This trip was not financially healthy in some respects for our pocket book (we got home basically financially 'broke' in some ways, but in other ways I got home much richer then when I left). I don't believe I would trade all that happened during this recent trip in order to have a little extra money in the bank.
Some have asked me why I don't get a 'job' so we aren't quite as 'tight' in the money arena. I told one of them that I was already so busy I hardly had time to get a 'job'. :) There are advantages to having a little more 'expected' income and I have worked for 'pay' in the past. On the other hand, as far as recent experiences I'm not always sure that 'money' is the only 'answer'. Yes, we might be able to pay to have our own property if our finances were closer to the bottom side of what some folks call 'poverty' (whatever that means). We might be able to 'drive' a nicer car, (as if that were any great advantage most of the time). At the moment all of our vehicles are 'roadworthy' and for that I praise the Lord. And yes, I do believe that at certain times me having a paying job is an appropriate way to help support our family.
On the other hand, at least for the past several months or so it seems that the Lord has been having me on a different track. It does at times 'seem' to cause some things to maybe move a little more slowly, but not always - sometimes it almost seems faster. It seems to me that God has supplied our needs so many different ways, and often unexpectedly, that I am not always sure that 'working for pay' is always God's plan all of the time - at least for us.
This past trip probably might not have happened if I had been 'working for pay'. That means I would not have had the awesome privileges of seeing God work in people's lives as I did. That is one time I'm so grateful that I didn't miss out on that privilege.
Our son had just gotten back from a few months in army boot camp. I firmly believe that this experience in his life was God directed. But for some reason (for which I praise the Lord) the army decided that he was not 'ready' to be trained as they saw fit at this time so they let him 'go'.
On our way out to Illinois I got the first installation of our son's interpretation of at least some of what happened to him while he was in training. I so much value that part of our recent trip. Towards the end he commented that he didn't really know folks at the homecoming church and wondered if I would let him take the car up to Wisconsin - where he had gone to school for one year - and visit some of his friends while I was visiting my old friends during the homecoming at a church where I had gone to church school from 5th to 8th grades. I had already been thinking somewhat alone that line so it just seemed the 'right' thing for him to do. Since I also had some business to take care of in Illinois as a trustee there was no 'rush' or deadlines to meet that either one of us knew about.
Monday morning after he got back to my brother's place where I was staying in Illinois, he informed me that he had met a girl while he was in Wisconsin who he felt might be appropriate as a possible future mate. After he helped my brother one day on construction, we headed back 'home' to Virginia. In Indiana I commented to son that I had a good friend in Columbus and wondered if we might just have time to stop and visit a little. To shorten this tale a little we ended up spending a very pleasant evening, getting some sleep and a delightful breakfast with this special friend (I mentioned earlier - see link at right).
She shared a little how she had written a book and son mentioned he felt he should write down what God had been doing in and for him during the past few months. She handed him a pad of paper and pen and encouraged him to 'go for it'. After she went to bed he asked me if I would write while he talked. We spent quite a bit of time together as he shared his experiences and I wrote (while praising God as I heard more of how God had been answering prayer after prayer of mine even though I didn't know how until I listened to his 'story'). We finally did go to sleep and I breathed a prayer of thanksgiving before slipping off to sleep for that precious experience that evening with my son.
God has promised that He will contend with those who are contending with me and save our children - our son. God has definitely been 'working' - full time it seems lately - to show me how and where I am not like Him so that I can agree with Him, which allows Him to change me into what He has planned for me to be.
Come to think about it, being God's kind of mom can be a full time job. And I believe that the benefits of being able to cooperate with God in this job are out of this world.
Whether I get dollars and cents for what I do I am choosing to let God decide. On the other hand the blessings, learning experiences and opportunity to be of help to others is awesome pay, to say the least.
