I remember my senior year in college. I was a couple of weeks away from graduating college, so I called my mom to see if she would get me a ticket to go home. My mom was hesitant on the phone, then she said, “Wendy, we’ve moved into a smaller place. If you could get a job out there, that would be so much better. We just don’t have any room.”

I was dumbstruck. I had no place to go? I had no home to go to? I was homeless? I hung up the phone and cried. What was I supposed to do? I was going to graduate in two weeks. What then? I felt like I was in some kind of fog.

I went to class the next day, still reeling from the idea that I was homeless. While sitting in class, an older lady in my class announced to me and my friend that she was looking for someone to house sit for her, for the summer. She returned every summer to northern California, and she just needed someone to live in her house while she was gone. She asked us if we knew anyone who needed a place to stay for the summer.

I smiled at her. I told her I could do it. I didn’t have a home to go to, so I could certainly take care of her home. She was so excited, because she got that detail of her life taken care of. I was so excited because I now had a place to live.

In my mind, I wasn’t sure what I was doing with my life. The only solution I had was to head home. Looking back, that wouldn’t have been a good idea. God was watching out for me, as He always has and always will.

Living the Christian life is like riding in a speed boat on a moonless night. We can’t see what’s ahead. At any moment, we could hit something and damage our boat. God sees it all. He knows exactly what’s going to happen next. For the believer, it’s best to hang onto our life line, Jesus. Since we can’t see the future, why not cling to the One who can.

Jesus says to cast all of our cares upon Him, for He cares for us. I love that verse. He’s not suggesting we cast our cares. He’s telling us to do so. How could you go wrong with casting your cares upon God? He loves us. He knows the future. He saved us. He wants the best for us.

When I look back at my life, I see how God ALWAYS had a better plan for me. I think this would work, but it doesn’t work out. Like thinking I should go home for the summer. But God says no. And then He provides another way for me.

That summer I got to enjoy a big, beautiful house and since I had no money, it was ideal, because I didn’t need to pay rent. My boyfriend (my husband now) returned to California at that time. He moved into an apartment close by with three other guy friends. We spent that summer getting to know one another. We went on hikes, and picnics, all before the monotony of life set in. A year later, we got married. If I had moved back home right after I graduated I don’t know what would have happened in our relationship. He’d be in California and I would be in Alaska. But God worked it all out. And what I saw, at first, as something terrible, actually turned out quite nice. God is good all the time.

I have been struggling a lot lately. I’ve kept it to myself (well you know now). This is my last year homeschooling. I’m at a crossroads. I’m not quite sure of what I’m going to be when I grow up. I used to know, but then this whole homeschooling gig changed things drastically.

In the process of thinking about what I’m going to do, I think about what my kids are going to do. Are we going to be able to pay for a private college for my son? How will we do that? My daughter is leaving for England soon. She’ll be in another country for three months. Will she be okay?

I’m usually not a worrier, but in my older age, I find myself worrying much more than I ever did. That frustrates me too. I’m in that “wonderful” stage of my body changing. The hormones make me feel crazy.

So, though, I have been struggling, I just carry on, doing the things that need to get done, and secretly wishing the rapture would happen so I could jet on out of here and not worry about all the things I’ve been worrying about.

The other day the Lord sent me a messenger, to remind me that He is still here and He still loves me and I’m not supposed to worry. I was sitting outside a school, waiting for my son to come out of class. He’s taking a college class this semester. I had the car still running, figuring he should be out any moment. While I sat there, a bird flew down and landed on the side mirror of my car and just looked inside the car at me. The car was running, but he wasn’t afraid. I have been driving for 34 years of my life and I’ve never had a bird come and sit on my side mirror and look inside my car. Never!

I’ve never seen a bird like this before. He was bigger than the little brown chickadees I see flying around our neighborhood. He had bright blue stripes on either side of him. He had big brown eyes and he was completely unafraid.

I told him hello. He kept looking at me like, “Do you understand what’s going on here?” He stayed there for at least a minute, until I got a good look at him. He seemed to be saying, “Have you received the message yet?” He finally flew off, just before my son arrived. I was a little distracted by my son getting in the car, and asking him how class was, that I didn’t think about the message of the bird yet.

Then, halfway home, I told my son about the bird. As I did, I realized, that bird was sent to me to encourage me. I know some of you may be saying, “Oh, c’mon you’re reading a little too much into this.” But I don’t think I am. God knows my every thought. God knows all my struggles and worries. He knows that one of my favorite scriptures is in Matthew when God says to look at the birds, how He clothes them and feeds them. How much more will He care for us? When I thought of that bird, it gave me so much encouragement. It’s lifted me up throughout the whole week.

God is good all the time. Not some of the time, or once in awhile, it’s ALL the time. He knows His children intimately. He wants to care for us, just like He says in His Word. If you’re feeling down or going through a struggle, wait and God will send you encouragement that fits you exactly.

Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”

 

This past Monday, January 8, the University of Alabama’s football team won the college championship game. At first, they were losing. By halftime, the score was 13 to 0, Alabama holding the zero in that score. Then at halftime, the coach took out the starting quarterback, and put in a Samoan kid from Hawaii named, Tua Tagovailoa. That kid tore it up and led Alabama to win the game.

