Good Gifts

Every year, my dear Grandmother gets everyone a gift certificate from Barnes and Noble. We all went out the day after Christmas and I browsed for quite some time until I found the perfect selections. I had two books in my hand as I walked towards the registers. In one hand, I held "Eat, Pray, Love" and in the other, "Three Cups of Tea". For some unknown reason, I felt like I should put "Three Cups of Tea" back and just get the one book...which is very unlike me! I usually use up my gift cards in one trip :)

Fast forward to that evening...I am squatting in front of the book section at the Goodwill, looking through all of the castaways. Most are from the 1970s...parenting books, cookbooks, novels. And then I see a very familiar cover...one that I had in my hand earlier that day! There is was..."Three Cups of Tea"! It was marked a whopping 59 cents. I caught my breath as I pulled it off of the shelf and quickly tucked it under my arm. I simply could not believe that it was the very book I had almost purchased at full retail price earlier that day.

Fast forward to the next day. I had been telling Rebecca about "Eat, Pray, Love" and that it would be the perfect book for her to read on their airplane ride to Brazil. I had prayed earlier about just giving her my new book, but I quickly (and selfishly) brushed that idea aside. I told God that if I was supposed to give it to her, then He better make it obvious. As we were sitting at the cafe drinking our coffee, Rebecca says, "could I just borrow that book from you for now"? And of course I said "NO! You can just have it!" :) I knew that God had spoken clearly and I heard Him.

The best part about all of this...was that because I didn't buy "Three Cups of Tea" at Barnes, I still had enough money to go back and buy another copy of "Eat, Pray, Love" for myself. God prepared the way in advance for me to bless Rebecca that day over coffee.

I don't believe in coincidence. I don't believe in luck. I believe in a sovereign God that weaves together every strand...every circumstance in our life...for good. Sometimes it may not feel "good" at the time, but when we look back years later or even at the end of our life, we can see that it was all working towards a purpose.

When I am abiding in Christ (spending time reading the Bible every day and regular time in prayer), I am so much more able to hear His gentle voice. My eyes are open and eagerly awaiting the amazing things that God has planned for my day.

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him" Matthew 7:11

My mind always comes back to this verse when God does something that delights and surprises me. My earthly father loves to go out for coffee...and he blesses his kids by taking them with and buying them coffee too. It's a sweet time a fellowship together and we love doing it. I'm always especially blessed because a Grande Soy Caramel Macchiato doesn't usually fit into a tight traveling budget! A few days ago, I was out running errands and I really wanted to stop and get a "fancy coffee", but I didn't want to spend the money on it. A few stops later, I was at the Co-op getting some groceries, and they were offering hot cups of fair trade, organic coffee for FREE! I was giddy with joy...and my mind went immediately to Christ, who I KNOW had a hand in that. Coffee with your Father is a good thing :)

Don't get me wrong...I don't believe that our prayers should be "you give me this, and I'll give you that" kind of prayers. I just know that when you walk with Him in a constant intimate relationship, He WILL bless you. He loves to bless you. And because you are in that close relationship, you will immediately recognize his touch.

Thank you God for good gifts!

Infinite. Eternal. Almighty.

“Infinite and yet an infant. Eternal and yet born of a woman. Almighty, and yet nursing at a woman’s breast. Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms. Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter’s despised son.”

–Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Thank you Lord for coming to earth to save us. We give you praise and honor your name on this Christmas Day! Here are some photos of our Christmas. It was a day full of laughter and memories...I hope yours was the same!

Love, Sara

A Strange Dimness

Several people have asked me how I was able to get books on the road...since I have no library :) I always laugh and tell them that I have NO time for reading anyway! However...I have refocused my priorities a bit and have been reading again. And OH! How I missed it. Reading feeds my soul. I so LOVED one of the books, that I just knew had to share it with you. I found it on my dear friend Angela's bookshelf when we stopped at her house in Tennessee and she was gracious enough to let me take it with me to finish. The book is called "Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God" by Noel Piper (John Piper's wife). She tells the stories of five women who have been used by God to do mighty things...some were missionaries, some were mothers, all were amazing. There was one paragraph in the book that really stuck out to me. It was the chapter on Lilias Trotter, an artist and missionary to the Muslims in Algeria.

I'll give you the paragraph before for some context...

She was free now to throw herself wholeheartedly into her ministry in London. She remained Ruskin's friend to the end of his life, though he never understood her decision. and she still loved art--how could she not when her soul was so tenderly vulnerable to beauty. But she enjoyed her art now as a gift, not a passion. Much later, she realized even more strongly the importance of focusing on Jesus, rather than on all the good things he gives us.

Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen good harmless worlds at once...art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the good hiding the best. It is easy to find out whether our lives are focused, and if so, where the focus lies. Where do our thoughts settle when consciousness comes back in the morning? Where do they swing back when the pressure if off during the day? Dare to have it out with God...and ask Him to show you whether or not all is focused on Christ and His glory...

How do we bring things to a focus in the world of optics? Not by looking at the things to be dropped but by looking at the one point that is to be brought out. Turn your soul's vision to Jesus, and look and look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him.

...excerpt from "A Passion for the Impossible" (Rockness)

...a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him. Wow. I need to repeat that again and again. How often do we search and endlessly for something to change our life? For something that we can ADD to our life to make it better...more fulfilling...more exciting...when all we really needed to do was to change our FOCUS? We don't need to add anything...or even deliberately take things "away" from ourselves (unless they are causing sin in your life). We just need to "look and look"at Jesus...His words, His ways...and a "strange dimness" will come over all that is apart from him.

This has happened often in my life...and I know that many of you can relate. When I start to read my Bible more, I crave more and more of God's word. Which, in turn, makes a strange dimness come over my desire to watch TV. When I spend more time with Bella and Matt...a strange dimness comes over surfing the web aimlessly for hours. Jesus is a "light" that washes out things that aren't pleasing to Him.

Where is your focus right now? Are you "living in a half a dozen good harmless worlds at once"? As wives and mothers, we are prone to taking on too many extracurriculars...being involved with too many things outside the home...spending too much time on hobbies...all of these things are "good harmless" things, but when they draw your focus away from Christ and from your ministry to your family. You must reassess...and return to your first love. And if you're like me, you need to continue to do it on a regular basis.

I'm not sure, but I wonder if Lilias Trotter was thinking of this beautiful hymn when she wrote the words above...my mom used to sing it to me when I was having a particularly bad day, and these words still comfort me in times of struggle:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face; And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace.

Amen.