it's been building for a while....

i haven't blogged in a while.... facebook gets the pictures up pretty stinkin' quick for all the grandparents so it's easy to slack off. but today i'm waxing eloquent.

back in college we did works of God mondays. every monday we'd gather as a student body and for a few minutes we would share something that God had done recently. physical or spiritual. God was always working and we were constantly bombarded with reminders that God is alive. He works for the good of His children. He cares about our needs. He is in control. He is molding us to His image.

my Bible teacher used to say, "there are no accidents. only assignments." this was right after he was struck by lightning. yeah. struck. by. lightning.

lately our family has been reminded that it is imperative to simply trust God, follow Him, glorify Him with your life. not much else matters. this life is fleeting.

when i was in college i knew God was good all the time. i knew He was working. i knew He was alive. but i didn't always stop long enough to see His hand in my life. i was a classic martha. when really, i should have stopped to be a mary. so i didn't always have a "work of God" for monday. one time though, i was on extension at marquette university in milwaukee and i met a man named martin. martin "just happened" ... yeah, right...to be in our path when we were inviting college students to our Bible study. martin was not a college student. he was a part time homeless man. i say that b/c i know he was in and out of work and he was currently living in a hotel nearby. the Holy Spirit was most definitely working in this man's life. and i became consumed with finding him every time we were there. i knew he needed Christ. it was the first time i really stopped to see God using me specifically to show someone Jesus. it really made an impact on my life. i still think of martin often and pray for his soul.

so thanks to jenny for reminding me of works of God mondays. b/c today... on a monday... i got to see God provide a specific need. you may think it was a small thing, but to me it was huge. we've been able to see God provide our needs on large scale and small this year. sometimes i like the small things the best b/c it makes me remember that God cares about little me. this whole world is ginormous, and He knows every hair on my head.

i had to go to meijers for my regular two week run. i thought about going yesterday afternoon. but it was cold and i was desperate for a nap. i thought about going first thing this morning, but my house was in complete disarray--i'm talkin' no clean clothes, no clean dishes to be had-- so i put it off yet again. but it was imperative that i get food. connor and i frequently have a conversation that ends up with, "if you don't eat, you die." you know those conversations where a kid will ask a billion questions until they get their desired result... who knows what that is. but the trail often goes down the path of "if you don't eat, you die" for us. i know, we're odd. i really really really wanted to go without kids to the store this week. but that option wasn't looking too promising, so i ended up going out when i really didn't want to.

i had to get some medicine for meg, so we started by the pharmacy and then went to the back of the store to work our way forward. i NEVER do that. as i was walking back there i thought, "boy this is weird. i hope i don't forget anything b/c i'm going backward." the store was surprisingly busy for a monday afternoon, so it was getting tough to keep connor out of the way of other shoppers while still letting him walk on his own.

so there we were in the spaghetti aisle when connor got a panicked look on his face and proclaimed to me that he HAD TO go to the bathroom..... loudly. and in typical 3-yr-old fashion he did NOT use public friendly words. not then, and not the entire way to the bathroom. suddenly, connor began to melt down. totally not his style. i told him he wasn't in trouble at all since i knew that might be a fear of his. he calmed down a little and we made our way to the bathroom. we went to the family bathroom b/c it was closest. someone was already in there and another man was waiting. so i decided to go to the back where i thought there was another bathroom. apparently, my memory is a little squishy and there's no bathroom there. connor became more and more panicked... understandably.

i figured the only thing to do was to go back to the front of the store and wait for the bathroom. i figured it would be interesting, but what are ya gonna do, right? just then i look up and there's my gramma. thinking it would help connor calm down to see her, i said, "look! there's tally!" turns out that only made the poor kid more emotional. who knew?? well, gramma said she would help me get the kids to the bathroom and wait with meg while i took care of connor. then she even stayed with us until we finished all our shopping and helped us get packed up and out of the store. that was a huge help b/c it was getting really busy and she let connor ride in her cart.... which he thought was super cool b/c she was going FAST! i was thanking her for sticking with us and helping and she told me she knew God placed her there. and it was true. she always walks up on the hill, but she never walks that time of day. she almost always goes to the other meijers by her house, but she figured she would just run in since she was there. if i had gone my normal route there's no way i would have seen her. i am so thankful to God for His love and kindness in showing me that He loves me. His child. in this whole world of His working, such a small thing but i know He cares.

have you stopped to see God at work around you? let me hear about it. anything. big or small. trust me there are bunches of big ones. i've got loads. sometime i'll have to post them. i just like the little things.