Good Gifts

I have been so encouraged in the Lord over the last two weeks, but today specifically... Just wow. I am seeing with fresh eyes that his creation is just beautiful- from our recent awesome snowy weather, to a friendly gesture offered on the way into a store- and even us, as persons. The human race, created in his image, continues to ask all around, to anyone or anything that will hear, "Do you hear what I have to say? Do you still love me?" When we understand that our Creator answers those questions for us with a resounding "YES!"- that's a good gift.

Late one evening, I whispered to a friend, "What if God makes me stay in Africa forever and I never get to get married?" To which she replied: "He's still good. He's better." And that's true. When what we desire isn't what God has for us right now, we question his sovereignty. We wonder what we can do or say or be to get him to do what we want. And you know what the truth is? No matter what the circumstances are, he is for our good. That's a good gift.

I was talking to another friend a few weeks ago about how bad settling is for our hearts. That we take what we truly don't want because we feel we deserve less than our dreams. So if we don't take the consolation prize then we'll never come close to what we really want because we know us. For example, I could have settled 10 years ago, 8 years ago, or 7 years ago and married a type of man that was funny, smart, prideful, dishonest, cowardly, abusive... you get the picture. I sure wouldn't be heading to Kenya and I sure wouldn't be able to walk in all that God has asked me to. That's a good gift.

On Monday, I will have to do a very difficult thing that I do not want to do. It's one of the bigger tests of my trust in God than anything else about my move. I have to give my dog away. I am so thankful that she is going to a great family, with a host of legitimate dog sitters, lined up and ready to help out, if needed. Being sad is my only issue. That's a good gift.

I also found out that two dear friends (TWO!) will be out to Naomi's Village/Kenya within my first four months on-the-ground. God is showing his tender love for me in that I will have sisters with me in some of these first on-the-ground moments: the blissful, the difficult, the lovely, the lonely. That's a good gift.

"Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"

Matthew 7:9-11