God is so Good-All the Time

A few days ago I wrote a post that told about some times when we our faith helps us to understand the hard times. This post will tell about how God has blessed us in some really fun ways.

Last month, we went to our local Fire Department open house and they had a chinese auction. We ended up winning four tickets to The Beach Waterpark in Cincinnati. Andy and I decided that it would be too much for Mator to spend a whole day there so we planned on getting a cheap hotel and taking the two oldest down on a Tuesday and spending Wednesday at the waterpark. {Just for the record, who do you think we give glory to for giving us those tickets?....Yes, God.}

Then, about a week before the planned trip, our Sunday School Teacher mentioned that he had four free tickets to the Creation Museum (this is about 30 minutes from the waterpark in Cincinnati). So we adjusted our plans to include driving to the Creation museum on Tuesday, spending the night at the hotel and the waterpark Wednesday. {Quick test, where did these passes come from? Hint: G....O.....D....}

We had an awesome time. The days were perfect-very warm but not so hot that as you were waiting around outside you thought you would melt. When we got to the Creation museum we found out that the passes included free tickets to the planetarium show (that would have cost us nearly $30-praise God!) So we visited the beautiful grounds, including the petting zoo and were able to pet and feed zorses and a camel! This was a great petting zoo because the animals were very interested in the food and lively.

Inside the museum are great movies and exhibits that explain the seven days of creation. There is a lot of background and science data but the highlight for the kids were the dinosaurs. Here's Muffin on the one that you can actually sit on (the rest were in exhibits).

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and headed out for the waterpark. We had a beautiful day there too. A couple of the slides were not operating which was disappointing. The wave pool had some trouble all morning too, it would kick on for about a minute and then shut down. Finally, the staff was not very helpful or happy that we were there. That being said, once I got over myself and realized, hey, these are free passes and we get to spend the day together-we had a lot of fun. And guess what, God provided for our needs again! I was in line with Doodle at lunch to get her a piece of pizza. I had brought a powerbar for me to save money. While waiting in line, a group standing to the side said, "Does anyone want a free pizza?" A whole pizza! Another lady and I shared it and I brought some back for Andy too! Isn't God good? Here we are, just before leaving at about 6:00! I was very sore for the next couple days, I must be a little old for slides and zip lines!

Two Bads = a Good?

We have all heard (and if you are a mom probably said), "Two wrongs don't make a right". But recently I've come to realize through two events that the world would perceive as bad, that God' word is always true.

First, a few weeks ago my business partner and I were discussing one of our largest photography contracts. We have had this contract for a few years and it grows every year. This year, due to the growth of the league, we knew we would have to try a different way to take every child's picture as our old system would not work. One of the ideas on the table was to have a "Picture Day" on a day that wasn't game day or practice day. One obvious choice for "Picture Day" was on a Sunday. We would start after church and shoot for 6 or 7 hours. I had some reservations about this because I knew that this schedule would prevent some people from being able to attend church on Sunday night. I don't personally attend church on Sunday nights but I know many people do. In our area, Sunday has always been off-limits for sports and until recently, so was Wednesday night (called "Dark Night" because all of the buildings in a community were dark except the church). So I asked my Pastor what I should do if this plan of taking pictures were to become a reality. After some wise words, he suggested that I could just pray something like, "Lord, please make it so that I don't have to take pictures on Sunday night." Then wait and let God work out the details. So I did. And He did. And two days later we got a call from the league that said we had lost the contract.

Is there joy and peace in that? Absolutely. I am reminded that Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,who have been called according to his purpose." He didn't say that we would LIKE all things. He didn't even say that all things would be EASY. Just that in ALL things He works for the good of those who love Him. That's me. I love Him. So even this "bad" thing will be for my good. And the peace that comes from knowing that is also good.

A few days ago we found out that one of our children has been grouped with other children whose test scores were among the lowest 15% in her age level. She was placed in this small group in order to be given more attention and have the best chance at success. When I heard this, it was like a punch in the gut. I cried a lot of tears and had to deal with issues of pride, fears for her future and worries about the social implications. But guess what. I believe that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him. So even though I don't know HOW this will work for good, I know it will. Of course, I do hope that someday [soon] I will be privileged to know how this works for good. But there are no scriptural promises that indicate that will happen; instead, I will trust God's word without even seeing it is so. That is faith, to me.

In a day or two, I'll give a few recent examples of how God has worked things for good in ways that are EASY to be happy about, and I promise to post pictures too!

Sometimes God Whispers, Sometimes He Yells

"He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses." Psalm 135:7

Last night, around 9:45 PM, our electricity (along with that of about 10,000 of our closest friends) went off. Not a big deal. I had filled the bathtub with water in case we would need to flush the toilets (if you don't have a well, that doesn't make any sense so ask a friend who has a well). I had even managed to squeeze out a few "important" emails and shut down the computer. I did forget to wash my face and brush my teeth which is also more difficult without running water but not a huge deal (can be accomplished with a water bottle).

Things got a little more difficult as I tried to settle in to bed in the deafening silence of a home that is un-electrified (Merriam Webster take note-I made up that word!). Mator is used to a fan in her room and woke immediately after the power shut off. She went back to sleep remarkably easy. I however, at 35 years old now, have more years of habit behind me. It is VERY hard for me to sleep without my white noise machine (note to self-buy a battery operated backup-duh). Plus, there is the "back of your mind" question- are these 60 MPH gusts going to rip the shingles off my house or the whole roof? And if the whole roof goes, will my children be sucked out of their beds? What about all the pictures I've been meaning to scrapbook that are sitting on the counter in the other room? Do I have digital backups in case those are sucked into the vortex? Oh, and should we be down in the basement? This is what kept me up until after midnight. Then, Doodle woke up and let out an ear piercing scream so I "gently" carried her to our room to sleep off the terrifying dream she must have had. At 5:30 I started waking every 30 minutes: Andy's alarm, Muffin's terrified cry, Andy calling to let me know he was on a 2 hour delay, my alarm, etc. So when I finally got up, still no electricity, I thought, "How is God going to use me getting maybe 4 hours of sleep to glorify Him-this ought to be good." In other words, what was the point of this major wind storm anyway?? Want to know?

Well, I got Muffin ready for school, packed up my toiletries and after dropping her off an hour late, I went of to my in-laws to take a shower. When I arrived I found that their good friend Mary had also sought refuge at their "electrified" house. I was talking to Mary when suddenly my mother in law called for help from the next room. She was in a desperate situation and the truth is, if we had not been there, she could have been in an even worse situation quickly. We were trying to help when the phone rang. Normally, I wouldn't answer their phone but I saw that it was my father in law. See, he was supposed to be 1 1/2 hours into a trip to Michigan but his boss was late to arrive at work and so he was still in town. Guess why his boss was late? And do you know why my father in law was calling? Just to check in with his wife. Wow. God is so good! He was at the house in five minutes and resolved the situation. If not for that windstorm knocking out our power, my mother in law would have been all alone in a time of need. Isn't God so grand?

So, sometimes God whispers and we are left to wonder what was His will in a situation? There are certainly times when we will have to be satisfied to wait until our glorious meeting in heaven to say, "Hey, by the way, what was THAT all about?" Then there are times when God is a roaring windstorm who practically shouts, "I am in this. I created this, and I created you. And sister, you need to sit back and relax and remember who is in charge!"

By the way, our power came back on about 15 minutes after I got back home today. Thank you Lord!