In Honor Of Thanksgiving 11-20-07

In Honor Of Thanksgiving

I am resurrecting a post that I did about a year ago. I have so much to be thankful for, but these times listed below are those which stand out to me as God's tangible, loving, graceful hand vividly portraying itself in my life. I have a few more to add to what I had last year, so I will put them at the end  Happy Thanksgiving friends...we are so blessed...truly, way more than we can even fathom!

I have been waiting for the right time to write this post. Waiting for a time when I have nothing else to blog about, and when I myself need a reminder of how God has been so gracious and faithful in meeting our needs. Guess tonight is that night!

Jonathan and I got married in August of 2002. We were just about to start our senior year of college, but I did not have a full year of school left, so we thought it manageable...financially speaking. Well, Jonathan got a job waitering and I took care of an old lady for a few hours a day and did unspeakable menial tasks...when I say old lady think really old...as in needs help with EVERYTHING. Despite some of the disgusting things I had to do, I really enjoyed her company and came to look forward to my time with her, despite that the pay was horrible. Well around January her niece moved in because she broke up with her girlfriend (yes you read correctly) and so with no warning watsoever, I no longer had a job. Jonathan was providing and going to school, but he kept getting smoking sections in his restaurants which if you ever waitered, you know that smoking sections pay horrible. Every night the guy would come home so depressed with  pennies in his pocket. By this time I was interning during the day for my counseling program and had still been unable to find a new job for the evenings. Then one night after an extremely cold Ohio winter in which we had to turn the heat off every night so that we woke up to 45 degree air in the morning (so we could afford things like our apartment and food  ), Jonathan got wind of this computer programming internship that paid...more than he was currently making, and it was steady. He was adament that God had this for him. Being a business major with only his self-taught knowledge I wondered how he would ever beat out the computer science majors for this position. Well, after a few grueling interviews we got a call that he was one of two that they were deciding between...we would know come Monday. Monday dawned bright and beautiful with a new job for my husband, the self-made computer man with a business degree...hours that worked around his classes and more pay than he was making waitering...that was for sure. God brought us down to the wire and handed us more than we could have ever asked or imagined. This job not only provided for our needs, but led to my husbands next job at IBM and ultimately allowed us to move here and to this great place in life we now find ourselves.

Fast forward a few months..or maybe just one month. We find ourselves shockingly pregnant...as in TOTAL surprise! We are thrilled and confident that God definitely had a plan and purpose for this new life...but we were also barely scraping by, without insurance, and no definite plans for the future. Well, it just so happened that I was currently interning for a counselor in the area who just so happened to have one of the best known OB's in the area as her husband. First of all, before myself this woman had never accepted interns and she was retiring in May...so it is a miracle I was with her in the first place...then the fact that when I told her I was pregnant (I did not ask her to do this...she just did it) she got me in at her husbands office...no questions asked, free prenatal trial boxes to last me forever, free care, free ultrasound...all provided out of the goodness of their hearts and the ordinance of a loving God who supplies our every need. Two moves, three doctors later we have a beautiful little baby boy which the state of Michigan declares "cannot be called a preexisting condition", meaning Jonathans new insurance that he had for three weeks before the birth covered us. Again,God provided for us, exceedingly and abundantly more than we could have EVER asked or imagined.

Fast forward another year. Jonathan was a contract employee for IBM and their contract with Ford was not doing so well (check out the auto business). Jonathan had been looking for a new job for months, but nothing had come of it. Near mid-March we received notice that Jon's contract was up April 1...as in, no job. Once again the Lord brought us down to the wire, and come March 27 we received word from a company near here that they wanted to hire Jonathan immediately...in fact, they wanted him to start April 1. Things like this just have no explnation aside from a loving God. And I say it again, exceedingly and abundantly more than we could have asked or imagined.

Finally, last year, our rent was up Oct 1. We were trying to buy a house but as of mid-August still had not found one. We were debating about whether to go month to month or what to do. August 26 we found our house, August 29 we offered, September 29th we closed...no gap in rent or house payment. And again...abundantly more than we ever thought possible.

When I got pregnant with Noah, or actually before I was even pregnant, I prayed (every day...fervently!) that God would do a miracle and keep Landon healthy my entire pregnancy. I know this seems insane, but when I am pregnant, I am sick...as in, can hardly function, and certainly not capable of taking care of a sick child. Up until last winter, Landon got colds just about every other week...he was always sick every winter of his life. I prayed last winter would be completely sick free, but I wondered in my heart if something like that was possible...even for God. Now some may or may not call this a miracle, but for me...it most certainly was. Landon never not one time got sick with anything from September until two weeks after Noah was born. Count up the months...my entire pregnancy...never, not one sickenss. To me...that is a loving, gracious God saying, "My child, certainly I can accomplish the impossible...you are worth it, and you can do all things through Me who strengthens you."

 Through all of these things I wish so badly that I could say I never worried, never doubted, never questioned, but I did. Even after so many ways that God had provided, I still fell into my old traps of worry and doubt. Despite that, God was faithful. I have asked so many times, "Why us?" What did we do to deserve a job or a house or to have our needs met? So many other people are jobless, houseless, or drowning in medical bills. I still do not have an answer to these questions, but this I have learned. I did nothing to deserve it. God's goodness and provision was and is a gift that I simply do not deserve. Why He brought us down to the wire time after time after time....probably becuase He knows I like to plan and have all of my ducks in a row. Obviously it took a few times to teach me that I cannot control everything, and that sometimes you just have to throw up your hands and say, "Your way Lord...not mine!" It is then...when we make God's dreams for us, our own...that we can find rest and reassurance, peace and more joy than can ever be expressed. I wish I could say that after all of that I never doubt, but sometimes I still do. I guess it is one of my many thorns in the flesh. But ultimately, I guess what I have learned is that God is good all of the time, and if we trust Him, and give Him room to move...He can and will accomplish exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ask or imagine...just like He promises. Imagine that...