Provision in a Wink

Smoke Detectors are those kind of “insurance policies” you are glad you have but hope you never have to use.  Well a couple weekends ago, we were glad we had them and they were working!  God “winked” several times in this story.

As we were sitting down for dinner and catching up with a high school friend of mine in town, Dave got a call from a tenant moving into our rental.  He didn’t take it immediately but a few minutes later called her back.  He told me later the young lady who called usually texts and since she called, he thought he should return the call.   We are glad he listened to his “gut” instincts.

She said a smoke detector went off in the house.  He went to look and returned several minutes later. He said there was smoke in the attic and a black mark around a light fixture on the second floor.   He came back for a face mask and apologized to our guest for having to leave so early into the visit.  She understood and mentioned he might want to call the fire department.

The boys, my friend and I were getting ready to walk to the ice cream store downtown and we hear the sirens, a LOT of them!  As we walked down past the street of our rental, sure enough, all the sirens were for my husband’s call. 

I would hear later that night in greater detail what occurred.  A small fire had started in the ceiling around the light fixture and there were small embers coming out of the ceiling around the fixture as the firefighters did their job of poking around.  The water hoses came out and they got to work to put it all out. 

I am so glad Dave called to have the firefighters check the ceiling fixture.    Among Dave’s instinct to call back the young lady and then to check out the attic more closely, God blessed us in other areas as well:

1)       We didn’t lose the entire house!!  The girls were just starting to move in to the house that night.  There was one girl starting to move her things when the smoke detector went off.  If it had been a couple days earlier and no one was moved in yet, we could have lost the house. 

2)       No one was hurt!!  It was in the hours of day where no one was sleeping and unaware.

3)      The smoke detector went off!

4)      The fire department responded quickly!

We are very thankful for God’s protection and provision.  We have insurance and have the damage covered.  It could have been much worse.

On a fun, side note:  Cleaning out the house Dave found a large TV the prior and current tenants did not want.  So, the boys have a FREE TV for their Wii Sports they are getting for Christmas. 

God provided a TV for my boys in the midst of the fire. 

God does the extra just because He can.  Love that about how He works in our lives in small, unexpected provisions.

May you see Him in the big and small of your life as He provides. 

by Joni Ormsbee

Praying for Parents

Being a mother is the most demanding job in every sense of the word, but it leaves a legacy I pray lasts generations! I also know that I am not perfect, and I am often on my knees (not always literally but in my heart before Him) praying for wisdom, strength to be consistent, and courage to love firm and soft as needed. I may not have been trained professionally, but I know on my knees I get training every day as I depend on Him. Maybe He meant it to be that way.....just a thought.

Praying that I parent in a posture of need from Him. In my strength I stand up and often fall in my pride of self-sufficiency. In His strength I remain on my knees!!

After sitting quietly with the Lord and my heart laid bare before Him, I hear truth ....

“I am a vessel of parental privilege over two beautiful boys and God is their Father. I must look to Him in their successes and failures. He loves them and parents them in the quiet places of their hearts where I cannot.” --- God winks in my heart

Lord, my children are ultimately, Yours. I am a steward of their precious lives alongside a loving earthly father. They belong to You. May Dave and I hear one day, "well done thy good and faithful servant!"

Giving God the Praise for what He does. No matter what the moment looks like, He is working!!

Okay, so I thought I was done writing…but as I am packing up my books, I have this “nudge” to look in the back of one of my journals. I found an entry labeled “God Winks June 24”:

“Daniel, my oldest son, shares with me when he gave his heart to God and later that night I find out that Benjamin, my youngest, was sharing the same thing with his daddy!”

So, God winks through a wink!! God knows my heart to raise these boys to love Him above anything else and God has it covered!!

Trust…Rest…  Their heart belongs to Him!!

Praying for all parents as they tackle the most important job of their life!! You are all my heroes!!

by Joni Ormsbee

Everyday Winks

How does God wink in the everyday moments of our lives?

Often, I must admit, I think it must be in the grandeur or "ah ha" moments of life where the direction of your life changes forever. But, recently, I am discovering that it is in the everyday, even in what we consider the "mundane" everyday tasks of life, we do over and over. 

Looking at last Saturday, a day in the life of a makeup artist, a mother, a wife, a daughter in law, a cook......God winks.

I started my day in my devotional and God reminded me time is a precious commodity and to use it wisely. Spending time with Him gives me the discernment I need for my day. God winks in my time with Him.   
  
Off to a wedding to be faithful in my promise to do makeup for a beautiful wedding party, 7 ladies in all!  One bridesmaid said "Thank you for helping her mother-in-law. She doesn't normally wear much makeup and she looks beautiful! Thank you." Another lady says, "I feel beautiful." 

God winks in my work through the words of others. He reaches down from heaven and affirms that my work means something, it touches the heart of a woman on the wedding day of her future daughter-in-law and the friends with whom she shares it.
 

Next I drop by a customer's house to do an exchange and I listen to her heart as she shares life. We take care of her needs and then chat. Again, through her words, God winks that relationships matter and no encounter is by "accident."  God winks in relationships!

Next stop home..  As my family prepares a meal together to celebrate the birthday of my father in law, I am reminded to enjoy the conversation over my son playing piano and to pause because life is passing quickly. 

My son proudly dresses in his football uniform to show everyone while my other son helps grandpa blow out his candles. The noise and business that having 12 people in your home brings reminds me to embrace it all, the time passes quickly. I am reminded to be thankful for the daily tasks and events of being a mother and wife, supporting family through a birthday celebration.

 

God winks in my day of cooking with my family, celebrating the birthday of my husband's father, and the presence of my two precious children.

As we walk throughout our daily lives in what may seem mundane or even in what feels like obscurity, know that God winks to you in the sunrise, in His word, in your work, in the relationships you nurture, in the roles you faithfully serve each day. 

 

My prayer is you see Him, you know Him personally. He cares for you!  You are a beautiful, wonderful child of God!! He winks in your everyday life!

 

How does He show up "wink" in your life? Let me know!