Mar 6, 2010 | Baby Photos, Stories
As promised…I have a great story to share! Part of the reason it’s great is because of readers like you! Shall we get started?
So. My Mom sent a gift, a Happy 18 Months, Bear! slash we didn’t get to see each other at Christmas slash Happy Valentine’s sort of gift. She is great like that. And as I shared with you previously, there was drama surrounding the receiving of said gift, involving a very high customs and duties fee being demanded by South African Revenue Service (SARS). We were at the end of a tight month, really working to stay inside our budget, and five days away from payday, the thought of the gift being held ransom was rather discouraging. And I shared all that with you.
What I hadn’t shared yet was that over the course of those few days when we were discouraged and trying to figure out what to do, I was spending time reading the Bible (I like to do that, ya know) and I found myself in I Peter 2, which has a discussion of the importance of submitting to government. For a few days we’d been speaking with FedEx and their South African partners Supaswift, we’d been on the phone to SARS, and we’d been on the internet trying to discern whether we were actually being correctly charged for my Mom’s gift, since they were asking close to 70% of the gift’s declared value. At one point, FedEx made the suggestion that we could change the customs form to read ZAR 200.00 (meaning 200 South African Rand) instead of $200. And then no customs would be due. To say the least, this felt dodgy. Â We also considered sending the package back to the US and having friends who are coming next month bring it over. But that didn’t seem much different.
So back to 1 Peter 2. This passage says, Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. It goes on to say Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King. I flipped over to Romans 13 after reading this, to be reminded again that the Lord does indeed instruct us to submit to government. And then I remembered when Jesus and Peter were visiting the temple and they were asked to pay the temple tax. Even though Jesus was greater than the temple, being the Son of God and all, still he sent Peter to the lake to catch a fish, and the fish had a coin in its mouth which would pay the tax.
All of that combined to indicate to me that we should pay the fines, even though they seemed exorbitant and ridiculous. The prayer that followed this was: Lord, You provided the coin in the mouth of the fish for Peter to pay taxes, even though it didn’t seem right. Will you please provide for us to pay the taxes due for the gift from my mother? Help us to submit and properly obey the government here.
And so He did. Without seeing it in any way connected, I shared with you my discouragement about what was going on. Five minutes after this blog post hit the web, I received a Facebook message from a friend who said “Do you have a PayPal account? I’d like to send you some spendable encouragement.” Within twenty minutes we’d been blessed with a financial gift which was just $40 shy of what we needed for the taxes. ENCOURAGEMENT, HELLO OLD FRIEND! But the story doesn’t end there!
The next morning I received an email from other friends who said they wanted to pay for us to be able to receive the gift, and they asked how much we needed. I wrote them back and sad “We’ve already been blessed with this much, and we only need this much more, but really we can cover it ourselves. If you really want to give you can, but you don’t have to worry about it.” There was of course other dialogue and thank you’s but I don’t need to tell you that since you know how long winded I am. I had been encouraged by the gift the night before, and all your emails and comments and messages, and I was full of trust that it was going to come together fine.
AND THEN! The next day I had a voicemail from my Mom saying “Your big brother read your blog and heard about what happened with your gift and he was upset that you were discouraged! He is going to put thus and such in your bank account so don’t you worry! You’re going to get your present!” As you can imagine, this brought me to tears. I didn’t even know my brother read my blog! haha Seriously, I was just really, deeply blessed by this. It has been lonely at times being in a new country, far away from family, friends and familiarity, and this moment just made me feel so surrounded and in community, even if a lot of it is virtual community right now.
Hear me out on this: You might like to chalk this up to coincidence or serendipity, but I have experienced too much coincidence in my life to call it that any more. We told God we would trust Him and walk in His ways, and we asked for His help so that we could do so. And with exceeding abundance, He provided more than enough…in more ways than one!
On Tuesday, my Mom’s gift finally arrived…along with two others! My friend Amiee also sent us a gift, maybe two or three weeks before my Mom sent hers, and Samaritan’s Feet sent us some documents and copies of our founder’s new book…and all of it coincidentally arrived on Tuesday. We opened our gifts and were just so blessed by so much generosity at a time when things have been tight…it was like a second Christmas!
To me, all this is a demonstration of God’s blessing and provision for us when we choose to walk in His ways. Although submitting to the government and paying those fees seemed like a rubbish idea at first, yet the Lord did provide for us to do so, and allowed us to walk with Him through the process. And that, my friends, is the Sermon in a Nutshell.
