Monday, March 9, 2009

Way to Go Emma and An Unexpected Arrival



We spent most of Saturday watching Emma participate in the Awana Games. Her sparks team came in 2nd! They did just great. :) We are so proud of her for conquering her fear and participating! That is huge for Emma and a testimony to what prayer can do.

Sunday morning, she got another piece of evidence that God answers prayer. One of Emma's Sunday School teachers lost his job about 3 weeks ago. The Sunday that she found out, Emma got into the car with "urgent news". She has been praying every day since then that Mr. Rick would get a new job.

Yesterday, he shared with the class that God had answered their prayers and that he had a new job! Once again, she got in the car with "urgent news". It was sweet. However, I think God used that little thing to remind her mom and dad that God still answers prayers. Whew....did we need to hear it too.

I told you on Friday that God had sent a surprise in an unexpected way. Well....

My blogging and now real life friend Melinda sent me a treat. Earlier in the week on the LPM blog, Beth asked us to leave the name of our favorite book in the comments. I listed my all time favorite book..."The Secret Garden".

A couple of hours later, I received an e-mail from Melinda saying that we shared the same favorite. (Excellent taste she has.) Anyway, she asked me if I had a particular edition. (The one with Tasha Tudor illustrations) She shared that her husband had given that particular edition to her for Christmas one year and it was just a beautiful book. I told her no, but I thought it sounded beautiful.

On Thursday, my stinky day last week, our doorbell rang late in the afternoon. UPS had left a box at our front door and I'll just be honest here...I said "What in the world has Chad ordered." I'll go ahead and just confess that I was ready to give him an earfull if he had bought ANYTHING. Boy..did I have to confess my attitude.

When I opened the box...this is what I found.



Not just "The Secret Garden" but my second favorite book...."A Little Princess". Such a treat. A timely treat on top of that. God used two beautiful books and one beautiful Siesta to encourage me last week. Thank you Melinda for being so generous. Each time I pick up these books I thank God for you. I wish you lived close enough to hug your neck! We'll just have to wait until a conference or something!!!

You know...it was so precious to open that surprise, but as my girls and I were reminded last week...it's also a blessing to be the giver of a surprise.

Last week on our snow day, the girls and I got to use our God pocket money for the first time. To keep the details private,I just told the girls we were secret agents for God and that we were on our mission. We needed a lesson in putting others first and they LOVED it. In fact, one of them asked me last night if we had any special missions scheduled for this week. It was all I could do not to crack up at how serious she was, but it also thrilled my soul.

7 comments:

Heather said...

I always love reading about you and your girls and all the ways you show and tell them about Jesus! What a nice surprise to get in the mail! Hope you have a great week!

Cindy said...

Yay for Emma! I am so excited that she conquered her fear. She is already a prayer warrior. What a wonderful legacy.

Blessings,

Cindy

Leah Adams said...

Good girl, Emma. I'm so proud of you and I know Jesus is as well. Isn't it neat the way children pray and just expect the Lord to answer, while we adults usually hedge our bets and try to make things work---in case God doesn't work it out the way we think it should be.

Oh to be childlike in our prayer life.

Leah

Melinda said...

Way to go, Emma! My girls were in Awana, and not only did they learn those scriptures, but I have some instant recall on them as well!

Please know that the blessing was all mine - so glad it made your day a little less "stinky". :o)

Love you!
Melinda

Fran said...

crying. crying.

I'm gonna be a secret agent this week...thanks for the encouragement to do so with my boys!

I love ya Steph! And, I'm praising God with you.

Lora said...

Aww, your post brings back sweet memories of when the teens participated in Awana games. Seems like it was just last year; but it has been quite a few.

I love hearing about Emma's tender faith. It is sweet encouragement to hear that she is praying daily and praising God for answering!

And Tasha Tudor's illustrations are some of my favorites. I love the books Melinda shared with you.

Beth Herring said...

Oh, what a nice surprise to receive in the mail. I know that just filled your heart with such joy.

Like you, my favorite place to go is the beach. There is nothing quite like the smell of the ocean, the feel of that breeze and the sound of the water! I love it!!

Have a wonderful day -
In Him,
Beth