A Hard Week’s Blessings

My cousin Jamie has inspired me to count my blessings!! I’m involved in a couple of family e-loops. So many of my loved ones are spread across the globe, so recently we’ve tried to update each other daily if possible. So my cousin’s email today listed several hardships followed by “But Praise the Lord anyway” kind of comments. Oh man, could I relate. So I’m going to humble myself here and share some real struggles I’ve had this past week. There is something about knowing that other people face similar hurdles and challenges that makes the heart lift. Especially when one can see God’s hand carrying you through it all.

Cousin Jamie’s mention of worn out tires and her winter is upon us “woes” could have been written by me…because we are SO not prepared to heat our place with corn prices all over the grid and our wood burning fireplace insert not working…add to that the fact that our bank account and total cash on hand hovered at $3 this past week, etc… And fleas have descended upon our acreage, which includes my oldest daughter’s 8 brand new pups that can’t be flea-treated until they are 12 weeks of age…it’s HORRIBLE. (FYI, this is the first year we haven’t treated all our dogs with Bio-spot…and someone brought dogs on the premises that had fleas…ugh…now we know how awful they are to deal with–they are unstoppable! And EXPENSIVE to treat so many dogs)

Oh, and speaking of dogs and challenges…I will probably have a dead chicken in the morning. One flew the coop and two of our dogs were playing tug of war with her. Grr.

BUT…here are my blessings…

• Apples, thousands of them have passed through my hands in the past week and just today, someone delivered 3 crates and 1 huge Rubbermaid tub FULL of even more! And my mom has already offered to come over on Tuesday and help me process them!
• Two checks came in on Weds…that added up to $5 more than we needed to cover our automatically debited electric bill which was coming out of the account on Thursday! Isn’t that a miracle?!? (believe me, we were praying for this exact amount to arrive before Thursday’s debit!!! and weren’t sure it would–the bummers of self-employment projects! You get paid on other people’s timetables)
• Hubby was given some birthday money on Weds, that helped immensely in purchasing much needed gas, etc. Honestly, I don’t know how we can afford to go anywhere.
• Another check came in the mail Friday, payment for stud service one of our Border Collie males provided…and we desperately needed that money to pay a hay bill off this month! I was able to get this payment in the mail Saturday morning…so it will get to its destination before the due date–WHEW!
• I was sick about not having a gift or card for the wedding we planned on attending today, but God provided BOTH a card AND a gift w/o me even taking it to Him in coherent prayer (the HS took care of that one, I’m sure He transposed my anxious thoughts over to a petition for me!) ;O)
• I’m coordinating a triple baby shower to come off this Weds morning for the three moms in our homeschool group that recently had babies…and was convicted about delegating a bunch of the provisions (cake/punch ingredients/large baskets to house all the small gifts we’re opting for people to bring in lieu of normal sized gifts–since it’s a triple shower, plates, table service, napkins, cups…the list goes on and on)…so I sent out a mass email to the homeschool group and TONS of ladies have signed up for things! One of the only things left was that I really wanted a bunch of colored plastic tablecloths. I knew they would add perfectly to the decor (which was also free–I’m reusing the centerpieces our church used recently for a double baby shower I helped plan). So on Weds night, w/o me saying a word, when we were at my mil’s house for hubby’s b-day supper, she asked me if I could use any of the decorations she’d just bought and used for a large sales dinner they’d just hosted. In the box of stuff were a whole STACK of yellow plastic tablecloths that have only been used ONCE!!!!! This was all the more incredible b/c that very day my thoughts worried constantly over how I was going to procure about 15 plastic tablecloths! (Be anxious for nothing, anyone??? By now you all know that’s my favorite verse, right?)
• Today between church and leaving for the wedding, I eeked out time on the net to research natural remedies for fleas and found that Apple Cider Vinegar and Borax can work wonders…so we sprayed some ACV on the pups and can you believe it, it seems to be working! No fleas in sight tonight. We also made a flea trap in their pen, with a work light hanging low over a big tub of Borax and dishsoap water. The fleas are attracted to the light and drop into the water to die. DIE. DIE.
• Also today, we had someone come by and put $50 down to hold one of the pups till they are old enough to wean! They are less than a week old! And no quibbling over the $300 my oldest is asking for her females!

There’s probably more, actually, there is more. Saving the BEST for last.

Last week on the way to church, we tuned into our favorite country gospel station and dh and I got to talking about our favorite songs of this type…I mentioned that about 7 years ago I’d heard one with the refrain, “Jesus on the Main Line, tell Him what you want” and it came at one of those times when the needs were high and the funds were low, and I remember it really ministering hope to my spirit…oh the tears spilled that day, on the way to church–the tears were a mix of joy and overburdened despair–kind of a desperate refrain of hope. Anyway…that memory last Sunday came and went, and in the car w/o telling anyone, I prayed, “Lord, would you put that song on the radio today? It would really bless me to know that if it plays, it’s a special gift from you to me…”

Well, we made it to church last Sunday and it didn’t play. And I kind of smiled inwardly at my audacious faith-request to Almighty God…knowing, of course, that He doesn’t need to immediately answer a spontaneous prayer of mine to prove His love for me. But the story isn’t OVER! Today on the way to church, we tuned into that station and GUESS what??? For the first time in 7 years, in *my* hearing anyway…they played that song again and I actually got in on the whole thing!!! It was like, God wanted to know if I could be okay with waiting. OR something deeper and more profound. Anyway, it was a special confirmation to me that God listens and hears and delights in blessing us in even simple ways…so TELL HIM WHAT YOU WANT, okay??? He just delights in us asking.

Anyone else want to share how God’s blessed them this past week?

P.S. See the lyrics to my Main Line song below…just for kicks.

Jesus on the main line, tell Him what you want
Jesus on the main line, tell Him what you want
Jesus on the main line, tell Him what you want
You can call Him up and tell Him what you want

You can call Him up, call Him up and tell Him what you want
You can call Him up, call Him up and tell Him what you want
Call Him up, call Him up and tell Him what you want
Go on, call Him up and tell Him what you want

Hey, Jesus on the main line, tell Him what you want
Jesus on the main line, tell Him what you want
Jesus on the main line, tell Him what you want
Go on, call Him up and tell Him what you want

Hey, if you’re sick and you want to get well, tell Him what you want
Oh, if you’re sick and you want to get well, tell Him what you want
Oh, if you’re sick and you want to get well, tell Him what you want
Go on, call Him up and tell Him what you want

Hey, Jesus on the main line, tell Him what you want
Jesus on the main line, tell Him what you want
Jesus on teh main line, tell Him what you want
You can call Him up and tell Him what you want

His line ain’t never busy, tell Him what you want
His line ain’t never busy, tell Him what you want
His line ain’t never busy, tell Him what you want
Go on, call Him up and tell Him what you want

Hey, Jesus on the main line, tell Him what you want
Jesus on the main line, tell Him what you want
Jesus on the main line, tell Him what you want
You can call Him up and tell Him what you want
You can call Him up and tell Him what you want