from the expensive stores. I take one step pass them and start grumbling "Lord, why cant we have money? I mean I dont want to be rich or anything, just comfortable you know. Is that so wrong?" I stop talking to God. I take 5 more steps and let that seed of discontentment furrow my brow and it starts to take root. I hit the corner and I am blasted literally with the song on the outdoor speakers. Josh Groban is sinking "O Holy Night"...I literally freeze. "Oh holy Night the stars are brightly shining, it is the night of our dear Saviors birth." Josh Groban sings. I am gulping hard, I am going to break down and cry right here in the middle of the Shoppes of Arbor Lake.  I keep walking and fighting the tears, "Jesus, I am so sorry for being ungrateful." and I thank Him for blessing me with a hard working loving man, for providing him a wonderful job....I just say thank you all over the place, and I thank Jesus for the rich people I saw 6 steps ago, and ask that they would find True Peace if they have not already. Peace floods back. Thy hand hath provided - more than I deserve. 

The truck is running, but it feels sick. Oh well I am not going to let this ruin Christmas church service for me. After service I chat with my brother in law David as we fix our coffee. I mention the truck to him, thank him for advising Wade yesterday. David knows things about vehicles, Wade does not...we are both grateful for his input when we need it.  He says he will look at it with Wade before we leave. David tells Wade to spray some can of stuff into it, after putting it in the truck it has run like a charm. Thy hand hath provided - helpful family members

Wade opens the door to the truck and helps me in, time to go home.  He gets in on his side, and hands me something. "I found this in my coat pocket, I left my coat in the truck during church and when I came back out and put my hands in my pocket this was there." It was a gift card that could be used at several grocery stores. I just stared at it. It has no dollar amount written on it. "Wow." I say, "I wonder who put it there." We are speechless. We dont know what is on there but I just pray and thank the Lord even if it is $5.  We get home and I realize that we are missing some things for supper. Wade fingers the gift card "should I use this?" "Sure." I say. He takes the older kids to the store. I am busy setting the table and making salad while Aurick keeps me company with his sweet chatters.  Wade is back in 1o minutes. He plops the bag of groceries on the counter, I am still chopping. "Children come here," they all gather in the kitchen "you see this?" he holds up the gift card and motions to the groceries "someone blessed us with ALL of this." I stop chopping, he hands me the gift card with the receipt. "Someone blessed us with almost a months worth of grocery money."  I just stare at that receipt with the remaining balance and I just rush to Wade and hold him tight, and sob tears of joy, overwhelmed. Simply overwhelmed. We stand in our kitchen holding hands, I am weeping and I can tell Wade is overwhelmed...we pray and give thanks and then we are speechless. We just look at each other. Thy hand hath provided - our daily bread.

I will sing yet again "Great is Thy faithfulness!" Praise Jesus!

How have you seen Gods visible hand in your life?