Our God is so much BIGGER than the little box we tend to put him in...
God has completely blown us away with His provision, mercy and love for us this week. I wanted to blog about it, mostly so that in the future we can look back and vividly remember how the Lord worked in our life at this time! I mean, seriously God answered our prayers about sending our girls to Regent next year in the biggest, most unexpected, AWESOME way I have ever seen prayer answered! Let me back up...we love Regent and the Christian education is provides, but financially it is just not something we can take on. We have managed to make it work for Mackenzie to be there for E3 (Kindergarten) and 1st grade, but just barely. Our thoughts and the direction we felt the Lord was leading us in was that for the next school year, we would send Madison to Regent for E3 to get a good foundation and I would begin to Homeschool Mackenzie for 2nd grade and be involved in a Classical Conversations group. We were moving that direction full steam ahead, until one beautiful April day. I have to honestly admit that I never really had a peace about homeschooling...actually, I was trying not to think about it all that much, because quite frankly, it terrifies me! But, at this time in our life, we feel strongly about the fact that the public school system is not where God would have us, so I felt that I really had no other option than to give Homeschooling a shot. Our God is so much bigger than the "box" we tend to want to put him in. On April 22nd, God totally orchestrated a conversation between a beautiful Christian friend and myself, and she point blank asked me, "Candace, if it were paid for, would you want your girls to go to Regent (or Metro, etc.)?" I'm sure the look on my face was pure shock..."Well, YES, of course!" The conversation that followed is one I will never forget, and yet I can't adequately describe...she said that our family and our girls education had come up several times, and she and her husband would like to give the gift of education to our family. Wait...WHAT? I'm sorry, could you please repeat? =0) I wish someone would have taken a picture of my face...seriously HOW do you accept such a gift? How are you supposed to respond and feel? Incredibly humbled, unbelievably grateful and thankful, in awe of our God who can do IMMEASURABLY more than we can ask or imagine, filled with a desire to be obedient to the Lord's leading and give to others out of the overflow of what has been given to you, whether in monetary gifts, time, love, or ministry in general.
God has completely blown us away with His provision, mercy and love for us this week. I wanted to blog about it, mostly so that in the future we can look back and vividly remember how the Lord worked in our life at this time! I mean, seriously God answered our prayers about sending our girls to Regent next year in the biggest, most unexpected, AWESOME way I have ever seen prayer answered! Let me back up...we love Regent and the Christian education is provides, but financially it is just not something we can take on. We have managed to make it work for Mackenzie to be there for E3 (Kindergarten) and 1st grade, but just barely. Our thoughts and the direction we felt the Lord was leading us in was that for the next school year, we would send Madison to Regent for E3 to get a good foundation and I would begin to Homeschool Mackenzie for 2nd grade and be involved in a Classical Conversations group. We were moving that direction full steam ahead, until one beautiful April day. I have to honestly admit that I never really had a peace about homeschooling...actually, I was trying not to think about it all that much, because quite frankly, it terrifies me! But, at this time in our life, we feel strongly about the fact that the public school system is not where God would have us, so I felt that I really had no other option than to give Homeschooling a shot. Our God is so much bigger than the "box" we tend to want to put him in. On April 22nd, God totally orchestrated a conversation between a beautiful Christian friend and myself, and she point blank asked me, "Candace, if it were paid for, would you want your girls to go to Regent (or Metro, etc.)?" I'm sure the look on my face was pure shock..."Well, YES, of course!" The conversation that followed is one I will never forget, and yet I can't adequately describe...she said that our family and our girls education had come up several times, and she and her husband would like to give the gift of education to our family. Wait...WHAT? I'm sorry, could you please repeat? =0) I wish someone would have taken a picture of my face...seriously HOW do you accept such a gift? How are you supposed to respond and feel? Incredibly humbled, unbelievably grateful and thankful, in awe of our God who can do IMMEASURABLY more than we can ask or imagine, filled with a desire to be obedient to the Lord's leading and give to others out of the overflow of what has been given to you, whether in monetary gifts, time, love, or ministry in general.
I remember saying, "I don't know what to say, or how to accept such a HUGE gift." And her response is one I will never forget..."You just say Thank You, and that's enough. We are just being obedient to God's call." Wow. Just wow! I remember calling the school to see if there even WAS a 2nd grade opening for Mackenzie and there was one spot for her. Then I had to see if there was a place for Madison in the E3 class she needed to be in...there was one. It's like God was saying, "How much confirmation do you need that this is INDEED my plan!"
God has so richly blessed our life...in every way. He always meets and exceeds our needs, but there isn't much wiggle room in our finances. I often stand in the check out line at Wal-Mart and think how cool it would be to be able to pay for the groceries of the person checking out in front of me, just to be a blessing. Well, that times ten thousand was done for our family this week. Never in a million years would I have dreamed that someone would approach us and give us the tremendous gift of education for our children. As I sit here typing out this post, it is September and the school year has started (I'm a little behind on blogging!) I am more amazed than ever at how God knew that with building and moving into a new house just as school was starting, now was definitely not the right time for us to try homeschooling. He is so good to provide what we don't even know or understand that we need!
Here's another thought...why do we doubt that God will provide for us in all ways, even after we see him do something this big? I have been so frustrated with myself many times in the past few months, for already fretting and worrying about what we will do for the next school year. WHY do I do that?! I KNOW in my heart that God will provide, but when I get to thinking too much with my head, that's where I run into trouble. Lord, give me the mind of Christ! May I not worry about what tomorrow holds, trusting that You have a plan much bigger and better than anything I can ever dream up!
Whether it be that God provides for the girls to continue at Regent in the future, or leads us down another path, I am confident that He will take care of us!
Whether it be that God provides for the girls to continue at Regent in the future, or leads us down another path, I am confident that He will take care of us!
The day that the tuition check was mailed and everything was finalized with our enrollment process, I sent this text...
"I am so humbled and have honestly never seen the Lord answer a prayer in such a powerful, clear way! (I may stop thanking you at some point, but not yet!) I wish you could have seen the smile on Mack's face when we told her she could go to school at Regent next year, because God provided! It was precious! I was thinking today that there is no way we could ever repay your family for this beautiful gift of education for our girls this year...but this scripture has been on my heart for your family: Numbers 6:24-25 The Lord bless you and keep you, The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you." So with overflowing hearts, we are praising God and asking him to bless your family in every way! We love you and are so thankful!"
Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever, Amen!"
No comments:
Post a Comment