In this week of Thankfulness, I think it’s only appropriate to spend a blog post on talking about some of the things my family is thankful for. Now, I know there has been a lot of thankfulness in the blogosphere this week, and I’m a huge fan of all those posts. Today, though, I want to focus more on the way others have added to our thankful list with their everyday miracles.
It’s often said that we are God’s hands. That it is through us He is able to achieve His miracles. I want to say this is so true. Often, God offers us the opportunity to share in His works, allowing us to bless others and be blessed by the experience, too. Over the course of our marriage, we have been blessed by many people being God’s hands. We hope to be able to “pay it forward” and be God’s hands too.
There have been times when neighbors, knowing we haven’t been able to put in a garden, have dropped by with sacks full of vegetables – saving this busy mom a trip to the grocery store for fresh veggies, with three very sick kids. Or when neighbors and friends have willing watched my children when I’ve had doctor or dentist appointments. These acts of kindness have made situations that could have been extremely difficult much easier.
There have been times when both my mother and mother-in-law have come after the addition of a baby to help around the house while I recover from the delivery. Their kind and amazing help made it easier to transition the new baby into our family. Not to mention, they allowed for must needed naps. Their acts of service are blessings, for sure, but they are also examples of how I want to live my life. We as a family, and I as a mom, have been so greatly blessed by these wonderful people who listened to God’s whisperings and were His hands.
I would like to illustrate this with one specific event. A few years back, we had had a few unexpected medical bills come up. There wasn’t going to be enough to get through to the end of the month. We stopped at the grocery store, to pick up a few things. I ran into the store, and left my husband in the car with the kids so we didn’t all have to unload. While I was in the store, one of the children needed to use the restroom, so my husband unloaded all of them from the car. At some point someone saw my husband and the kids, and somehow decided to help us. How they knew we needed help, I don’t know. As I was checking out, someone from the service desk handed me an envelope. They said that someone who had watched my husband traipse in and out of the store with the kids felt like we could use some help, and the contents of the envelope was for us. Inside the envelope was $300. We don’t know who our anonymous benefactor was. We don’t know how they knew. We only know that three hundred dollars enabled us to make it to the end of the month. We are still trying to pay this and myriad other acts of kindness forward. I don’t think the debt will ever be repaid.
As we enter this season of giving, I hope we can all make room in our hearts to listen to the whisperings of God and be his hands. The opportunities to serve those around us may not present themselves in the traditional ways. Giving to the Angel Tree, Salvation Army, and other charitable organizations are fabulous ways to bless others. There are still other ways to bless our fellowmen, and these ways can have just as much impact as charitable giving.
So, this season, I hope to be able to open my schedule to the needs of others, and find ways to serve those God has put in my path. I hope to make sure I have time to serve my neighbors, family, and friends. I want to follow the examples that have been set by others in my life, and want to be God’s hands, not only for this season of giving, but throughout the coming year. This way Tiny Tim’s prayer “God bless us, everyone,” may be granted in my little corner of the world. Will you join me in opening up your heart and helping those around you?
