Prayer and Provision (Part 2)

Didn't get a chance to read the first part of the story? Click here for part 1

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Provision ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the conference call, I went to my quiet time in Jesus Calling, a little later than usual, but I opened my Bible and sat down in the quietness of the morning to pray and be close to Him. Just be still… The verse in the devotional was in the same chapter!! 

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 4:19 

He already had started doing this the day before and on into the next days.  Here is a small glimpse into a few of my God winks of provision:

• A friend to watch the boys so we could go get a phone the night before my husband had to turn his phone into work.
• As we are leaving for the cell phone store, our piano teacher’s husband called. I was puzzled at first because he doesn't usually call my phone from his wife’s phone. I said, “I only have a minute. We are off to get a phone and computer.” He said, “Well, that is why I am calling. Laura and I would like to offer a spare laptop for you to use as long as you need.” WOW!! Thank you Lord; and Jeff and Laura for the first material, physical provision. 
• A friend to watch the boys at 10 at night so I could help my husband pack up his office and not be up too late the night before his last day. A day which would without a doubt be emotional as he was celebrated at a luncheon, quickly put together for him. By the way, she rarely is available by phone, but she answered the first time I called! Not a coincidence in God’s realm! He had already walked ahead of me, here and He continues!! 
• A skin care class scheduled with a new customer with whom I had been texting faithfully for weeks about getting together, was “suddenly” ready to schedule with me!  Her class was just a few days away and provided income for our family above and beyond the average skin care class. WOW! He blessed beyond what we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

I have a feeling that God is going to be “winking” all over the place in the upcoming days. My prayer is that I am not unaware. I choose to rest in His Presence. I pray the Holy Spirit opens my eyes to His Hand of provision and shares the “winks” in my direction.  There have always been many, I am sure.  Now, through “life happening” I am aware.  You say, sorry.  Thank you. The pain is real, and sorry is empathetic. BUT, Pray!! Trust God!! Turn to HIM!!  Please, if you have experienced enough “life,” you know empathy is comforting and the human touch necessary, but no need to say sorry to me for the pain, God winks in my direction and I SEE!!!  To God Be the Glory!! 

Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5: 16-18)

by Joni Ormsbee

Prayer and Provision (Part 1)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Prayer ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Often, I take for granted the everyday provisions from the hand of God. Why? Life gets busy for all of us, including me. I know in my “head” that God provides and often in various other circumstances of life I have experienced that hand of provision from my head to my heart!  

This past week, in yet another life altering circumstance, one honestly I still cannot wrap my human brain around, God provided. Over and over, God is reminding me that He is Sovereign and He loves me!! My husband was part of a RIF at his work. After 34 years of investing his life into an institution he loves and supports, we find ourselves on a road we did not think we would walk.

Thankfully, God understands our emotions and reminded me through a conference call that He desires us to pray.  

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ~ Philippians 4:6

God “winked” this verse in my direction to remind me to go to Him in prayer and in the “human” touch, let others pray for me. I don’t need to walk alone. 

Participating in a conference call for a discipleship class of new believers, I listen in as a fellow sister in Christ leads others. Well, providence or coincidence, I choose the former, she was not on to lead the call.  With the help of another, I found myself sharing, not just listening. A great way to get outside of yourself and the circumstances of your own life and have joy is to GIVE! Thank you Lord! Your Spirit within me urged me to join the call, even when I just wanted to sulk.

By the end of the call, the other listener read Philippians 4:6 and said “What do you think Joni?” I was thinking, Please don’t ask me.  I think I might cry.  I don’t want to damper the study with my hurt. But she did ask. I said, “Well, it is interesting that you should ask because I wasn't going to share, but I think I am supposed to share now.” 

After I shared, they prayed for me, and I was reminded God wants me to go to Him with my needs and my emotions, because you see, I am anxious about many things. But, He knows, understands, and “winks” in my direction. To God Be the Glory!!! His character is unchanging! 

by Joni Ormsbee

Missing M&Ms

Have you ever purchased a special item at the grocery story with a specific recipe in mind and then go to use it and someone has taken the liberty to help themselves? Like many people, my husband and I are trying to loose a couple pounds and eat healthy, so I'm not keeping "junk" food in the house.

Well my friend's birthday was coming up and he enjoys my white chocolate covered pretzels with M&Ms. I already had the white chocolate to melt and we normally keep pretzels in the house (not a terrible snack in a pinch), so I had purchased one small size bag of M&Ms. You guessed it, my husband thought they were a treat for him!  Why he thought that I will never know. Thankfully he did not finish the bag. 

As I groaned over the missing M&Ms and melted my chocolate and arranged the pretzels on the wax paper I was talking to God. My intentions for my friend were good but my attitude toward my husband was not. As I plopped the melted chocolate on the pretzels and quickly placed the M&M in the white chocolate before it hardened, I didn't even bother to count how many were in the bag. I could feel the bag getting lighter and I new I was nearing the end.

