God's gifts

"I looked at Corrie. She was having a hard time keeping a straight face. The letters even at that moment were stacked so high that one of her coffee cups had been missing beneath them for weeks. And here, handed to us without our even asking for it, was God's solution."

--On the joy experienced by Brother Andrew, God's smuggler, and his wife, at the provision of a man who could serve as correspondent for their growing work.

Grace read this to me today as I worked in the kitchen and it served to remind me to acknowledge one such answer to prayer in my own life while thanking God for His gracious provision and His gracious saints. Last spring, after the winter's drought, broken sprinkler system, and months of the neighbor boys wearing a baseball diamond into my distressed back yard, I stood at the kitchen door, despairing of ever having a nice backyard again, even though I think a nice backyard is a testimony to the good stewardship of the believer's life. I am sure I asked God for help. Then came the summer rains. After that a renewed friendship with a master gardener who has already coached me well in fertilizers and insecticides, and donated the thriving firespike we are now training to hedge the back yard. And today dear Hugh Stockton dripping in the September heat finished setting the posts for the pergola he is building on which I can train the thriving grape plant David put in for me two years ago. I smile to recognize God's answer to my prayer. May He answer all my need. May I be cognizant of His inexorable but often quiet work. Praise Him from Whom all blessings flow.