Faced with empty wallets, empty bank accounts, empty gas tanks, and a soon empty pantry and refrigerator - sometimes my very soul feels the emptiness that seems to be surrounding me. But I refuse to give in to that emptiness. I refuse to let my heart be empty as well!
Have you ever experienced that sinking feeling when you knew the offering plate was coming your way?
- looking at the offering plate
- last $20 in hand
- 10 more days ahead until more income will come
- a choice
I knew I wanted to plop that $20 into the offering - to demonstrate to the Lord how much I trust Him with our situation. But hubby knew we needed gas - we needed milk - and will need more than that in the days to come. I sat praying that he would put the $20 in the offering plate but I saw that sad, sweet look in his eyes as he slowly put the $20 back in his wallet. The plate passed - both of our heads hung low.
To be totally honest, I began to feel shame, anger, and embarrassment engulf me. But then a whisper in my ear - a whisper of truth from the Lord: "That offering plate is not meant to be a BURDEN - but a BLESSING."
But Lord, I want to give! How do you give when there is nothing to give?
Then I was reminded that sometimes all we can give is ourselves. I am striving to give ALL of myself to the Lord - give my heart to others - give of my time - give of my talents - give my service to ministry - and give encouragement to others who are suffering financially as we are. There are MANY others out there struggling as we are - some much worse. But, we can make offerings to Him every day in countless ways! It does not always have to be financially.
The offering plate is not meant to be a burden - but a blessing. Even when you can't fill it, you still have much to offer Him!
I have a friend who when greeted with 'Hi, How are you?" responds: I am blessed and highly favored!
I love this response! Besides being far better than the usual "I'm fine", or "I'm good" (which isn't always true), responding with "I am blessed and highly favored" is an encouragement to everyone who hears it and if you think about it - it's always true. We may not be walking in that truth that day, but the reminder is uplifting! So I am going to try to enjoy each day remembering that I am a Blessed and Highly Favored Daughter of the King!
I want to share a song that touches my heart every time I hear it. The lyrics are listed first and then you can click on the black screen below them to hear part of it (click white arrow twice). The song is called "Welcome Home" and is written and performed by Shaun Groves. You can purchase the song for $1.00 here: Song Touch. The words mirror my life on so many days.
Welcome Home - Words and Music by Shaun Groves Welcome to this heart of mine I've buried under prideful vines Grown to hide the mess I've made Inside of me, come decorate, Lord
Open up the creaking door And walk upon the dusty floor Scrape away the guilty stains Until no sin or shame remain
Spread Your love upon the walls And occupy the empty halls Until the man I am has faded No more doors are barricaded
Chorus: Come inside this Heart of mine it's Not my own Make it home Come and take this Heart and make it All Your own Welcome home
Take a seat, pull up a chair Forgive me for the disrepair And the souvenirs from floor to ceiling Gathered on my search for meaning Every closet's filled with clutter Messes yet to be discovered I'm overwhelmed, I understand I can't make this place all that You can
(Chorus)
I took the space that You placed in me Redecorated in shades of greed And I made sure every door stayed locked Every window blocked, and still You knocked
(Chorus)
Take me, make me All You want me to be That's all I'm asking, all I'm asking
Well, this is a long story but it is worth it so please read it all. This has been a really tough year but I just have to shout from the mountain tops what the Lord has done. It all started in March:
John lost his job. This was totally unexpected and out of the blue. It was clear that he was not going to get a position in his field right away. The economy and housing market has really affected the construction industry. So, I got a job working nights at Our Father's House, a home for the elderly, and he began working little jobs here and there. He was out of work for 6 months. Needless to say, we really fell behind on bills and our mortgage. The mortgage company worked with us but we had to come up with lots of cash all at once and getting behind ruined our credit. One of the things that we had to to let go in order to survive and keep the electricity on was our car insurance. At first we just lowered it from full coverage to only liability but then we had to let even that go. PRAISE THE LORD - My husband was offered a full time position at Piedmont Electric in Culpeper - one of the companies that he had done a couple of side jobs with while he was out of work. This was such an answer to prayer! We began to set aside some money to get our insurance back up in running but I wanted to pay 6 months ahead of time since our mortgage payment is going up. Well, of course in that one month that we were without car insurance John was in an accident!
The accident was his fault. He stopped at the stop sign by Yowell Meadow Park getting ready to turn onto 522 to go home. He saw 2 cars coming both with their turn signals on, so he pulled out. He never saw the lady who hit him coming - we assume she was behind those 2 cars and decided to get in the other lane to pass them so she didn't have to wait for them to turn. She t-boned him on the driver door. I am sure we will be responsible for all fines, repair of all vehicles involved in the accident and all medical bills incurred (the lady went to the hospital but the officers said she was ok just shook up but we still haven't heard that "officially").
Our car (which we had just paid off the month before John lost his job) was totalled. The cost to repair it would exceed getting a new one. So now we were also down to one vehicle. With everything that has happened this year we did not have any cash to just buy another used car and we could not get a loan because our credit is so bad. We had no idea what to do. Worry started to set in. I went to work one night and one of the elderly was feeling sick. I told her that I was worried about her and she told me "If you worry you don't trust and if you trust you don't worry". What wise words! Even though she was talking about something else I tried to remember that personally as well.
I asked for prayer at our PACE homeschool meeting, and Sunday at church we were sharing our need and said "God is just going to have to drop a car in our lap" then we laughed and said "well, not our lap exactly - just our driveway". Psalm 50:10 kep coming to my mind: for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. John's boss was in the meantime letting John use one of the work vans to get to and from work. I was at work on Friday and when John got home with the boys there was a green mini van sitting in our driveway with no tags on it, the title in it, and a note on it saying: Dear Fleming's, We felt led of the Lord to give you'all this van. We hope it will serve you'all well. We're sorry about the radio not working. We had a detailed cleaning done to it the other day, after that it didn't work. So we don't know what happened. God Bless You'all Love Ya! John called me at work to tell me and we just cried and cried! I cried almost all that night at work - I told all the elderly what had happened and they couldn't believe it either! We have NO IDEA who this van was from - they were from a different town. I said "honey, we don't know anyone from there" and John said "we don't have to - God does!". I still can't believe it! We both cried and cried. I am still crying! We keep pinching ourselves - it is a beautiful van! And God has such a sense of humor - if you read my Boys don't like to comb their hair story I said in it that I could never get a mini van like this one because everywhere we go my boys hair would be a mess! Well, the Lord taught me that lesson! Never say never!
Every time I get in the van I honestly feel like I am driving God's van! I want to get a personalized license plate for it that says "Gods van" so hopefully people will ask me why and I can tell them this story. And the best part of the story is that one of our younger boys said "Dad, God really DID drop a car in our driveway!" That was so neat for them to experience! I hope this story will encourage others who are struggling financially! Just know that the Lord really does own the cattle on a thousand hills!
Nehemiah 9:17 (b) "But Thou art a God of forgiveness, gracious and compasssionate, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness" NASB
Lord, as I look at my busy week ahead, I ask for Your strength ahead of time. Strength to forgive as frustrating and unexpected situations arise. Strength to show grace and compassion to my children. Help me Lord to remember to be slow to anger and to show lovingkindness to my children even in the small and seemingly insignificant events of this week. Lord, I want to live out your Word! Amen
We are a homeschooling family raising 4 boys in Virginia. This blog is mostly about anything relevant to raising boys or homeschooling in general - but every once in a while I can't help but add some nonsense from our daily life.
