Times of plenty

Andy and I stand in awe of our big, big, God.  In the last few months we have seen Him pour out so many blessings on us and this ministry here.  We realize it is not because of what we have done but because He loves us and because He LIKES to show His faithfulness to those who recognize it!  And we RECOGNIZE!

I sat down the other day just to list the many blessings and I want to share them with you, in vulnerability and confidence, because I want you to know His goodness and mercy.  And also, because it is worth the wait to experience His good gifts.

Here are as many as I can think of….

• Tuesdays- the opportunities that we continue to have with our neighbors, friends, and community

• The community garden- we have enjoyed seeing a new dimension of this ministry begin to grow as we work alongside 6 families who have been coming to the food pantry to receive food.  This has opened our eyes to see how healthy it will be for all of us to have a part in sharing, growing, and fellowship.  And our radishes have already sprouted!  Our next work/planting day will be May 7, adding a few more veggies to the garden plots.

• We have finished our round of visiting and thanking all of our covenant churches who faithfully give and pray for us.  It was wonderful to give updates, see faces, hug, and encourage the local Body during these last 7 Sundays.

• Financial gifts have been very generous recently giving us freedom to build the community garden and now we can add a small fence around it!

• I was blessed to have a wonderful experience speaking at a women’s retreat for Sutherlin Family Church over the first weekend of April.  I was encouraged and honored to have this opportunity to speak about Friendship in the Kingdom as I shared stories, things I have learned over the years, and spoke words that the Lord had for those women.

• A very large tax refund gave us the ability to pay off our Vanagon AND the second part of our mortgage!  This was so exciting for Andy and I as we pursue the goal of “no debt”.  It was a satisfying and refreshing feeling to know we had made a wise decision even though we had faced a temptation to convenience ourselves with a second car.  This was hard (especially for me) but so good.

• And praise the LORD for His goodness and mercy…..some very good friends of ours gave us their Jeep last weekend!!!!!  This was a sacrifice for them but a pure Joy at the same time and we are SO blessed by their willingness to share.  If we are willing to wait on HIM, He will always have an opportunity to show His faithfulness!

• Andy was able to attend the Grace Chapel men’s retreat and came home encouraged and refreshed by many others in our home church.  This makes a happy wife!

We have been overwhelmed and so at peace during this time of plenty.  And just like Paul, we can say that we know how to be content with much as well as with little.  God is good no matter what and He continues to give us testimonies to remind us of His faithfulness.  We pray that our hearts and minds continue to recognize this and shout it from the rooftops, “HE IS GOOD!”

As we prepare to celebrate Easter, remembering His resurrection, we can stand in confidence and thankfulness that His Love is enough.  No matter what we do, who we are, or where we come from, He IS enough.  All of the rest is extra goodness.  Let us not forget that.

He is RISEN!!