I love how God works - actually I can acknowledge loving how God works more in hindsight. Often times in the midst of His working I feel like. . . .well, like I don't love it so much! But regardless, He is at work in all of our lives.
My word for this year as many of you know is delight. Delighted in God, delightful towards others, finding delight in the everyday ordinary of life, etc.
In this process I am trying to be more aware of God and how He longs to be a part of my life, minute by minute, day by day. I have heard my whole Christian life about how important relationship is with God and I feel as though I am just lately grasping that. Yes, I am a slow learner at times.
I long to be with Mark, to talk to him, to sit with him, to be silly with him, etc. Why? Because I love him and I want our relationship to be strong. I also argue with Mark, ask for forgiveness from Mark, and get frustrated with Mark. Why? Because I am human, imperfect and I make mistakes, but try to make up for those mistakes too.
Why not take those same simple principles of my relationship with Mark and apply them to my relationship with God? I realize to many of you this is not profound. Again, I am not a quick learner at times.
And yet I realize for myself that this simple thing is hard at times. It is hard to change your mindset from God being everywhere and everything to everyone to being God who is with me, for me, about me always.
In this process of involving God in my everyday ordinary, I have begun to recognize His handiwork in so many ways. As I have mentioned here, Mark and I are working to get debt free and stick to a budget that allows us to do that.
I had a lunch meeting yesterday that I needed to be at, but did not have the money in the budget for - ugh. So, I went through some stuff in our storage closet and found a few things to sell at a resale store in town. Thank God - and I truly was thankful for God providing in this way.
Well, I went to my meeting, enjoyed lunch and someone else at the table picked up the tab! Yay! I was even more thankful for God providing in this way!! So, I took the money from the items I had sold and deposited it in the bank. . . guess God wanted that money to go towards debt!
Also while going through the boxes in storage, I came across a gift card to McDonald's for $10. Mark & I have stopped eating out at lunch and so I thought, "Yay, a lunch date where we can eat something other than PB & J!" So, Mark & I made plans to go out to McD's for lunch today.
This morning I remembered that at an event for Big Brother, Big Sister we had each received a coupon for a free large sandwich at McDonald's - so I looked through my purse and there they were! So, we got 2 free sandwiches, fries and 2 drinks for $4. . . and can go to McD's another day with the other $6 on the gift card.
Now, would these things not have happened if I hadn't been aware and involving God in my everyday ordinary? Probably. Maybe not though. But would I have recognized them as God's handiwork and given Him praise for them? No.
God opens doors and windows for us all the time. We are His children and He loves us. I also think He wants us to acknowledge Him in those little things too. In the same way I love to hear my 2 year old thank me for dinner; even though I would give him dinner even if he didn't, God love to hear his kids thank Him for things He does; even though He would do it anyway. *Whew, grammatically that may be the worst sentence ever, but you get my point, right?
How have you seen God in the little (and big) areas of your life?
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