In one sense I do have a paying job at present. About 2 years ago I began doing 'house care' for a lady a few miles from our place. It was quite an unusual situation, to put it mildly, but she really needed someone to help her in a number of ways. At first I thought it was mainly to help her catch up on some house cleaning that had gotten behind. She offered me what she felt she could pay and I was thankful for a bit of extra 'income' at that time. As time went on the situation she was in seemed to be deteriorating in some respects and her needs seemed to be getting greater while her available funds were fast dwindling. I made the choice to help her - my friend now, not just an employer - even though the dollars and cents were not always readily available as we had agreed upon at the beginning. As time has passed she has been able, at times, to 'pay' me in 'cash'. Other times, and often when her need of 'physical' help as well as other assistance has been greatest, she has not been able to give me financial remuneration as such on a 'weekly or monthly basis. As time passed helping her has progressed from simply 'housecleaning' on to office assistant, to limited maintenance at times, to chauffeur, to gardener, to prayer partner, to encourager when things seemed particularly tough, to friend and much more. I believe God saw fit to give me this job for far more than just 'greenback' pay.
I think one great remuneration I have received from her has been her increasing interest in our son. She took an interest in him from almost the first time she met him. When she found out he was going into the army she did many things to encourage him. After his return she has continued to support him in seeking for employment. She has had training in job placements so has been quite effective and a great 'coach' for him. She has also taken time out of a quite busy schedule to encourage him as he is developing his relationship with his new found friend in Wisconsin. Most importantly I believe her spiritual guidance has been aimed to nudge him closer to the Creator God which has been such an encouragement to me as well. I know she has prayed often for him as well as counseled from time to time as seemed appropriate.
Well, as reviewed above, one reason I don't have a 'for pay' job, at least as most people might think of it, is that right now I am too busy working.
We had hoped to take another trip at the end of this week but right now I am broke. We will see what the Lord has in store. If He wants us to go we will. If not, there is plenty to do around the farm and in helping my friend mentioned above as well as helping a number of other folks on the side.
Tomorrow I promised another friend I would help her move some things with our pick-up. Our son was going to go but he got an interview for a possible job just after noon and doesn't want to miss - good for him.
Wednesday I promised to do some housecleaning for my friend. (Haven't done any of that for quite some time even though that was my original 'job' description, so I better get busy. I was going to do some cleaning today but we did gardening instead - my hubby came over after he got off work and and we were able to pull a lot of weeds from her front flowerbeds which were getting too overgrown to look nice.)
Thursday I have an appointment to work here at the farm to get some things done at our place. (That is sometimes the case - I have to schedule to get anything done at home.)
Thursday another friend has surgery planned and I hope to spend a little time visiting her in the hospital Friday. We met her when she called our church and asked if there was any possibility of getting a little food from us. Since her previous surgery (caused by a previous surgery mistake) she had not been able to work as much which had caused them to 'run out' of food. We offered to take some of our food over to her Sabbath afternoon for which she was grateful. We have been in touch with her and her son since then. We are a bit short financially but we can still help her by being friends and by prayer with and for her during this time of stress, anyway.
Maybe one of these days I'll have time to get a 'job'. But until then I am humbly grateful how the Lord has seen fit to use me in helping others get to know Him better - I hope that is the outcome anyway. But whether they see Jesus better or not I know I am learning more about Him and that is truly awesome.
Bringer of Peace.
helping some other folks but I readily agreed that would be a good idea. The day began when another lady came to talk to me. As we talked we were pulling weeds along a gravel walk between the large farm house and the 'laundry' room right beside it. We got that just about done and another young fellow came out to help as well. He asked about an area between the laundry and the big house. I agreed that would be another good place to clean so we spent a fair amount of time pulling and cutting weeds. There have been a lot of tall flocks growing there - but a lot of weeds as well. The flocks have been very lovely this year but they are almost 'done' so we trimmed some of them back while getting rid of the weeds as well. The day lilies are also finished so we trimmed them back where needed while we were 'at it'. When we finished that area we moved on to the side of the house where the main used door is located. Another lady had promised to take care of the beds by the door but it has been a challenge for her to surround all she has promised to do. Some of the 'growth' had spilled out onto the lawn area and I agreed that the young fellow could trim the 'overgrowth' back to the side of the bed - where there is a low brick 'wall'. Sadly, when the lady who had asked for my help finally came on the scene some time early afternoon, she expressed very passionately her dislike of what we had done. I was sad at her response, but at this point in time I still have a peace in my heart that our motives were to help improve the farm by weeding and cleaning. I'm sorry she did not choose to understand our motives, but on the other hand, if she carries through with what she said, I hope she will get happier - she said she would be moving somewhere else because she believes we are not treating her as we should.
od guided and direc
