In my last blog post I shared about our recent trial and outlined my theology on suffering and the soverignty of God, that God has a reason for everything we face in this life. In the middle of a difficult trial, the Lord met me. Not only did I receive His strength, but the Lord whispered to me, "prepare for the blessing." I felt as if the Lord was telling me that He was about to overwhelm me with gifts. I took Him at His word, but I had no idea what we were in for.
As we were getting settled into our hospital room (for Luke's burn), we remembered that my brother's Mom and Dad in-law live in the Minneapolis suburb of Shoreview. I quickly got on the phone with them. Let me just say, my brother married into a wonderful family. They came to visit us that night in our hospital room. They brought love as if we were a part of their family. In addition they brought Joanna some clothes to make our stay more comfortable. Before they left, we prayed together and believed God to provide healing for Luke and peace for our family. God brought us peace as we rested that night in hospital chairs.
Early the next morning, I started thinking about our van. How would we get it fixed? If you didn't read my last blog post, our van was at a Minneapolis mechanic with a broken timing belt with estimated repairs at $2,000. My first call was to a friend in Verndale, who is also a mechanic. He had already been thinking about our van as someone in our church had told him of our situation. He worked it out for our van to be towed from the mechanic in Minneapolis to his garage in Verndale. What a blessing!
The next chore would be to find a ride back to Verndale. After a few phone calls, I talked with one of my youth sponsors who's brother happened to be driving to the cities that day for a high school graduation. He was going to be driving back with his family and wouldn't need his truck. Praise the Lord! All we would need to do was to find a ride to the church where the graduation was being held. That was easy because the church where the graduation was held is the same church where my brother's in-laws worship on Sundays. They picked us up when we were discharged from the hospital and then dropped us off at the church. What a blessing to be able to get back home without having to rent a car! When we pulled up to our house a friend had left their car for us to borrow until our van was fixed.
Fast forward to just this past week. The Lord continues to pour out His blessings. We received a large check in the mail. We also found out that our van has been repaired as a gift to our family. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! To God be the glory, great things He has done! ...and I haven't even mentioned the cards, emails and phone calls!!!
Where's God? There's God! So often, people allow the trials of life to get them bent out of shape and if only we could see from God's perspective. He is pushing us to press into Him deeper. He desires for us to be refined in the fire. He is developing perseverance. In the midst of my trial, the Lord worked.
Romans 8:28 "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."
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