Count Your Blessings..really count them!

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Though we do not celebrate Thanksgiving in my country, I will certainly be celebrating it with my American friends in my heart. After all, who could deny the opportunity to give thanks to our Creator, our Saviour, our Paraclete?

Thanksgiving is something that is so essential to maintain joy in our hearts. If we look around us there is always something to be grateful to God for. 

Today I want to share with you the awesome ways in which God has shown His love and faithfulness to me and my family...so that you can believe how awesome His love is..for YOU and for YOUR FAMILY as well!

I also want to stress our belief in the words of scripture:   Luke 6:39 "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured  to you"  NIV 

To put it rather bluntly, money has been very tight in my household. We have been plagued with many things to drain our finances in the last few months. Last month alone, we had car trouble and illness in the family. We are also trying to save money for our trip to Florida in December for my daughter' s graduation. So far, everything we managed to save was drained. Depressing? Yes, but God has been faithful and we continued to get a few little orders for cupcakes and cakes so, even if we weren't saving, we were also not using as much credit.

Last Sunday, I sat in church and listened to a member of my husband's prayer group asking for support for a fund-raising concert they were holding at the church that evening. Burning a hole in my purse was the cost of one ticket...$100 we had managed to save from some cookies we'd sold the previous week.  I felt strongly in my heart that I needed to  purchase a ticket and give support to the worthy cause of assisting those in our community who are in desperate need. I listened to this lady say "Brothers and sisters we never know when we may be in a similar situation" and my heart grew full. "But for the grace of God go I!"

I whipped out my $100 bill and gave it to my husband to go and buy a ticket. He came back with this envelope in his hand and a strange look on his face. The envelope contained $200 that a prayer group in another part of the country had donated to him for giving a talk on their behalf. Oh glory be to God!  He went back and bought another ticket.  I was blown away that in the very instant that I decided to give up my $100, we got back $200!

On to another story:

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Previously, on the Friday, my car had been stuttering as if it would shut down. My husband had been out of the country and I anxiously made the two trips into town to collect my children, coaxing it along in the traffic. On Monday my husband followed me to the mechanic's house and we left the car there for him to check on it. When he called to say that it was ready, I asked him how much I owed him and his reply was...nothing! Oh Praise God!!!  I'd been juggling around the budget, trying to figure out how to pay for the repairs and he didn't charge me for his time, even though he had gone through the car and found a hose that had become detached and checked for an oil leak too! 

Cost to fix my car : 0$

The following day, I was sitting in the car outside my daughter's school, waiting to pick her up. I had just counted out $50 in cash which was to be my next fill up at the gas station. I was reading my bible study and someone knocked on the glass. There was this lady selling some chocolates, 4 for $10. She looked as if she didn't expect me to buy any...she must have been rejected a lot.  My heart was moved to pity...she had resorted to walking the streets to try to make some money. I took $10 from my purse and bought some chocolates. "Okay, Lord," I thought, "maybe I can get by with $40 next top up."

Then came the next incident:

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 A filling had fallen out in my youngest daughter's mouth and it was developing an abscess. It is a pretty deep hole and  I knew that it would cost between $400 and $500, plus the cost of an antibiotic.  Once again, I was juggling my budget to figure out where I could pull this money out from. 

So off I went to the dentist...my daughter was pretty well-behaved and I was thanking God for that! I handed my insurance form to the doctor and jokingly mentioned that they probably wouldn't let me claim for this again, since this was the second or third time she'd filled this tooth. She laughed and told me to meet her outside. Her assistant came to the window and said, "No charge for today." My jaw dropped "What? No, she has to charge me for at least the material... its so expensive" I protested (Or was that my pride speaking?) 

The doctor herself came at that point and said "No, its okay. She behaved so well today...no charge" 

 The cost to fix my daughter's tooth... $0

The moral of these stories...

Sweet sisters...and brothers... do not be afraid to share even in your dire circumstances. Share generously of your time or your talent. Give what little you can afford from your meagre funds. God blesses each gift given with a generous and loving heart.

www.clipartheaven.com

I hope my little stories encourage you and illustrate how great God's love is for us. As you celebrate Thanksgiving, may you celebrate it in your heart and find the means to give to the less fortunate. What better way to give thanks than to be His feet, His hands, His heart...right here in a world that needs Him so much. 

If you are looking for a wonderful way to count your blessings,. check out this beautiful Thanksgiving Tree over at A Holy Experience.

Blessings to all of you!

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