Since this post has gotten a little long (no surprise there) I’m going to “to be continued” to fill another post with good cheer, happy photos and general prezzie merriment! To arrive in your browser or inbox or google reader very soon! Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Again and again, thanks.
xCC
P.S. If you’re wondering why the Bear’s outfit changed from picture 1 to picture 2, it’s because we had a little accident that necessitated a gear change and we decided he should sport his new gear for the next set of photos! 🙂
Feb 19, 2010 | The Good Word
I was recently reading in Numbers 11, where the children of Israel have begun their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. God had provided manna for them to eat, and was leading them with His presence day and night. They began to complain because they only had manna to eat, and they looked back at their time in Egypt with sorrow — they missed being in Egypt, in slavery.
“We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!â€
It is easy to read their comments and cast judgement: those ninnymuggins Israelites. Hello? What about the fact that you were slaves in Egypt, and now you have freedom? You have food to eat every day and all you have to do is gather it. You are free! You’re not slaves anymore doing ridiculously intense labour! And you have a promise from a God who has already caused you to walk through the Red Sea on dry land! He is surely able to make good on His promises.
But I wonder if we perhaps do the same thing in our lives sometimes? Do we see the provision of God in our daily lives as boring old manna? I think I do sometimes. The problem is that it’s in our nature to focus on what we don’t have. We look at what other people have, we see advertising all around us all day, every day. (Why do half the people who watch the Super Bowl watch it? Advertising!) We’re encouraged to be dissatisfied with what we have, and to spend money to get what we don’t have. And it’s a never-enough kind of cycle.
My encouragement in response? Two things. First, think on the things that will make you thankful. Put reminders on your walls, on your mirrors, all around you, that will encourage you to count your blessings and remember how good you really have it. Do you have food to eat every day? You have cause to be thankful. Do you have clothes to wear every day? You have cause to be thankful.
Second, consider spending less time watching TV and reading magazines which are specifically intended to cause you to be discontent with what you have. Spend more time thanking God for His great provision, and reading His Word, which will remind you of all the stupendously mind-boggling gifts you have in Jesus — for now, and all of eternity. You might have a little more joy every day, because you will find contentment with your life as it is now.
The Sermon in a Nutshell: Your heart will follow your head. What you believe about your circumstances will determine your perspective, your attitude and your response. So where’s your head these days?
Feb 15, 2010 | Stories, The Good Word
Have you cried any tears of joy lately? Like, have you had a good happy cry in a while? I have. I thought I’d take two seconds to share it with you because I see it as a testimony of God’s goodness. And by two seconds I mean I intend to take two seconds, but I’ll end up taking five hundred and seventy-two, because, as we all know, brevity isn’t my strong suit.
As I’ve shared before, HH and I have been working diligently to be good stewards of our finances. This has meant tightening our belts pretty tight. I can’t remember the last time I bought an article of clothing, although I think it was a pair of hiking shorts last September or October. (That’s kind of a big deal for me — not the hiking shorts, the not shopping). My parents did bless me with new clothes the last time I was home…so I really can’t complain about that. We hadn’t eaten out for a long time, until yesterday.
My Mom sent a little Valentine’s gift our way (she says it’s little, but to us it’s big) and we decided to spend part of it on a *very* reasonably priced meal out last night, meaning we’ll still have some left over for other things. The Bear indisputably loves fish, but that shouldn’t surprise us…he’s a bear! And as you know, we’d hoped to go home for Christmas, and when that didn’t work, instead in April for the wedding of two very dear friends (the one where they hoped the Bear would be their Ring Bear), and to meet my sister’s baby, but due to finances and our convictions about throwing things on the credit card, we decided against making those purchases. Can you guys stand reading this when I use so many run-on sentences? We don’t have TV…we don’t go to movies…I am very careful with our grocery budget…These are just a few examples of what tightening means for us.*
Here’s where this gets CRAZY. I don’t share any of this with you as a complaint, and I genuinely mean that. I can honestly say it and mean it when I say The boundary lines have fallen to us in pleasant places. Yes, I miss my family like crazy. And yes, I am dying to meet the little one that my sister will be delivering very soon. And yeah, I wouldn’t mind having a couple of new options in my wardrobe.
BUT. In this season I have learned thankfulness like never before. I have learned the value of a dollar — a Rand, as well — and I have learned how incredibly blessed I am to have a roof over my head, shoes on my feet and food in my belly. Do you realise you’re probably in the top ten percent in the world if you have more than 5 shirts in your closet? My heart is full and thankful, and I am overjoyed that the Lord has been feeding us our allotted portion, and teaching us so so so much along the way. It really is better to have a little and be thankful than to have a lot, and still covet more. (Yes, covetousness is still something I’m thinking about!)