I’m excited about this story, for one good reason. It’s not because my nephew knows this kid and roomed with him at their all star game in Hawaii. It’s because of what this kid said after the game. Right after the game, Tua said to the reporter, while a cameraman filmed him, “First and foremost, I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. With Him, all things are possible, that’s what happened tonight.” That’s what he said, right there on camera for all the world to see. He made no apologies for his belief in God. God was who he wanted to thank right there on national television.

Jon Acuff said, “Tua giving God the legit shoutout. If you say, “Thank you God” it means you’re a rapper at the Grammy’s. If you say, “Lord and Savior” and “all glory to God,” you ain’t messing around.”

What I love about Tua’s testimony after the game was the very fact that he gave one. He could have smiled big at the cameras and thanked his parents, then scooted on out of there. But he didn’t. He wanted to make a point, for all the world to see. He wanted to thank his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This brought me so much encouragement. So often, I feel we Christians are the dregs of society. In this day and age, Christians often get a bad rap. There are the Christian bakers who refuse to bake wedding cakes for gay weddings. The media makes them out to be pariahs who want to bring harm and chaos upon those innocent homosexuals who just want a little ole wedding cake for their lil ole wedding. Tim Tebow is considered a pariah in the NFL because he is so vocal about his faith. The media says we’re judgey and mean. We won’t bake cakes for homosexual weddings. I mean, isn’t everyone entitled to love who they want?

The media often accuses us of being terrorists. When a terrorist attack happens, very often some reporter will come out and say, “Those right-wing Christians, probably had something to do with this.” Of course, this is long before, anyone knows what happened. And ten times out of ten, we find out it was definitely not the Christians who did it.

So often I feel like Elijah, when he ran away from Jezebel and just wanted to die. He felt he was the only one left. God had a little talking to with him. No, Elijah, you aren’t the only one left. There are seven thousand Israelites who haven’t bent the knee to Baal. (1 Kings 19:18) Seven thousand is no insignificant little number. Get up Elijah, you are not alone.

In my little corner of the world, I can get easily bogged down by all the negativity against Christians. I can become a little Elijahish in my thinking. And then this happens. A quarterback from Hawaii gives praise to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on national television. Like Jon Acuff said, “you ain’t messing around.” This kid was unafraid. He played an amazing game and then gave credit to where he knew the credit was deserved.

When I see that I think, “Hey, he’s a Christian like me! I’m not the only one.” And he’s not afraid to tell everyone. That’s amazing. That’s fantastic. We aren’t the bad guys. There are kids out there like Tua, who aren’t afraid to publicly thank his Savior. And that encourages me.

http://www.knowledgeofgoodandevil.com/2018/01/15/1632/

As I look forward to this brand new year, I am: hopeful, scared, sad, and I don’t know what else. This is my last year homeschooling. Homeschooling has been my identity for the past fifteen years. Everything is going to change next year. I’m not sure I’m ready for it.

I’ve been praying a lot lately. That’s my life line. Praying for my kids’ futures. Praying for me, and what I’ll do next year. As I pray, I look and see God’s answers to my prayers. I’ve seen God’s hand on my life and my family’s lives. I see Him working in all of us: molding and shaping us. I see this Christian life like a spider web. We are all interconnected. As each person, affects other people.

My son was frustrated, a month ago. Before Thanksgiving, I had mailed his transcripts to the school he wants to go to next year. I had driven all the way to the post office, and dropped them off, into the mailbox. Well two weeks passed, and they didn’t get them. My son was frustrated with me, asking if I in fact, had mailed them. I said I had. He said the school never got them. I emailed our current home school administer to request another transcript. She said she would prepare another copy and I could come pick it up. I did. When I got to her office, I also gave her an updated course of study. She looked that over, to make sure all the classes we were currently taking, were on the newly printed transcript. She realized she forgot one class. She immediately, went to her computer to reprint the transcript with the class she forgot. I told her I had mailed the other transcripts, but the school hadn’t received them. She said, they would have gotten the wrong transcript. Now I knew, why the transcript never got to the school. They were the wrong ones.

I told my son when I got home, that the other transcripts were wrong and now I had the correct one. I told him that’s the reason the transcript never got to the school.

I see God’s hand in all this. I could have had the right transcript the first time, but what lesson would my son see? None. But now, he could see clearly, God working in our lives, protecting us. If our lives went smooth as butter, what need would we have of God? We wouldn’t. The little bumps and hurdles we have to clear, allows God to teach us as we go. It keeps us on our knees, looking to the God who says to cast our cares upon Him, for He cares for us. The wrong transcript was another lesson for my son that God is alive and well on planet earth and He IS involved in our lives, even in the little things. I see God teaching my son lessons, as he prepares to leave our home and go off to college next year. My son needs to take God with him. He needs to rely on God. I see God showing my son why that is important.

God reveals who He is, through the bumps and hurdles in our lives. He has told us in His word, but He shows us again, in our everyday lives. Again, if life were as smooth as butter, what need would we have of God? When we hit a hurdle, the believer, usually looks to God for answers. He’s our life line. I don’t know how the unbeliever ever lives this life. I need God in mine. I need Him every hour. For this new year, I’m grateful God has saved me, and He commands me to cast my cares upon Him. I am grateful He cares for me, even in the little things.