It’s not the amount that matters, but the blessings you are able to receive from it. A slice of stale bread gives more to the beggar, than a new house to the rich. Everything you have has unending blessings for you hidden inside, – learn to receive them.”

WOW…The words jumped off the page and into my heart as they took on an entire different meaning for me this morning than what I read over 2 years ago!

Now, by no means do I consider myself a beggar or do I consider myself rich, but I’m not gonna lie, we have lived through some very lean times and some times of plenty. We have lived in a 600 sq ft house and a 3,800 sq ft house. We have eaten casseroles with lots of fillers and we have had steak but no matter what we have always recognized it was God’s provisions for our life.

Here’s one particular example of God’s provision that comes to mind that I can share…

It was around 1996 we were living the “Good Life”. We both had good jobs, we had purchased out 3,800 sq ft home in Brazoria, we had finally found our church home, and we were happy that is as happy as parents of teenagers could be. Then we get the news Richard was being downsized by Dow.

Not sure what downsized means…They should have just said cut, chopped, killed, or any other word that would snuff the life out of ones livelihood. So anyway, here we were with this whopping mortgage, outrageous utility bills, car payments, not to mention, groceries we needed to buy!

Richard had applied for every job he could and nothing! So, out of desperation he decided to get his Realtor’s License. Now, you would have to know Richard, he is so brutally honest that he would rather lose a sale and go hungry than talk someone into buying something he know was not a right fit for that person. So, as you can imagine, he wasn’t selling any houses. He would tell me, “Babe, I can’t sell a life-preserver to a drowning man”. Bless his heart…He was trying so hard!!!

Ok, so here is where the unending blessing hidden inside comes…

One Saturday morning I got a call from my friend Dianne Butler asking if she could borrow a stick of butter (No way I would ever tell her it was the last stick of butter to our name) and I told her “of course”. So, a few minutes later she came down to pick it up and was off with my last stick of butter. Soon after that Richard came home for lunch. Things are sparse and so he decided to make himself a grilled cheese. He reaches into the refrigerator for the last stick of butter and it’s gone. He calls out to me, “Hey babe, where’s that stick of butter?”. I replied, “Dianne needed it”. He yells back, “ok, no problem”. So, when I walk into the kitchen I find him spraying his bread with butter flavored Pam and goes about making his grilled cheese.

Later that evening Dianne blessed us with a loaf of Banana Nut Bread…Now that was a great use for a stick of butter!!! It was delicious! But, the story gets even better…

The next morning we get up, get dressed, and are off to church just like any other Sunday.  Richard, was the director of the Adult lV group at the time and we would meet with all the classes in Adult lV for a general assembly before Sunday School.  We would have refreshments, announcements, and prayer then break off and go our separate ways for class. This particular Sunday something was different. We noticed people showing up that weren’t usually in our group they were in either an older or younger division. When I looked up and saw Dianne, I knew something was up.

Pretty soon, the room was filled with people. Richard continued with the announcements and then we heard Billy Canard say, “Brother Richard, can I interrupt you?” and made his way to the front of the room. He began to speaking to Richard and me in front of all these people who had come into the room. He said that even though we had not shared our  financial struggles the church body new times must be rough since Richard had lost his job. He proceeded to inform us that they wanted to bless us. And, Bless us they did!!!

Oh my gosh…They provided us with food, clothes soap,  toiletries, even treats for the kids. That classroom full of people had given us enough food to carry us from that day until the day Richard got a job and his first paycheck. We were so humbled by their outpouring of Love!!!

I could tell you story after story after story of how God has made provisions for our lives and still is. How He uses His servant children as the vehicle to bless our lives. While we recognize the blessing comes from our Father, we are also aware it requires a level of obedience on the part of His Children.

So, here’s where the “Everything you have has unending blessings for you hidden inside, – learn to receive them.” comes into play.

I’m not going to tell you it is easy to be the recipient…It Is NOT! Richard and I have always been taught it is more blessed to give than receive and oh how we love to give!!! But, one thing God has shown us… Those who gave would not receive their blessing if we had not received the gifts which they had given out of obedience to Him.

To this very day we continue to be blessed beyond measure!!! So much so one scripture comes to mind.

I can dream about it (and I have), I can talk about it (done that too) but all that was meaningless because all those dreams and all those discussions could not compare to the way God has chosen to bless us with Mind Blowing Blessings!!!

I am So Grateful for God’s Provisions for Our Lives

I am So Thankful For What I’ve Got

I STAND IN AWE OF GOD!!!