Abundant Blessings!

This past week has been such a remarkable example of God's love, grace, and provision that I just have to share it!  Kris has been hunting since bow season began for our deer and this past week he finally got one!  It was a really nice buck, a little bigger than last year...so proud of him!  Anyway, I am slowly learning to cook with venison, and I am looking forward to trying some new recipes...so if any of the two of you who read this blog have any great recipes...send them my way!  So that was abundant blessing #1...a deer...yummy healthy meat in our freezer!  When Kris went to process his deer, there was a guy there who helped him, and he offered Kris some beef that he was working on that evening!  Kris said sure, but was anticipating just a few packages of hamburger...well...this guy filled our cooler almost all the way up with ground beef and a loin roast!  What a crazy wonderful blessing!  And this beef was from a farm, and it was a young cow who had sadly gotten trampled, so it was healthy, and just really good quality meat!  I know it seems silly, but 20-30 pounds is huge to us...that's 20 meals at least!  Yahoo!  Our freezer is full of really healthy, delicious meat and I couldn't be more thankful!  So...on to blessing #3...my friend Stephanie was giving some clothes away, and let me look though them for some things for me!  I was so excited!  Since we have been on our tight budget, that is something that I have just really cut down on, clothes for Kris and I, so I haven't had anything cute in a long time!  My favorite item was a black dress shirt that has tiny swiss dots and ruffles along the buttons.  I wore it yesterday to church and it just felt so nice to wear something kind of cute! And there was one more blessing that I won't share details of here, but it was such a huge, huge, huge blessing for us!  We have just seen God's hand of provision of grace, mercy and blessings this week in so many ways.  Our brief move to Wichita just wiped us out financially, and all of these blessings are just confirmation that we are right where the Lord wanted us to be!  We are so thankful!  Every week at church at least one person tells us that they are glad we are back home, and I can't tell you how grateful we are too!  God is so good to us...and his love and mercy endure forever!

What if?

I am so thankful for all of the blessings in our lives.  We are abundantly blessed...we have three beautiful children...who are all healthy.  We have a comfortable home, with clean water, a warm fire, and something cooking almost all of the time. I had a dream the night before last, that I had gone on a mission trip to Africa.  In my dream I was surrounded by a sea of beautiful little brown faces who were all pleading for love and attention, and who were all desperately hungry.  When I woke up I felt this enormous sense of gratitude...for our comfy beds, for clean laundry, for fresh water and for the ability to read a book to my children.  I woke up wondering what it would be like to be a mama in Africa, in a very poor situation, with none of the comforts I enjoy. Would l still love being a stay at home mom, would I worry constantly about my children, and if we had enough food, would I still feel blessed by my awesome God?  What if I was a mama in Africa who didn't even know about our amazing savior?  My dream and these thoughts make me wonder if there is a greater purpose for me...for our family...in the area of missions?  Or maybe our mission field is right here in our town?  Lord...please show me...I know you have plans for us to give more...to do more...to reach and encourage people...show us your plan and purpose, Lord. Amen.