Outrageous blessings!

So, I really don’t have words for what happened recently, but I need to celebrate the goodness of God.  I don’t know if anyone besides my Mom (Hey!) reads this, but if by chance one of the people who God used to bless me financially reads this: THANK YOU!

My car had to go to the shop to get around $2300 worth of work done to it for various reasons, including overheating and coolant and oil mixing in some amazingly bad ways.  When I came home the other night, I was surprised to find a very thick envelope on my bed.  I was called that day by the guy that I live with saying that I had a letter at the churh and that he was gonna bring it to me.

Turns out that through various “donations” from people I had to pay less than $100 out of pocket to get the car fixed.  And boy does it run well now!

What was so overwhelming was that God inspired some people who love me to act on my behalf when they certainly didn’t have to… some I didn’t think had enough money for the dollar menu, much less helping pay for car repairs.  That is how good my God is.  I really didn’t know that there were that many people that cared that much about me.  I guess I am the kind of guy who just loves to help people and doesn’t expect anything in return, so when it does happen, it blows my mind.  I really can’t explain how much of a blessing that was and still is.

I love being able to tell the story to people who were a part of the fixing/banking end of things and other folks who know me.  God is getting so much glory from a situation that had me pretty stressed.

I think that the most encouraging part is realizing that my life has meant something to so many people… my own personal “Its a wonderful life” end-scene moment.

Power

Great quote from Tuesday night:

“Power is the ability to do.”

Slap in the face.  How powerful am I without even knowing it?

How do I use the power that I have?

What am I doing?

Do I treat my power with apathy?

Extended Warranty… Not so Warranty-ee

When I purchased the vehicle I am currently driving about a year ago, I thought it would be wise to get the extended care plan to go with it.  Problem is, I was under the impression that “care plan” and “warranty” were twins.  I was wrong.  As it turns out, my care plan really has no value and I am still paying for it every month.

Saturday night, as I was contemplating going “Contra Dancing” with some friends, I pulled into a parking lot to have dinner with a friend I had not seen in a while.  As I pulled into a space, I realized that the  beep I just heard had more to do with trouble than a radio edit.

My vehicle had overheated.  Long story short, I have a LOT of small repairs that my protection plan is giving me the privilege of footing the bill for.  Normally that would stress me, but when my friends prayed for me Tuesday night, one of the things they spoke over me was for complete casting of my worries on the Lord and His peace in my life.  So, no stress.

New perspective:  I don’t have to pay for the car, God will.  I knew that, but the fun part is not only is it a gift, but it is going to be a surprise, so it’s like a double whammy!  How good is God!

Been a long time

So… I guess I have been neglectful.  Either way, I tried to write down some stuff in a journal so I have bits and pieces somewhere.  I don’t know if I will convert all of it and try to date it appropriately or not.

God has absolutely blown me away recently.  I was able to get some of the best encouragement in my life recently when some of my friends prayed over me.  They called out some of the places where I was having a tough time and some of the places where I was dreaming and hoping.  I didn’t even know some of the people who were praying for me, so it was really cool that God used his Spirit to communicate just what I neeeded.

I have also had some really awesome chances to encourage people and allow God to speak truth and wisdom through me.

Currently I am having trouble walking because the guy who is in charge of coming up with workouts for myself and a couple of my co-workers is an animal.  I don’t know many people as strong as he is… raw beast material.  I really enjoy the soreness of working out, it makes me feel like I have done something with my time.