Seeing God in Everything

Seeing God can seem hard to do at times, but not if we try to look for him with our spiritual eyes. 

This past week has been a whirlwind of emotions for me.  My mother-in-law left for her very first mission trip; she went to Romania.  That was frightening and exciting at the same time.  She had never left my father-in-law before, so we knew this would be difficult for the both of them, yet rewarding, at the same time.  She has watched our daughter be so passionate about her “homeland” Jamaica and wanted to catch that vision.  I think she did.

While she was in Romania, our daughter was at church camp.  My son didn’t go because many of his friends weren’t going.  Also, it was at the beach, and he doesn’t like to stay out all day, so he made the decision not to go.  Well, let me just say that he regretted that decision before the campers even left for camp (because most of his friends accepted last minute scholarships and went)…and I regretted not sending him.  This was a tough lesson for him to learn about the consequences of your decisions.  It was also a learning experience for me for several reasons.  First, I initially tried to find a way to send him to camp even after eveyone had already left. I tried to find someone he could ride with. Then, I realized that MOMMY didn’t need to fix this.  I can’t always rush in to save the day.  Also, I learned about not letting someone else’s bad mood bring you down.  Much quality time was lost this week because of grouchy behavior and because two second-born children (my son and I) each refused to bend.  We did spend some time playing Battleship and it was fun to beat him!!!

Also, we had a water pipe to burst and our air went out!  Praise the Lord the air was just something my husband had to work with when he got home from the office…but not before my son and I had to be in an 89 degree house all day.  The water pipe is being repaired today by my husband…ugh. 

A friend gave me an old laptop this week, and that was so sweet of her to think of me.  She knew that mine had crashed and died last year, leaving me without any way to get off by myself and work on my novels/Bible studies in quiet.  Well, that’s not entirely true…I can do it the old fashioned way and use a pad and pen.  I just don’t often have the time to write these days because I work from home and homeschool.  So I had come to the conclusion that even though I wanted a laptop, I didn’t really need one because I didn’t really have any current goals set for my writing these days.

THEN….I got a book contract!!!!!  Yes, you heard me!!!  A publisher accepted one of my novels this week.  I had just about lost all hope of ever seeing this happen.  I submitted my proposal to them last June!!  I’ve had so many rejections over the years, that after a while you just send proposals and forget about them.  That’s pretty much what I had done.

So, this week, I’ve had ups and downs, crazy days and lazy days, joy and heartbreak.  But (in looking back) I found myself giving glory to God even in the rough times.  And, I think he keeps rewarding me for that faithfulness.  I feel truly rewarded because even though my husband is digging up the yard, I’m trying to pay big bills with a small pocketbook, and there’s so many things I want to do and can’t find the time to do them, I’m healthy, safe, blessed, and content.  So, I’m rewarded.

A Legacy

This week one of my aunts passed away; a younger sister to my mom.  I didn’t know her well, even though I have known her my entire life.  It’s weird how you can be related to someone and not really know a lot about that person.  This aunt was someone who I saw twice a year at Easter and Thanksgiving and someone to whom I exchanged the typical pleasantries. But that truly was about it.  When my cousin gave the eulogy, I realized that THE woman she spoke of was not a woman that I knew. 

 

My mother was the second born out of four girls.  She was closest to her older sister.  My aunt that passed was closest to the baby of the family.  Therefore, I was closest to my cousins who were the children of my mom’s older sister.  My aunt who passed also worked full time, so we did not get together with her much when I was a child.  I did not know about my aunt’s salvation experience or even if there was one. I didn’t know what her hobbies were. I didn’t know much about her except that she was a faithful employee of the same company for almost 40 years. I guess I could have tried harder to get to know her after mom died, but there were obstacles that I didn’t take the time to move out of the way.  My life was busy and so was hers.  I guess it just never occurred to either of us.  I realized at the funeral that often times we say we know someone, but we don’t really know them.  The people that do know them are the ones who are with them day in and day out. 

 

I have tried to be purposeful in getting to know my niece; she’s the only one I have. I want to make sure that she really knows me.  I want her to know I’m not perfect (it doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out) and I want her to know that I love her even though we don’t get to see each other more than a few times a year.  We do communicate through email and we talk on the phone every few weeks.  I want her to know my hobbies, my interests, my goals in life…I want her to know as much about me as she wants to know.  I want to remain friends with her even after my own children have left the nest.  I think it is important to pour ourselves into the lives of others and for others to pour themselves into us. 

 

I pray that when it is my time to go, the funeral home will be busting at the seams with people coming to remember what a crazy, funny, sweet, deep, and loving person I was.  I hope they will forget about my flaws, for they are many; or at least be able to laugh at them as I do.  Most of all, I pray that it is said of me that I lived my life in reckless abandon for the Lord, that I stood my ground on moral issues and didn’t lower my standards when it came to my values, and that people feel closer to Him because they knew me.  (I sure hope I have at least sixty more years to accomplish that goal because I’m a long way away from it.)