Sep 102014
 

Bookcases for the attic - smaller

Pictured two bookcases for the newly-finished attic to hold journals and such. Not important enough to spend money on, but a want none-the-less, so I asked the Lord to provide them in a way that would glorify and please Him, if it was His will for me to have them. (remembering back to things like the gardening table in Convicting Blessings – a webfession)

Within a week, I was driving down the alley and saw one perfect bookcase in one block, then two more about a half block on down, and finally a fourth! Came back later with the wagon and picked up the best two. “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

The thinking Christian woman knows that the Lord doesn’t always answer with a “Yes.” He always answers, but sometimes the answer is “No,” and sometimes “Not now.”

This time, it was as if He was saying, “Take your pick my love, or take all of them! I came to give you abundant life!”

I am giving Him glory for being such a sweet, attentive, and faithful friend, and for giving me more-than-enough (abundant) bookcases!

There’s NO God like Jehova!

 

© 2014 Melody K. Anderson All Rights Reserved

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Oct 242011
 

There’s a standing joke about the patient in a drafty hospital gown struggling in vain to keep the back flaps closed and thinking, “Now I know why they call it – ICU!”

Last week, after visiting my hardy and relatively healthy Mom for several days with the specific purpose of helping her and local family proactively prepare for the time, down the road, when she might need in-home caregiver and skilled help, we were all somewhat surprised by a health event that sent her to the Intensive Care Unit.

When I first got to town, before Mom’s ICU trip, the daily reading included Proverb 6:20, which encourages us, “…do not forsake the law of your mother…” so I asked Mom if there were any “laws” that she particularly wanted me to follow in life. She thought a while, then revisited a teaching she had consistently shared since my early childhood – God sees everything you do (Proverb 5:21 and 15:3).

That reminded me of a story in Genesis about a runaway pregnant slave girl who encountered the Angel of the Lord by a spring in the wilderness. He told her to return to her harsh mistress, and promised to multiply her descendants. In response, she called Him El Roi “The-God-Who-Sees.” (Genesis 16:13)

When Mom’s husband of 67 years died in 2006, she stood alone in her big, empty house and asked God, “Who am I now?” In that moment, El Roi answered her heart,

“You are My child, and I will walk with you.”

Mom’s hospital stay was painful for her and stressful for us, but so many blessings emerged that it soon became abundantly apparent that God’s watchful presence hovered over all. Here are just a few examples:

  • Strong spirit of love and cooperation between family members as the Body of Christ. Good opportunities to improve communication and understanding.
  • Multiple opportunities for family members to express honor and love in ways that Mom can feel.
  • The hospital’s Director of Imaging bought my lunch! (a story unto itself).
  • Bumped into a high school friend who just happened to be the hospital’s Director of Engineering and Security. He personally made sure that the annoying intermittent loud whooshing sound in Mom’s room vent, that had steadily been getting worse (we had nicknamed it “The Whale”), stopped that same day.
  • Mom gave us all a priceless example to follow when she mustered the poise and courage to allow a procedure she greatly feared, but that brought instant relief and vastly hastened her recovery.
  • Mom came home from the hospital just 15 minutes before I had to leave for the airport and I had the joy of seeing her comfortable in her recliner again.

No one wants to be in the ICU, or to see a loved one there, but for the Thinking Christian Woman, the acronym “ICU’ can be transformed into a confident reminder that El Roi, The-God-Who-Sees, constantly affirms – “I see you!”

© 2011 Melody K. Anderson
All Rights Reserved

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Aug 172011
 

By guest blogger Élise Finney

My only daughter married last month, and moved into the house across the street (which is good, but a whole ‘nother story of its own).

She and her husband just graduated from college and have been job-hunting. We were praying that her husband would land a job at a nearby big box retail store.

Shortly after his interview, she texted the good news, “He got the job!” I happily replied by typing “Woohoo!” but, before I could send, my smartphone auto-corrected “Woohoo!” to “Elohim!”

Elohim – the Hebrew word for God!

God reminded me that we had been praying to Him, asking Him for favor, and He had answered. It was a sweet visitation and a gentle transformation of my enthusiastic “Woohoo” into direct praise for the “One Who” was responsible.

© 2011 Melody K. Anderson

All Rights Reserved

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Jul 212011
 

On Northern Indiana visits during warmer months, I sometimes ask the Lord to let me see a snake. Though not my favorite critters, they operate with such stealth that sighting one is a special event.

Mom’s house is on Center Lake where nature abounds with ducks, turtles, Canada geese, woodchucks, chipmunks, cardinals, heron, muskrats – even a deer once – and the occasional legless reptile.

Memory holds a vivid picture of the big blue racer (snake) that chased my friend Ed up our back hill when we were kids, but by and large nature is gentle around here. Bushes are thornless and barefeet are safe from pricklies nearly everywhere. According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the only poisonous snake in these parts – the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake – is rare and lives as a recluse in remote wetlands.

37 years ago, my brother Lane and I won the 3.5 mile 4th of July Tippecanoe River race (where one major goal is to avoid tipping on Tippy!) and Mom still has the canoe that floated us to victory. This is the story of one fine summer day when I took that canoe out on Center Lake and the Lord answered my reptile request.

I’d paddled about a half mile from shore when, suddenly and silently, a 13″ black snake dropped onto the centerline from under the vacant bow seat, and there we were, having fellowship – defined as two fellows in the same ship!

It wasn’t a rattler, but my first instinct was to jump out, not knowing what would happen when the little guy realized our predicament. I also wondered what might be under my seat! It was an uncomfortable situation, to say the least, for me, and likely also for the stowaway. Alternating between elevating bare feet and legs on the gunwales and the stern thwart, I paddled hard into the nearby canal hoping to haul out and persuade him (or them) to disembark, but the shore was all rocks and seawalls.

What a relief to spot a man fishing off the end of his pier. Remember the lanky Sheriff Woody doll in Toy Story? Pull his string and you might hear, “There’s a snake in my boot!” Well, I called out, “May I dock at your pier, there’s a snake in my boat.” Rather than wave me in, however, the wary fisherman asked, “How big is it?” Sensing perhaps “we” were not welcome, I turned around and tried for home. It seemed to take forever.

About halfway there, the little guy slithered into the enclosed refuge under the bow deck and disappeared. Of course, I still didn’t know if he was the only one. Eventually we made it to dry land. I hauled out and flipped the boat over, but never saw my first mate again. God had answered the snake-sighting prayer with a resounding and memorable yes!

This experience highlighted that God’s answers to prayer can:

  • Catch us by surprise. 
  • Come in unexpected, possibly even undesirable, ways.
  • Come under circumstances that challenge our comfort level.

What an adventure for the Thinking Christian Woman to share with Him all the big or little things on her heart, then stay alert for His creative and sometimes unusual responses!

© 2011 Melody K. Anderson
All Rights Reserved

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