Friday, July 26, 2013

Blessings Pour Down

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."   
Psalm 91:14-16

I find myself stopping at random points during the day this week to say "Thank you Lord."  That's all - short and sweet and heartfelt.  You know why?  Because I am feeling His blessings in my life in some special and visible ways.  Here's some history: my husband is a DoD (Department of Defense) employee.  As you may know President Obama decided in his infinite wisdom last year to institute sequestration if Congress didn't bend to his budget demands.  It hit the news and fizzled - after all, who cares about some fat-cat government employees getting a pay cut, right??  Unfortunately what people didn't (and still don't) understand is that the fat-cats don't feel the cuts.  This sequestration was targeted at people just like us - middle-class working families, many with children, who are trying to make a living for their family.  The result has been 11 days of furlough spread out over 11 weeks.  Allow me to translate - for 11 weeks Charles is "off" on Fridays because he's not getting paid.  It's a partial lay-off in layman's terms.  20% of our pay every week is gone.  Granted we still get to pay all of our bills at full price, but with 20% less money available to do so. 

Now, reading all about sequestration and its affects on our family you may be wondering why I'm writing about blessings.  Strangely enough, God's blessings are pouring through the clouds surrounding us right now.  I have been signed up with a freelance writing website for about a year now.  I had almost forgotten about this site until I started fretting about money and how we were going to make it financially right now.  I ended up exploring this site and accepting an article.  I spent about an hour writing, turned it in and made approximately $7.  Not too bad, but I'd sure have to take a lot of assignments in order to make up any pay Charles has lost.  Imagine my surprise Wednesday when I opened the site and had a team invitation.  I have been invited to join a team that writes an average of 20 articles a week, with the opportunity to do more if I'm able.  Would you believe that writing 20 of these articles will make me almost exactly the amount we are losing to sequestration every week? 

I was stunned and incredibly humbled by this discovery.  I have been worried to the point of sickness over this whole situation and I finally hit bottom with it last weekend.  I sat down and had a long conversation with God about this whole business and gave it to him completely.  For Real!  I didn't grab it back immediately so I could worry some more.  I handed my burden over to his more-than-capable shoulders and left it there.  Needless to say it was very freeing and I started feeling better about the whole situation right then and there.  And three days later I am provided with a way to make up every penny that we are losing.  I don't think you could attribute this to anything but God and his goodness.  I am floored and comforted by his overwhelming care and protection.  I hope that you, too, will give him your burdens.  I can't guarantee you'll have the same answer, but I promise you He will provide for you.  His blessings will pour down on you!

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