what faith can do...

things I have learned about/because of my faith in 2009


1. God is bigger than ANYTHING I can throw at him. He blesses us directly and through others- who we wouldn't expect. More on this later.
2. God's timing is ALWAYS perfect. I'll admit it- I was FREAKING out when our house hadn't sold and we were getting calls every other day from the mortgage company, and again when the offer was with the mortgage company and they took what seemed like FOREVER and came up with the LAMEST requirements for us. But guess what? I had no reason to worry. It all worked out perfectly. Because of the timing, we found the PERFECT rent house for the PERFECT amount of money. We got back deposits from the utilities at the old house (that we had forgotten we had paid!) that were the perfect amount to take care of the bills generated the few months we were having to pay some bills for both houses.
3. Giving God our first fruits is the ONLY way to give. We decided it was time to finally "put our money where our mouths are" and live our faith out loud. It has been AMAZING! What a feeling it is to say, and experience the words, "God, I trust you with my finances." And what a testimony to God's faithfulness when we are making less than we have in many years, giving more than we EVER have, and in a better financial position than we could have ever imagined! We are so excited at the possibilities this will bring- a family vacation even-something we have never been able to even consider! But so much more important is the opportunity to save and be able to give MORE! We recently committed to supporting monthly a missionary we had the blessing to get to know and who is doing amazing things in spreading the story of Jesus to all corners of the globe. And, as I spoke of in my last post, we are prayerfully considering adoption to expand our family.
4. Joy is far better than happiness. In all the events of the last year, happiness was far to often absent. I cried, and cried, and cried. But I REFUSED to let go of my joy in the Lord. In the worst of moments, I could cry out and thank God that these circumstances are only temporary and I felt so much JOY from that acknowledgement! It was such a relief! Joe would laugh when I would say, "Bring it, Satan!" (mostly because he was worried he would!) but I loved being able to laugh through the tears- something I could only do because I understood what joy really is.
5. God almost never works how I think he will. I will now admit something that I haven't even shared with Joe: When our dryer went out right after moving into the rent house, I was bummed. Major bummed. But after a week or so of hanging laundry out to dry, I was actually more bummed when my dad and Bob surprised us with a new dryer. Don't get me wrong- it was an UNBELIEVABLE gift I was so thankful for, but... I actually liked line drying our clothes. I may actually do it all summer to save money! (for giving, or vacation, or adoption) I didn't expect to LIKE losing the convenience of a dryer and I most certainly didn't expect to receive a brand new one! God gave my 2 gifts in that process- he taught me something I could do without, and provided the dryer as well. (He had to have know that line drying in 20 degree temps just isn't the same.) ;) Another gift came when Joe's dad shared a budget spreadsheet with us he had been using. I expected it to make Joe and I more frustrated at our financial situation, but instead, it has been instrumental in helping us to make the changes in giving I described above. Talk about a stress reliever! While they may not share our convictions or beliefs, their love for us and desire to help us in our finances are a huge blessing from God.
6. Tomorrow doesn't scare me anymore. This goes without saying, really, as a believer in an eternal sense. But here I am speaking more of the day to day things. I was recently told by a close friend, that of all the people she knew, by far, I had the most RANDOM things happen to me. And she is SO right. RANDOM... and often hilarious. I am a drama magnet people. I think it boils down to this: where Satan sees faith growing strongest is where he fights the hardest. If someone doesn't believe in spiritual warfare, they need to read through my last year of Facebook posts...seriously! He does not want God to get the glory, and he likes nothing more than to see us give up and resign ourselves in sorrow and pity. I can tell you that isn't gonna happen to me. I may stumble along the way, but the awesome thing is that God is right there next to me every time- reaching out to help me back up.. and almost always to a step closer to him than I was before.

so what have you learned about or from your faith this last year?

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