The abundance of our daily bread
And now, though it is almost ten in the a.m. and I should get over to the pool to do some laps, I shall record God's unending daily blessings to me and to my family.
We had a wonderful Good Friday evening service and enjoyed the Lord's Supper for the first time in many weeks. And how fitting that this was the first service that we instituted wine instead of grape juice! Yay for Dr. Reymond's leadership!
Saturday morning when we woke late we lay in bed and prayed many prayers. Amongst them were confessions of believing God for His daily provisions. And God gave me grace to put aside all my busyness of Easter preps to fit my life into Cal's. I went to the pool with him. (I have not been going to the pool and indeed, I am weaker physically; but there is always so much to do!) We enjoyed a slow and restful morning, and I determined to believe that God would provide all we needed in the way of time and energy to accomplish all that needed to be done in time.
Kilby got home mid-day from her job and it was after noon. Thoughts of figuring out and preparing our mid-day meal made my body feel my fatigue. I suggested to Cal the extravagance of taking the family out to a yet untried local Italian carry-out/dine-in restaurant. So after family worship we went for a riotous and relaxing time with the kids. There's Cal sitting across the table between Becky and Kilby listening to Rhett and Link on Kilby's ipod! And when the kids asked what they could have, I just invited them to have whatever they liked as this would be their only meal. Two baskets of garlic rolls and all the kids had sodas in addition to their entrees. Those of us with no salads helped Peter and AJ and Grace with theirs. It was nearly three before we left the restaurant. Becky begged to drive the van home even though it was raining, which brought all sorts of razzing about the end of Peter's life.
Kilby went for a nap and Peter and Cal returned to their work. I took Becky, Grace, and AJ for a major everything Wal-mart trip. (On Saturday before Easter in the middle of the day?! Was I nuts?! I don't shop on Saturdays!) But driving west through the rain I was surprised at how light was the traffic. Perhaps by mid-afternoon on Saturdays, folks are getting ready for their evenings. More extravagance: I bought a new suit for AJ. The jacket, being large enough to grow into, I bought a second pair of slacks that should fit him next year. (And my husband lost his job?!) But he needs it and God will provide. And God did, sooner than I expected, maybe just to make the point in my head. For as I tallied up the restaurant and the major everything Wal-mart trip in my head I realized that we'd just blown $400. And said as much to Cal though from his perch before his office computer I doubt he paid attention. The next day a dear friend quietly put a check in Cal's hand for the same amount!
But I get ahead of my story.
As the kids unloaded our purchases, I went to wake Sleeping Beauty. She startled out of her deep and needful sleep and was surprised so much time had passed. Now, I need to tell you that because we hadn't had Bible study on Friday, and because the girls had been quilting in the dining room on Thursday, the downstairs was a major everything mess. And now it was 5:30 p.m. Saturday. And there were the groceries to put away and the cake to frost and the frozen lamb leg to marinate and the fruit and vegetables to wash and the communion supplies to get ready and the iced tea to make and the floor to clean and the hymns to practice. But all hands on deck and by 7:30 we were all sitting in a circle on the family room floor playing Apples to Apples (which I won) and listening to John Mayer and Louis Armstrong. "Hey, when are we going to return this game to the Rabes?"
What I learned in all of this was a more solid and intense application of what I know: that God's provision of daily bread includes the supply of physical energy for the tasks He blesses as we try to bring beauty and order out of chaos as well as an abundant supply of joy. One of our bedly prayers that morning had been for a blessed day for the whole family, peace amongst the children. And at the end of the day I had to breathe awed thanksgiving.
A footnote to all this was that late in our two hours of cleaning, perhaps as I prepared the communion dishes and thought about the rich delights God has been giving us through our pastor Reymond, I remembered the two passages that are now splashmarked and grimy, hanging on my kitchen wall under my "who cares?" clock; passages I taped up there after our first dismaying, disappointing, and discouraging years in South Florida vis a vis true Church life. I post them here. Surely God is letting us build a vineyard and plant a garden. Surely He is letting us enjoy the fruits of it. Blessed be His Holy Name.
We had a wonderful Good Friday evening service and enjoyed the Lord's Supper for the first time in many weeks. And how fitting that this was the first service that we instituted wine instead of grape juice! Yay for Dr. Reymond's leadership!
