Reflections

I was struck a few days ago in my Bible reading by these verses from 1 John 5: 13-15

13 I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. 14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

First question I had for myself was,"What kind of prayer pleases God?".  And then,"Do my prayers line up with the type of prayer that would please God?"  and then... "If not, why not?" followed by "What would it take to change my prayers to ones that would please God?"

So often, I'm guilty of praying something like: "Dear Jesus, please take this pain away. Amen." But what of that prayer pleases God?  I don't see any trust in that prayer. I don't see any glorification OF God in that prayer. I mean... obviously if taking my pain away would glorify God the most, I'm sure He would do that... but so far He hasn't seen that taking away my pain would glorify Him more than allowing me to continue in pain would. I believe that praying that God would be glorified in this situation IS a prayer that would please Him, and I'm inclined to pray in that way, rather than "give me this, give me that, take away this", etc.  So, we'll see.  Whatever happens, I just want need God to do a major work in my heart.

Monday Morning Musings...

It's Monday morning.  That means it's a new week, a fresh slate.  And I messed up on my best-laid plans already.  :(  But... that's okay.  Because God forgives, and He knows my heart.

Today is going to be a busy day.  Daniel has a business meeting at a ranch on the other side of town this afternoon, and I'm tagging along for appearances.  After that, we'll go grocery shopping.  It's going to be a major shop this week because we pretty little in our cupboards and fridge right now.  :P  But of course... before we can do that, I have to write the grocery list.

Oh... and we're big on combining trips, so I have about 12 thank you cards, and 25+ Christmas cards to write before we leave.  Gotta run!  :)

Faithful Friday

Just wanted to share a verse from my Bible reading this afternoon:

I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me, for I have not forgotten your commands. Psalm 119:176

It's never too late to go running back to the Lord!  :)

Managing God's Money--Car Maintenance (Part 3)

If you missed Part 1 and Part 2, you can find them here and here.

This seems to be the overarching theme of our lives right now, but guess what we're going to attempt to do today?  Yep, that's right... we're hoping to get our alignment and new tires!  :)  Daniel has the day off work, so in a few minutes we'll call the tire store and make sure they have our tires, and if they do, we'll call the mechanic and let them know we're on our way for an alignment and oil change!

How God provided the money for this is pretty spectacular. Last week, we received a newsletter from our mechanic which included a $15 off coupon for an alignment.  Daniel did some website jobs and Wordpress training earlier in the fall, and we received the checks for those just before Thanksgiving. They were just enough, after tithing, to cover our new tires, with about $5 to spare.  Then, I posted on Facebook about the good news, and mentioned we still needed some money for our alignment, and the next thing I know, one of my friends Paypal'd just enough money to cover our alignment.  We also received a small check from the hospital since our insurance made a mistake that resulted in us overpaying for an appointment. That should cover half of our oil change.  We're just in AWE of the way God has provided for this.

We ARE still praying though, because I've heard that some vehicles need an extra part added to them in order to be able to have the correct alignment. We don't know yet if our car needs that extra piece.  If it does, we won't be able to get our alignment today, and we'll need to save some more moola. But, we know that God knows, and He will take care of His car, on His timeline.

Have you seen God provide for your needs in any extraordinary ways recently?

Faithful Friday

Fridays are a day we can look back and see what God has done in our lives over the previous week.

The verse (or chapter) that meant the most to me this week was Hebrews 11, the "faith chapter". How much more difficult were the trials they faced, than the little trivial things I have faced in my life! If they had such great faith, why can't I trust that God will do what He says He will do in my life?

I think it's because North American Christianity is pretty cushy compared to the situation that those mentioned in Hebrews 11 faced. Now, most of us draw a regular paycheck, we have a roof over our heads and food to eat. Then, they didn't have the assurance of getting paid on a regular schedule, their houses didn't protect them from the elements like ours do, and they didn't have modern conveniences to help keep food longer than a day or so! And those are all material things. What about trusting that God will work in hearts, or that He knows what's best for us? I think North American Christians tend to take for granted the blessings that God has given us, and continue on down the path to worry, stress, and doubt. We just can't see that even though we're the ones spending the money from our paychecks, God is the one who provides those paycheck. What would happen to the average North American Christian if they went into work today and discovered they had been let go from their job?

More Good Things!

1) Remember the awesome tire deal? I thought we'd lost it after our car broke down, so I called on Saturday and talked to the guy at the shop, and he said no, we could just come in whenever we're ready and get the better tires at a cheaper price.

2) I sold another blanket on consignment in October!

3) The yarn I use is on sale at Michael's this week, so I think I'm going to head over there today and stock up!

4) Someone ordered two blankets from me!

5) Daniel has been doing some reading toward his CompTia A+ certification, and he has the opportunity to do some job shadowing on his day off. We weren't sure it was actually going to happen, but he heard this morning that the option is still on the table.

What good things has God been doing in your life lately?