Tuesday Tidings: Good Luck or God's Provision?

On most Tuesdays you will find guest blogs by my daughters and many other people. 

However, today's blog is from me!

Enjoy!!

I don't know about you, but I am not a believer in "good luck" or coincidence. Rather I am a believer in:

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17

and

"The Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Psalms 84:11  

About a week ago, my four daughters and I made a trip a couple hundred miles away to go to the bridal shower of my niece who is getting married this winter. She lives in Japan, and we really wanted the chance to see her and the other women in the family.

Sunday morning we left bright and early, the trip up was fairly uneventful. Our truck engine seemed to running a little warm, but I figured it had to do with the mountains we had been traversing. I made sure the water and oil levels were good and we continued on our way.

We got to our destination in time to go to church and surprise some friends who weren't expecting to see us, which is always fun!

After lunch with friends and a beautiful bridal shower, we said goodbye to all and headed back down the road. On the way to the bridal shower, we had contacted a friend of McKenzie's who is going to college nearby and made plans to connect with her on the way home. So we headed towards our first stop of the University.

On the way, I noticed again that the engine was running warm and I was starting to get concerned. We stopped and visited with McKenzie's friend. We spent more time there than I was anticipating, but by time we started back down the road again, the engine was cooled off.

Fast forward to almost an hour down the road, things were NOT good. We were stuck on the side of the road and something was wrong. I called Peter, he wondered if our water pump was going out. We managed to limp to a rest stop and from there, it was obvious, we had a problem. One that was not going to get us over the mountains to home.

Let me stop a moment and tell you something...not one time did I doubt God's provision or care of us. Nor did I believe that we were having "bad luck" or a "bad turn of events". Not because I am some amazing person, but because God works all things to His good. Just like it says in Romans 8:28:

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

After being stuck at the rest stop for a half hour or so, the phone calls among family members were going back and forth. The Lord beautifully worked it out that we were only a half hour away from Peter's brother. He ended up coming to the rest stop, where he confirmed what we suspected, the water pump. He drove us to a nearby town where Peter's sister had set us up with an amazing hotel room for the night and got us some much needed dinner.

We settled in, took showers, tried out the jacuzzi bath and just marveled at God's goodness!

I will tell you....because I am human...that at one point before going to bed, I started to send out a text to someone that I thought might help us out in the morning. I remember distinctly, the Lord staying my hand and in His sweet gentle voice telling me to stop....to rest in Him and trust for the morning. I never sent that text and God amazingly was able to do His job without my help. I hope you are smiling at my sarcasm here, because it really is amazing how many times we humans think we need to help God out! Trust me, the Great God of the Universe does NOT need our help!

To make a long story short, my daddy drove up to where we were, picked us up at the hotel and we went to the rest stop and changed out the water pump. The Lord blessed us with a place in the shade to work, it wasn't too smokey (forest fires nearby), we had all the tools we needed and no surprises happened in the changing of the water pump.

A few other things I am grateful for in regards to God's Provision:

1. I'm thankful that the Lord prompted us to visit McKenzie's friend at college. If it wasn't for that stop, we would have been in the mountains, more than likely without any cell phone coverage to get help.
2. My girls: at one point, while we were blasting the heater to help cool the engine, one of the girls said, "Let's be like Paul and Silas and sing praises to God." And we did, we sang hymns and favorite Christian choruses while we sludged along! (If you want to read more about Paul and Silas and why they sang, look up Acts 16:16-33)
3. I'm thankful for family, both sides of our family were so willing to help and be used of Him in our trial. They rejoiced with us as God answered each prayer!
4. Last and certainly not least, for my husband. He held the fort with the boys while we were gone, made sure the house was spotless and helped our foster son through his anxiety of me not being at home yet.

Honestly, there are so many more....like having toothpaste in my purse and the receptionist of the hotel giving us toothbrushes and water bottles. God provided every need, there was not one thing that we had to go without.

This morning, I asked Peter what his verse was for the day, he said the first one that came to him was:

"In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." 

Proverbs 3:6

I have to agree....



Till next time...

Have a blessed day and embrace the craziness in your life!


Heidi