I can’t go a day longer without letting you know how good God is to little ole me. This song by Crystal Lewis explains exactly how I feel.
More specifically, I really enjoyed my whirlwind visit of 10 days in Atlanta visiting 20 families. I drove from Lithia Springs, to Lawrenceville, to Cumming, to Villa Rica, to Norcross to everywhere in between. I have such a great family and caring friends. God used them to care for me in very specific ways.
Ever since we moved here nine months ago, it seems like I’ve been making a shopping list for whenever I would be able to go back to the States. My list was much longer than my budget! And unanticipated travelling costs really ate into my pocketbook before I ever set foot into the first store. But God knew all of that and provided everything that I needed – even down to olive oil and hair clips.
We ran out of olive oil the day before I went to Atlanta, but I didn’t buy more assuming that Enrique wouldn’t need it in my absence. When I got to my Dad’s, I found a bottle of unopened olive oil that I had stored in the closet.
I am growing out my hair so hair accessories were on my list. When we moved here, my hair was too short for clips and such so I left them all at my dad’s. I had forgotten about them and was pleased to find them!
There are a few Christian book stores here, but nothing as awesome as LifeWay! I went a little crazy buying $7.99 movies, $5 cds, and $1 packs of note cards. I gladly paid the $80, but started to feel buyer’s remorse as I drove on to my next store. That night, I began looking through some of the stuff that we didn’t bring last August and found all of the note cards and cds that I need so I returned practically everything two days later.
The credit back to my check card took longer than usual which prevented me from shopping for five days. I was frustrated with this restriction, but then saw that it was God’s way to protect me from buying more stuff either that I didn’t need or that He was going to provide.
Unfortunately, I tend not to listen to God and do things my own way. Since I didn’t see the money in my account and really wanted to go shopping at the thrift store, I moved some money around and drove to half-off day. Even though the pajamas for David on my list were only $1.50 (for the top and bottom), the very next day a friend gave David some brand new pjs as a gift.
God also used family and friends to bless me with three new tops; three home cooked meals; eight times to go out to eat; toys for David; gas for the car; an awesome tour of Chick-fil-A headquarters; and money to buy a much wanted purse and shoes, and pay to check my two suitcases at the airport.
While at the airport today, I must share a few more examples of God spoiling me.
- I weighed my suitcases at home and each piece weighed between 40 and 42 pounds (40 lbs. is the max; if you go over, there is a $25 charge. I know this because that’s one of the travelling fees I experienced on my way to the States). When I got to the airport, they were both a few pounds below the limit which allowed to me put some of the stuff I was carrying in my hand into the suitcase.
- You know how for international flights, you’re supposed to get to the airport three hours ahead of time? I got there just in time, three minutes before they started boarding.
- We travelled on Spirit which is a no-thrills airline. The seats recline ½ inch and are very small. If you want to choose your seats or enjoy one of the limited larger seats, it costs about $30 for each “luxury”. Even though I didn’t request the roomier seats or pay to pick where we sit, David and I got to sit on the third row in the big seats (two seats per row versus three)!
- On the way to the States, David’s ears and my head hurt upon descent even though neither of us was sick. I was dreading that to happen again –especially since we were both a little sick with runny noses and congestion – but there was no pain whatsoever. As a bonus, David slept the majority of the six-hour trip.
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| Sleeping in the roomy seat with Buddy, the dog. |
Please take five minutes to listen to the lyrics of the song that I mentioned at the beginning of this blog entry. I am humbled by God taking care of every detail of my life and loving me unconditionally.
