I shared a prayer request during the weekly bible study I attended. The following week a fifty dollar check came in the mail from a bible study classmate. She knew we were struggling financially with this added expense. After receiving some birthday money, she wanted to share it with us.
It wasn't easy receiving the money at first. I had grown up with the mindset of not sharing your personal struggles with anyone. So embracing a new way of thinking, "that God might want to take care of me through His people" was foreign. Yet, it was given with such love and joy.
That one act of giving began a snowball effect that continues to this day. Over the span of the last fifteen years our family has been the recipient of hundreds of gifts ranging from food and diapers to frequent flier miles to attend Mom Heart intensives.
Probably the largest reminder I have of the faithfulness of God to provide for my family is my home. About nine years ago my local church asked permission to do some home repair for me. Married at the time to an over the road truck driver made it hard to tackle repairs at home. I was a homeschooling mom of five ranging from two to twelve.
The church called it the Jerusalem Project. They sent us out of the house for two weeks to complete a "Hallelujah Chorus Task List" which my pastor had requested. What we returned to change our lives forever.
When we returned home there was a welcoming crew of at least 50 who walked us through each room which had been transformed from flooring, paint, to decor. The beauty was breathtaking. I nearly fainted when I saw the deck off the back door which overlooked the river. I had longed for a deck for six years as we could not use the back door because it dropped five feet off the house.
This is the verse the Lord gave to me during the two weeks of waiting while they worked on our home.
Psalm 13:6 "I will sing unto the Lord for He has dealt bountifully with me."
We suspected we were coming home to new flooring and possible painted walls. But we were in awe at the beauty and complete home makeover which became our new home.
We walked into this verse: "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!" There is not a single day I live that I cannot walk into my home and be thankful for all God has done for me and my family.
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This season I have realized that as we experience the tangible love of God we become bold.
As we receive and come to know the nature and character of God through the outpouring of His love for us, we are filled with the power of His spirit to walk out what He has called us to in our individual lives.
"For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. "Ephesians 2;10
Experiencing the love of God made me bold enough this summer to start a family business in our community. In June, Graves Grocery: A Community Reststop opened to serve breakfast and lunch to the people in our small community. We are completing our seventh month of business this month.
You can read more about our little place here http://www.waff.com/story/24098447/laid-back-old-country-st#.UqvUkmaw3PQ.facebook
Thus far, having the store has been the most rewarding experience in life other than being a mom. It's like something I waited forever for but did not know I was waiting.
It is an opportunity daily to show the tangible love of God through serving or a kind word. I am trusting God to use me in such a way that, as I share the love of God to my customers, they too become bold.
May you reflect this holiday season on how God has poured out His love for you in your own life. And if there is too much pain to see His love, ask Him to show you. If you belong to Him, He has never left you.
As you reflect on His outpouring of love, may you too become bold.
Have a bold and bright Christmas!
Love, Pam
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