This morning marked a milestone in our house. I packed up and put away my husband's walker, cane, and all the bags of therapy and post-operative equipment that we had collected since his knee-replacement surgery in June. He received welcome news from his surgeon at his appointment this morning that he can discontinue his blood-thinner medication, and he doesn't have to be seen again until next year! That makes us happy for a couple of reasons: we have both really disliked the Coumadin diet, which didn't allow him to basically eat anything healthy. Green vegetables and salads were out and starches were in! Now we can go back to eating our veggies! Secondly, it means that he is making progress with his daily visits to the gym and pool at the Y and he gets to continue his exercise regimen toward his goal of strengthening his leg.
A few months ago, that walker and then the cane, along with the medical supplies, were absolutely indispensable. I couldn't have imagined packing them away. I was thinking about this the last few days as I put away my patriotic summer decor and got out my pumpkins, scarecrows, apples, wreaths, and other fall decorations. It seemed like I was just decorating our house for summer, and now the summer season is past and fall is upon us. We carefully plant annual flowers in the spring and then dig them up when they are finished blooming for the summer and replace them with something else.
This all reminds me of the verse in Ecclesiastes 3:1 - "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." When we reflect on this, we realize that God indeed does have a designated time and a purpose for everything He allows in our lives. The key to our peace and contentment is to accept and appreciate God's perfect timing of everything in our lives.
Our lives as women are made up of seasons. Each one has its challenges and its joys. We may be young, single women who are trying to figure out what God wants us to do and make hard choices about where we will go to school, what we will study, who we will marry or not marry, where we will live. There is the season of motherhood, when we are so busy raising our children that we wonder if we will ever have a moment to ourselves again. There may be years spent homeschooling, in contrast with years spent in outside employment or working at home. There is the empty-nest season when we have to adjust to just being the two of us again and relating to our now-grown children as adults, and learning to be a grandmother.... There are seasons of illness and health, of friendships that were once strong but fade when one of you moves away or on to a different season. There are seasons of being a caregiver and the one receiving the care. Yes, to everything there is a season.
This is a lesson to me in a couple of ways. We need to learn to appreciate the good times and try to live "in the moment", because nothing lasts forever. So often we are always looking forward to "the next thing" and we miss enjoying the blessings of the here and now. We can also be encouraged that if we are going through a difficult season, God has a limit to it and will bring it to an end when it is HIS time.
In addition, we can look for what lessons God wants us to learn in every season of life. I am a firm believer that God does not put us in any season that He will not somehow use in our lives or the lives of others. He has lessons to teach us and experiences to help us grow and things for us to learn. No matter what season you are in right now, you can know for sure that it will not last forever, and you can be confident that He has something for you to learn. And in every season, He will give you all the grace and strength you need, because it is all under His sovereign control.
Thoughtfully,
Kathi
The Light in My Window
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
God's Gracious Providence
September in Virginia is beautiful! The nights are cool and the days have been sunny, warm, and clear with none of the summer humidity - at least for now! In another couple of months the leaves will be turning and I always especially enjoy the beauty of God's creation at that time of year.
I didn't get a post written last week because I was in Georgia, spending the week with my family. My missionary brother and sister-in-law who live out of the country were there at my parents' home, and my sister lives nearby. Since it had been 9 years since we were all together, I decided this was a good time to go and visit. It was truly a special time of being together and we had a wonderful week.
I have been reminded anew lately of God's gracious providence in our lives. Last year in the Ladies Bible Study class that I teach, we studied God's providence, based on the book, Not by Chance by Layton Talbert. It is a book and a study I highly recommend! It makes one more aware of God's providence - his sovereign rule over and direct involvement in every event in our lives. I personally witnessed that again this past week - not just once, but three times!
While I was in Georgia and alone one morning at my sister's house where I was staying, I went to my car and it would not start. It had a dead battery. I called my brother and he came over and was able to get it started by jumping it, and he also went with me to get a new battery purchased and installed. God's providence was that 1) this happened in my sister's driveway and not somewhere along the 9 hour route between there and home, and 2) it happened on my brother's last day there, so he was available to help me. My dad, due to his health, is no longer able to do things like that. God's gracious provision!
The big answered prayer request I spoke of in my last blog post was the sale of our house in Illinois. At the end of this month, we have now been here for three years, and our house in Illinois had still not sold. We have been waiting, praying, and paying two mortgage payments (plus the related utilities, taxes, insurance and expenses!) for three years! We are rejoicing in God answering our prayer, as well as His timing which is always perfect. Well, at the end of last week we found out that the closing on the house was being moved up by a week. They needed the necessary paperwork signed and notarized and in Illinois no later than Monday morning. That meant it had to be done and sent off from here on Friday afternoon. No emails or faxes accepted. And I was in Georgia! My husband arranged for a notary appointment at our bank, and I began the home earlier than I had planned so that I could arrive home in time. It was a stressful and tiring trip, but I made it, only to learn when we got to the bank that a rule had changed. They could notarize our paperwork but they could not witness our signatures. And since we didn't have any witnesses, they couldn't notarize our papers. This was at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon! All I could think of was that I had just driven 10 hours and now we weren't going to make the deadline after all. God then sent a man whom we had never met, who stepped in and offered to be our witness! The paperwork was completed in short order and we proceeded to the Fed-Ex office before they closed and got everything sent off just in time! God's gracious provision!