It just so happened I had the perfect number of M&Ms for the pretzels I had laid out. Coincidence? Perhaps, but I don't think so. If Jesus can feed 5,000 (Matthew 14:21) and still have left-overs, God can surely wink at me and show me he cares about the little details of my life. Especially when I'm blessing a friend and endeavoring to be a godly, Christian wife in the process. 

For the record, there was some melted white chocolate left in the pan. My husband gladly cleaned it out!

by Tina Wagner

Barefoot on the Boardwalk

At the beginning of the summer of my freshman year in high school, I took a trip to the beach with one of my friends. We walked barefoot on the boardwalk, and I ended up with a splinter in my foot. I tried to pull as much out as I could, but we drove home since it was still fairly painful. We cleaned and washed it, and didn't think much of it for the week. 

By the next Saturday, my foot had started to swell, and a red area had started to spread around the area the splinter had been in. We took a trip to the doctor to have it checked out. They flushed out the wound to get rid of any remaining pieces of the splinter, and told me I was good to go and it should heal soon. 

The next week it was still inflamed and red, and this time when we went to the doctor they drew a line around the red area and said if it spread outside of that line to come back. It rapidly spread, so we returned for them to do a minor surgery to open and clean the wound. I was put on crutches with an estimated recovery of 1-2 weeks. During this time we were told to daily clean and open the wound to make sure that no germs or bacteria were staying in the area. It was an incredibly painful time for me. 

After 2 weeks of what felt like torture, the area was still in awful condition. They took me in for a second extensive surgery that required me to be under an anesthetic. 

By this time they had conducted a number of cat scans, x-rays and the like to make sure that none of the splinter remained in my foot. All of the tests revealed nothing, which was why our doctor was so surprised she nearly fell out of her chair when she discovered a 3-inch piece of the splinter that was stuck to the side of one of my tendons. 

She brought it out to show my mum, and told her that it was a miracle that they found the splinter when they did. She said if it had been in my foot for even a week longer there would have been a chance they would have had to amputate my foot to keep the infection from spreading to my heart. All of the nurses in the surgery agreed that there were angels watching out for me that day, and gave my mum and I the chance to tell them about Jesus. 

And so, God winks... ;)

by Chloe Lukasiewicz

Do Butterflies Wink? (Part 4)

*Follow these links to read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the story 

In the summer of 2010 – almost two years after my dad’s death; Dave, myself and the boys had gone down to help Joyce at their home in KY and celebrate July 4 at the lake. 

I was working on putting in a small brick wall to hide the underneath of a shed from the waterside view of the house. As I was putting in the first layer of bricks to create the foundation, along my right shoulder came this beautiful, yellow butterfly.  It flew in front of me almost to say, ‘make sure you see me,’ and lingered in front of me along the wall of the shed and soon flew off to my left and I never saw it again.  I couldn’t believe it!! I have never seen a butterfly in the back yard that I remember for the last 20 years that I had visited there.  I felt the Holy Spirit’s special touch in that moment.  You see God controls nature and I know in my Spirit, He did that for me to let me know my dad loves me and would be very proud of my work on that wall and even more importantly for the love my family and I showed Joyce in coming and the love we continue to show her.  You see I genuinely love her with a love only God could put in my heart. I rushed to tell her the story and we both marveled at God’s special touch and how He did that for me showing His love for me in the flight of one of His butterflies. God’s "winks" again... 

A couple weeks later I visited my niece in NJ and one of Joyce’s friends, Bill and Kathy who also live in NJ.  We arranged to have lunch together at Kathy's home.

I had always felt “close“ to Kathy from the first time I met her but didn’t truly understand that connection until our lunch when over conversation I discerned she knew our Lord personally – we shared the Spirit!! 

Over lunch we talked about dad, my family, her family and other stories.  One of the stories was the importance of butterflies in my Dad and I’s relationship over the years.  After lunch, she showed me her yard and we settled on the back porch to talk.  Our conversation ended up discussing more about dad, our faith, and just life.  At one point, around Kathy’s right shoulder flew a yellow butterfly, yep YELLOW!!! Oh my gosh, I had just shared with her the story between my Dad and me over the years and here comes a yellow butterfly.  She had never seen a butterfly in all the years they have lived in NJ and it was yellow.  We both were marveling at the power of our God and the fact He would share His love to both of us through this moment.  It truly was amazing.

My God "winked" again through a butterfly!!

Who knows where my mighty God’s loving hand will show up again in the form of a butterfly but Joyce has carried on the story in her own loving, special way.  She gave me a card that opened up, like a pop up, with little white butterflies “flying” in the card.   It was truly beautiful.  She hoped I didn’t mind but she instantly thought of me when she saw the card and had to send it.  Of course I didn’t mind her showing me love in such a special way and carrying on the story.  It was her turn!

I guess it is my turn now and always God’s turn!!

May you rest in the comfort of the knowledge of His great love for you first shown on the cross at the death of His son, and if you have accepted this provision and know Him, you experience His love everyday as He cares for you in your own special story.

And so God winks... ;)

by Joni Ormsbee