30 Days of Nothing- Day 7

First, if you haven't checked out Mary's blog over at owlhaven, it's well worth the visit. I wholeheartedly agree with what she wrote yesterday when she said that rather than calling this "30 Days of Nothing", it ought to be "30 Days of Less." I have no clue what it means to have nothing, and as an American, I probably never will. As was pointed out on another blog (I forgot whose) even the poor in America can end up fat. Please don't hear me saying that we don't need to have grace and mercy and justice for the poor in America, for that is not my heart at all. It's just that the poverty in many of the unindustrialized nations of the world is something that the American heart cannot even begin to comprehend. At least I know mine can't.

Confession: I bought something yesterday!
I bought some yarn to make a baby blanket for a dear friend who is bringing her little Ethiopian baby, Daniel, home to America in just a few days. I got really soft yarn in green, yellow, red, and black. You guessed it- Daniel's little blanket is going to be the colors of the Ethiopian flag. Also, we had some digital photos developed at Walmart so that we could send them to the orphanage in Ethiopia where our kids live. When Avery was there, the kids were the ones who did most of the photography, so we printed the ones that were important to them so that they could have them. I meant to buy conditioner, but when Lucas had a complete meltdown over his desire to have "Spwite" to drink, I decided that the conditioner could wait for another day. As though I would reward a screaming 4-year-old by giving him what he wanted, hence reinforcing to him that Walmart is a most acceptable, appropriate place to have a meltdown!

Resisted Temptation: I didn't buy anything from the sewing section except for yarn!
I'm certainly not Martha Stewart, but I do enjoy doing certain types of crafty things. I'm working on a project. For each of our four kids, I'm collecting squares of fabric that I will eventually sew into a quilt to be given to them when they graduate from high school. The squares are all chosen for a reason, which I write down on a piece of paper with a square of the fabric attached. Walmart had so many cute new fabrics in, and while I did look, I didn't buy any. All we need for this bicycle for the family in Kenya is $60. Seriously, every dollar counts. Kaitlyn contributed a dime she found at school to the 30 Days of Nothing jar. She's a doll.

Huge Blessing Regading Motorcycle:
Okay, now for the thing that blows my mind. As though God has not been good enough to us already, He's really proving His provision to us this week. Yesterday, I got a phone call from a very good friend who said that she and her husband had an extra car and they wanted to let Avery use it until he could get his bike fixed. Wow! Having just one vehicle this week has been somewhat inconvenient, but we've also realized in our inconvenience how incredibly blessed we are to even have a car. Yet still, God has provided a replacement. It gets better though...

While I was on the phone with my friend, Avery got a call on his cell phone (Yea, I wonder how many people around the world have even just one telephone?). It was another friend calling to say that when he heard that Avery's bike had broken down that God had impressed on his heart to pay for the repairs. He said to get it taken care of and bring him the bill.

After our phone calls, we sat there in astonishment at God's goodness. I can't even understand how or why God loves us so much. We're just ordinary people doing our best to see the things that are important to God accomplished in the world and in our lives. We fail so miserably so often. Even after God has provided $20,000+ for our adoption, and given us so much favor, I still have days where I loose faith and cry to God that I just don't understand. And still, I can honestly say that God has never let me down. Not one single time. Even when tragic things have happened in my life, I can honestly say that God was right there with me. He loves me so deeply, so much more than I can understand. And it has absolutely nothing to do with anything I've done. It's just because of who He is. He's God. He's my Father. I'm his daughter. That's enough. Wow.