So about the joyful tears… Good thing I warned you I might not be brief. We spoke with my Mom last night, and she’d been looking at flight prices and considering coming to visit us. This was news to me, as I wasn’t expecting to see her, honestly, before Christmas this year, and I wasn’t expecting her to visit South Africa until maybe 2011. She found flights to South Africa for a very good price, and decided to book them before they went up. So, she will be here to visit in six months!
I can’t tell you how much this felt like a reward from the Lord. I don’t know if that sounds like a strange thing to you. But the Bible holds these promises it mentions over and over again, like: If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land. (Isaiah 1:19) and Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:3 & 4).
I can honestly say our hearts have been chasing after God in this season — we’ve been expressing a desire to walk in His ways, spending more and more time with Him, and working to be obedient to His leadings and the direction we find in His Word. And I don’t say any of that to toot my own horn — I am a sinner just like you. But God…He is so good, so true and so faithful to His Word. If we walk in His ways, we’ll see His goodness. And seeing my Mom in six months’ time — that is goodness, and a major desire of my heart being fulfilled!
So when my Mom shared the news last night that she would be visiting us, clearly, this was a good reason for tears of joy. It was an amazing Valentine’s gift. A heartful of joy hand delivered! Or delivered over the phone. Well, the computer…via skype. You get the idea. I thought I’d share the joy with you, and a picture from the last time my Mom and the Bear were together — our trip to the States over his first birthday. Now she’ll be here to celebrate his second! YAY!
I hope you had a great Valentine’s Day! If you had any cause for tears of joy, I’d love to hear about it! If you had a cause for regular tears, I am sorry, and I’ll be happy to lend an ear about that, too.
xoxoCaroline
*Tightening may look completely different for you. I am not trying to preach or guilt trip or sneakily ask for ministry support! I am just sharing where we are along the journey, as a means of sharing how good God has been to us! He is good!
Feb 15, 2010 | Baby Photos, Hometastic Goodness
I hope you read the story last week about how I was blessed with those pictures at a fraction of the cost at Pick N’ Pay (that’s the name of the grocery store across the street from us, in case you were thinking it had to do with shoe shopping!) I promised to share the pictures of the pictures now that they’ve replaced the others.
Without further ado, I’m very pleased to share the before and after, which I hope will make you smile and rejoice with me!
Before: (frumpy frumpy)
It was kind of boring and the pictures weren’t very good ones for frames that hang on a very bare wall. But with some blessing and some resourcefulness we’ve arrived at:
After: (happy, happy!)
It has made the wall seem so much less bare and more happy to have these warm colourful photos and the ribbon that makes them look like a ‘gift’ with the Scripture (Psalm 127:3) that says children are a gift. Can you believe that ribbon has been reused and reused and initially came off a box of chocolates Mark gave me I think when we were dating?
Have you gotten creative with budget decorating lately? I’d love to hear about it.
Feb 12, 2010 | Stories, The Good Word
Numbers 13 tells the (perhaps familiar) story of the twelve spies going to check out the Promised Land. Very Mission Impossible-esque. Uh, minus the technology. They went for forty days, north, south, east and west, and checked out the land that God had promised to give them. They discovered God had promised them very good land! They also got a good look at the people living there.
Ten of them came back with a report of fear, and expressed a desire to back down from taking the land. “We’re like grasshoppers, and the people living there are like giants! eeeee!” Two of them came back with a word of faith. Caleb said:
“Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it!â€
Are your circumstances making you feel this big?
Isn’t it remarkable that all twelve of them saw the same land, the same people, the same fruit, the same good stuff promised by God, and yet they came away from seeing the exact same thing with different perspectives? Out of the twelve, only Joshua and Caleb expressed a desire to trust God in His ability to deliver the land He’d promised His people.
The truth is, we have the same opportunity every day, with every situation we face. Fear and faith are attitudes we choose between when we view our circumstances. How we perceive each situation we find ourselves in will determine our action, our reaction, or our inaction. We can choose to see a struggle ahead of us, a dead end/no-thru zone, or we can look with eyes of faith and see an opportunity for our God, the God who is very able, to come through on our behalf.
Are you in a situation right now where you have to look with eyes of faith in the face of something that would instead cause fear? Are you hard-pressed and uncertain of how you’re going to make it through? Look to the Creator who loves you and wants a relationship with you. Bring your concerns to Him. Pray for Him to deliver you, then trust Him and wait for Him to move, or to tell you how to move. God is most certainly bigger than any situation we ever face. He is always able to deliver us. We have to choose to move forward in faith, and to put our trust in Him.
The Sermon in a Nutshell: Every day you have the choice to be one of the ten, or one of the two. You can choose to have faith in God when your circumstances don’t look so good, or you can choose to fear and back down, and not receive what God has promised you. Choose to believe!!
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