One of the stipulations in the sale of our house was that we have a swing set in the backyard removed. That was easier said than done - another difficulty of being 1,000 miles away. Our realtor had asked around and found someone who wanted it, but at the last minute when the person found out they had to take it apart and remove it from the ground, they changed their mind. So we still had to have it removed before the closing. The last possible day, it "happened" that my brother was in the same town, ministering at our former church which is one of their supporting churches. This is the ONLY time he was there in FOUR YEARS! It's amazing - our house didn't sell for three years, and then God orchestrates the sale and closing for the exact time my brother would be in town! He, along with a friend of ours there, kindly spent the morning of his last day there doing just that, and they even found someone to give it to! God's gracious provision!
We might think "That's just lucky", coincidental, or our "good fortune." As Christians, there is no such thing as fortune or luck. I share these things with you so that you may be encouraged. God cares about and intervenes even in the smallest details of our lives. The subtitle of the book I mentioned above, Not by Chance, is Learning to Trust a Sovereign God. If we are confident of God's gracious providence in our lives, we can trust His timing and His daily guidance. We fall into the trap of blaming God for the bad things and failing to thank Him for the good things in our lives. As a result, we often misinterpret the intent of our circumstances. What we see as being against us, God is actually working for us. Today, thank the Lord for His gracious providence in your life!
Gratefully,
Kathi
I didn't get a post written last week because I was in Georgia, spending the week with my family. My missionary brother and sister-in-law who live out of the country were there at my parents' home, and my sister lives nearby. Since it had been 9 years since we were all together, I decided this was a good time to go and visit. It was truly a special time of being together and we had a wonderful week.
I have been reminded anew lately of God's gracious providence in our lives. Last year in the Ladies Bible Study class that I teach, we studied God's providence, based on the book, Not by Chance by Layton Talbert. It is a book and a study I highly recommend! It makes one more aware of God's providence - his sovereign rule over and direct involvement in every event in our lives. I personally witnessed that again this past week - not just once, but three times!
While I was in Georgia and alone one morning at my sister's house where I was staying, I went to my car and it would not start. It had a dead battery. I called my brother and he came over and was able to get it started by jumping it, and he also went with me to get a new battery purchased and installed. God's providence was that 1) this happened in my sister's driveway and not somewhere along the 9 hour route between there and home, and 2) it happened on my brother's last day there, so he was available to help me. My dad, due to his health, is no longer able to do things like that. God's gracious provision!
The big answered prayer request I spoke of in my last blog post was the sale of our house in Illinois. At the end of this month, we have now been here for three years, and our house in Illinois had still not sold. We have been waiting, praying, and paying two mortgage payments (plus the related utilities, taxes, insurance and expenses!) for three years! We are rejoicing in God answering our prayer, as well as His timing which is always perfect. Well, at the end of last week we found out that the closing on the house was being moved up by a week. They needed the necessary paperwork signed and notarized and in Illinois no later than Monday morning. That meant it had to be done and sent off from here on Friday afternoon. No emails or faxes accepted. And I was in Georgia! My husband arranged for a notary appointment at our bank, and I began the home earlier than I had planned so that I could arrive home in time. It was a stressful and tiring trip, but I made it, only to learn when we got to the bank that a rule had changed. They could notarize our paperwork but they could not witness our signatures. And since we didn't have any witnesses, they couldn't notarize our papers. This was at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon! All I could think of was that I had just driven 10 hours and now we weren't going to make the deadline after all. God then sent a man whom we had never met, who stepped in and offered to be our witness! The paperwork was completed in short order and we proceeded to the Fed-Ex office before they closed and got everything sent off just in time! God's gracious provision!
One of the stipulations in the sale of our house was that we have a swing set in the backyard removed. That was easier said than done - another difficulty of being 1,000 miles away. Our realtor had asked around and found someone who wanted it, but at the last minute when the person found out they had to take it apart and remove it from the ground, they changed their mind. So we still had to have it removed before the closing. The last possible day, it "happened" that my brother was in the same town, ministering at our former church which is one of their supporting churches. This is the ONLY time he was there in FOUR YEARS! It's amazing - our house didn't sell for three years, and then God orchestrates the sale and closing for the exact time my brother would be in town! He, along with a friend of ours there, kindly spent the morning of his last day there doing just that, and they even found someone to give it to! God's gracious provision!
We might think "That's just lucky", coincidental, or our "good fortune." As Christians, there is no such thing as fortune or luck. I share these things with you so that you may be encouraged. God cares about and intervenes even in the smallest details of our lives. The subtitle of the book I mentioned above, Not by Chance, is Learning to Trust a Sovereign God. If we are confident of God's gracious providence in our lives, we can trust His timing and His daily guidance. We fall into the trap of blaming God for the bad things and failing to thank Him for the good things in our lives. As a result, we often misinterpret the intent of our circumstances. What we see as being against us, God is actually working for us. Today, thank the Lord for His gracious providence in your life!
Gratefully,
Kathi
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