God's Hands and Feet

Have you ever stopped and wondered why you are in the position you are in?

Why you live in the house you do?

Join one club over another?

Volunteer in a particular group and not something else?

Why you took one job and not the other?

Have you ever just been alone in your thoughts to ponder about your current circumstances- all of them?

Before a few weeks ago, I really didn't, either.

But over these past few weeks, God has shown me more whys than I ever thought I would know or truly ever questioned before.

For example:  when we moved to Dorr in 2003, we met some amazing neighbors that quickly became good friends.  One such person introduced us to a horse, Jersey, that I fell in love with.  Ted was working a full and part time job at that time, and his co-worker turned friend introduced us to a great family that has horses where we ended up boarding Jersey at for a long time.  Fast forward to 2015 and that family introduces us to a 4H group, Rindin' Wild, where we instantly felt connected and at home.  That amazing group has now embraced our family in the biggest hug possible by providing us with the below picture.

If the print is too small to read, it says that 45 round bales have been pre-paid for us by Ridin' Wild.  FORTY FIVE BALES!!!!  For those that don't know, round bales average between $45 and $55 dollars.  Our horses eat one round bale every 7 to 9 days.  This hay will last for just about a year!

Oh, the name of our hay guy, Royal (he has a twin brother Loyal), we met him through our current neighbor whom we adore.  Royal is one of the greatest old time farmers you will ever meet.  Just about every day he is out tending to his cattle, bailing hay, helping with his wife's horses, taking care of her, his brother, and did I mention he is in his late 70's?  Because of the house God has placed us in now, we have been blessed with Royal and his friendship.  And with the friendship of an amazing neighbor that has been with us through some very heartbreaking moments (putting Jersey down).

Just last week, I was a bit, okay, a LOT, scared about our future finances.  Then an angel from the community, someone that has a child Christian's age, visited me at work.  She handed me a card saying that they were praying for us, and within that card was enough money to pay several of our bills for the month!

Sunday, many friends and family came out to our home to do yard work and continue on with the dog mansion.  So much was done!  A bit of our over grown jungle was taken out and a large kennel fence put up.  They were also able to take out our old chicken coop and add that to the fencing for the dogs.  It would have taken me weeks to do all of this on my own, and in a matter of a few hours, we were all able to get it done.  It is one large step to getting those beagles outside.

Even though Ted was laid off, his employer is providing six months of continued health insurance.  This is HUGE for us as we have already met our out of pocket max.  This also gives us six months to get him onto Medicare or another insurance to continue to fight the cancer.

My employer has been a huge blessing.  Besides encouraging me to be with Ted as much as I can, they understand me.  My sweet boss has a husband that can no longer do things for himself.  There are days where we talk about our goofy hubbies and laugh at some of their quarks and days where our hearts break for the current situation.  Yet we both continue to live life each and every day even if we don't fully understand how.

Over the last two months, God has been showing up in so many ways.  People sending money to us has helped ease my financial worries, but even more so, the prayers.  Our family has been surrounded by so many prayers to the point that I am 100% convinced that my mind is not a mushy ball of goo because God is hearing them and responding to them.

Every single day I wake up, make coffee and read my bible.  Today, I kid you not, were two perfect verses that pertain to how I am feeling and what I am experiencing right now:

I took this picture as I was driving home from the 4H meeting.

Colossians 3:17- Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

In all that is going on, I must continue to thank God for something every single day. Lately, I have been thanking him for my snoring husband as it means I have another day with him.  But I also thank God every day for all of you, his hands and feet that are allowing God to use you in miraculous ways.  I can choose to be down in the dumps about our situation, or I can choose to embrace it and see God work in ways I could never imagine.