Saturday morning when we woke late we lay in bed and prayed many prayers. Amongst them were confessions of believing God for His daily provisions. And God gave me grace to put aside all my busyness of Easter preps to fit my life into Cal's. I went to the pool with him. (I have not been going to the pool and indeed, I am weaker physically; but there is always so much to do!) We enjoyed a slow and restful morning, and I determined to believe that God would provide all we needed in the way of time and energy to accomplish all that needed to be done in time.
Kilby got home mid-day from her job and it was after noon. Thoughts of figuring out and preparing our mid-day meal made my body feel my fatigue. I suggested to Cal the extravagance of taking the family out to a yet untried local Italian carry-out/dine-in restaurant. So after family worship we went for a riotous and relaxing time with the kids. There's Cal sitting across the table between Becky and Kilby listening to Rhett and Link on Kilby's ipod! And when the kids asked what they could have, I just invited them to have whatever they liked as this would be their only meal. Two baskets of garlic rolls and all the kids had sodas in addition to their entrees. Those of us with no salads helped Peter and AJ and Grace with theirs. It was nearly three before we left the restaurant. Becky begged to drive the van home even though it was raining, which brought all sorts of razzing about the end of Peter's life.
Kilby went for a nap and Peter and Cal returned to their work. I took Becky, Grace, and AJ for a major everything Wal-mart trip. (On Saturday before Easter in the middle of the day?! Was I nuts?! I don't shop on Saturdays!) But driving west through the rain I was surprised at how light was the traffic. Perhaps by mid-afternoon on Saturdays, folks are getting ready for their evenings. More extravagance: I bought a new suit for AJ. The jacket, being large enough to grow into, I bought a second pair of slacks that should fit him next year. (And my husband lost his job?!) But he needs it and God will provide. And God did, sooner than I expected, maybe just to make the point in my head. For as I tallied up the restaurant and the major everything Wal-mart trip in my head I realized that we'd just blown $400. And said as much to Cal though from his perch before his office computer I doubt he paid attention. The next day a dear friend quietly put a check in Cal's hand for the same amount!
But I get ahead of my story.
As the kids unloaded our purchases, I went to wake Sleeping Beauty. She startled out of her deep and needful sleep and was surprised so much time had passed. Now, I need to tell you that because we hadn't had Bible study on Friday, and because the girls had been quilting in the dining room on Thursday, the downstairs was a major everything mess. And now it was 5:30 p.m. Saturday. And there were the groceries to put away and the cake to frost and the frozen lamb leg to marinate and the fruit and vegetables to wash and the communion supplies to get ready and the iced tea to make and the floor to clean and the hymns to practice. But all hands on deck and by 7:30 we were all sitting in a circle on the family room floor playing Apples to Apples (which I won) and listening to John Mayer and Louis Armstrong. "Hey, when are we going to return this game to the Rabes?"
What I learned in all of this was a more solid and intense application of what I know: that God's provision of daily bread includes the supply of physical energy for the tasks He blesses as we try to bring beauty and order out of chaos as well as an abundant supply of joy. One of our bedly prayers that morning had been for a blessed day for the whole family, peace amongst the children. And at the end of the day I had to breathe awed thanksgiving.
A footnote to all this was that late in our two hours of cleaning, perhaps as I prepared the communion dishes and thought about the rich delights God has been giving us through our pastor Reymond, I remembered the two passages that are now splashmarked and grimy, hanging on my kitchen wall under my "who cares?" clock; passages I taped up there after our first dismaying, disappointing, and discouraging years in South Florida vis a vis true Church life. I post them here. Surely God is letting us build a vineyard and plant a garden. Surely He is letting us enjoy the fruits of it. Blessed be His Holy Name.
Ezekiel 34:25-31 “I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. Thus they shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord GOD.’” “You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord GOD.
Amos 9:11-15
"On that day I will raise up
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,"
Says the LORD who does this thing.
"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,
"When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.
I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
I will plant them in their land,
And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,"
Says the LORD your God.
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,"
Says the LORD who does this thing.
"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,
"When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.
I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
I will plant them in their land,
And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,"
Says the LORD your God.
posted by Compleat Mom at 9:51 AM
1 Comments:
"What I learned in all of this was a more solid and intense application of what I know: that God's provision of daily bread includes the supply of physical energy for the tasks He blesses as we try to bring beauty and order out of chaos as well as an abundant supply of joy."
Thanks for sharing what the Lord is teaching you. This is very encouraging to me as I begin my day and think about what needs to be done and reflect on past failures.
Off to cultivate my garden in joy and without guilt or worry! :)
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