Strength as my day

After 1,000 cups of coffee (okay, okay...maybe not quite THAT many), and several bottles of Coca-Cola.....our taxes are done!  Most people make their resolutions for a better year on January 1st.  I make mine as soon as I get done haggling, struggling, agonizing, and lamenting over the taxes!  You know, better receipt keeping, better organized, better.....you get the idea!
I'm confessing here to failing miserably at following Philippians 4:8-9!  In fact, last night I was actually growling at the verses that are posted on the wall above my sink - as if that changes anything!  Today, while I was waiting for help from the tax people (you know, take a number and wait.....), I had the Christian radio station playing on the computer.  They were playing "He Hideth My Soul."  In the second verse there is a phrase that says, "He giveth me strength as my day."  I have often puzzled over that phrase...what exactly was Fanny Crosby trying to say?  I realized today what it means...some days are tougher than others - those are the days when I need more strength.  God gives us the measure of strength according to what we need for each day - for all the trials and blessings, the ups and downs, the joys, the doubts, and the fears.  Isn't God so wonderful to give us exactly what we need, when we need it, and in just the right measurement?
May you be blessed today with strength as your day!

Hugs from God

Don't you just love hugs?  And don't you just love it when God gives you a hug?  For me, sometimes God's hugs come in the form of hug from Martha or Ian for no apparent reason.  Sometimes His hugs come from a verse in the Bible read during my quiet time, Family Bible time, or just a verse of comfort brought to mind by the Holy Spirit!  Yesterday was a day full of hugs from God to me.  Let me tell you about my hugs....
     One Sunday morning a few weeks ago, when we were crossing the street to wait for a "moto" to go to the train, I happened to see a 2 Sole (our money here in Peru) coin in the middle of the street.  I couldn't stop to get it, but I told Matt about it, and he (what a Hero!) went back to the middle of the street and picked it up for me!  Yesterday (Sunday) morning, I was thinking about that, and just told the Lord how funny that would be if that ever happened again!  As we went through the turnstile at the train station, something caught my eye.  It was  on the floor by the post for the turnstile.  I picked it up, and it was 10 Soles!  I tried to hand it to the guard, but he waved it back to me.  The train was just coming into the station, so I didn't have time to explain that I had found it!  Matt and Frank told me to keep it - there was no way to find out who it belonged to!  That was hug number one....
     The Lord brought Pedro to my mind yesterday morning, and so I prayed for him.  I learned a long time ago to pray for people when the Lord brings them to mind, not just think about them and wonder how they are doing.  Who is Pedro?  Pedro is a Deaf man that came to church my first Sunday in Callao.  He had told us then that he wouldn't be back because he was moving away for work.  Imagine my surprise and delight to see Pedro come walking through the door at church yesterday morning!  I could hardly believe my eyes!  What a joy it was to be able to tell Pedro, that I had just prayed for him that morning!  Hug number two...
     On the way home, the combi was stopped at a red light.  As usual, the street vendors wandered up and down between the vehicles selling their wares.  Matt had just bought a popsicle, when I saw a lady selling cold bottles of Coca-Cola.  Now I did not NEED that Coke - but oh, how yummy it looked!  I scrambled to get 2 Soles out of my coin purse before the light turned green - I couldn't do it.  The "cobrador" (the person who collects the fare) paid the lady the 2 Soles, the combi took off, and I paid back the cobrador!  Again, I didn't NEED that Coke, and the cobrador didn't HAVE to help me out, but I believe God just reached down and touched that man's heart, just to give ME hug number three!

Waiting for the Cookies to be done!

     I hope you each have a blessed Thanksgiving week, full of hugs from God!  Happy Thanksgiving!