Tag: Family

The Faithfulness of God

Published on by christinaboundlessjoyLeave a comment

Every single day, God provides what I need when I need it. Here are some ways God has been faithful to me.

He surrounded me with the support of family so we were in the same physical location when I needed them.

I live about three hours away from my immediate family, and had decided to spend extra time with them. So, when it was time for me to resign from my job, I was already with my family. The set up was perfect – being close to them was a great support when I resigned and in the weeks that followed.

He cleared my work schedule for what we didn’t know would be my dad’s last days on earth.

We didn’t know that my dad was going to pass away on September 30, but God worked it out so that I could be with my family and completely focused on them. My bosses had allowed me to work fully remote (instead of hybrid), then I resigned, and the company did not need my assistance after I left. My family spent a lot of time together (all five us of us) – including a dance party in the family room to celebrate my mom’s birthday.

  • I also saw God’s faithfulness in the timing of my last day of work: If my last day had been later, I could not have left the company well or handled both the job and my dad’s rapidly declining health. The timing was perfect, and it had to be God.

God gave me the spiritual refreshing I would need before my dad went to heaven.

There was a conference that I had planned to go to for months. It “just so happened” to fall on the week when the doctors told my family that my dad only had a month or weeks to live. My dad went to heaven two days after that conference, and that would have been much harder had I not spent so much time worshipping, learning, praying, crying, sitting in God’s presence, and trusting Him for our future.

He steadily shows His love through my family and friends.

My first few days back at my apartment after my dad went to heaven were really hard – but I felt God’s love through the friends He has given me. Two friends let me stay at their apartment, others called me, spent time with me, and sent kind words. All were patient and caring. My birthday also happened recently, and we celebrated for weeks with family and friends – wonderful memories to cherish forever.

  • Also, in fresh baked snacks after church: One Sunday, my family had a busy morning preparing for my birthday party, had some errands to run after church, and we were hungry. After church, one of my friends gave us three flavors of cornbread to try. We enjoyed them while we were running errands, and thanked God for His sweet provision.

And so much more

There are many other ways that God has shown His faithfulness to me – phone calls and texts at the perfect time, home-cooked food from others when I couldn’t cook, safety in many hours of driving. I am incredibly thankful that God is always with me and meets my needs.

“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)

Life Lesson: God is faithful, you can rely on Him.

Learn and Remember, Part 1

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Lately, I have been challenged to remember what I learned while dating and apply it to other relationships. To help us both, here are some of those lessons.

Relax and have fun.

For those of us who tend to be task-oriented, focused, and intense, it can be difficult to relax and enjoy ourselves, even while doing something calming like taking a walk in a park or eating a great dinner. Being this intense all the time can drain you and the people you are spending time with. Remember to take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the moment.

Be honest and up front, communicate openly.

Once, my sister and I ordered some burgers for takeout. Because of a recent bad experience, she wanted to make sure both burgers were cooked all the way through, which required cutting both burgers in half. Though I had been looking forward to the experience of eating a full, round burger, I didn’t say anything. I cut my burger in half…and had a serious attitude eating my sliced burger. The whole thing took the joy out of our outing.

Instead, I should have told her that I did not want to cut my burger in half, and was willing to risk it not being done to enjoy the burger properly. Turns out the burger was cooked well-done, and it would have been perfect had I articulated what I truly wanted.

Communicate your thoughts, feelings and concerns. We can’t move past issues if we are unaware of them or don’t talk about them, and talking about them helps us avoid bitterness.

Run to Jesus first.

No matter what happens or who comes into your life, Jesus is the most important person. There were times when something big happened and I wanted to take the problem to my boyfriend first, then my family, and other friends, and Jesus got pushed down the list. But when I sought God’s help first, everything else fell into place.

Seek Jesus, serve Him, follow Him, and He will certainly guide through this journey called life.

Life Lesson: Learn from your experiences. Relax, communicate, and run to Jesus first.