"....Your children shall be like olive plants all around your table." Psalm 128:3

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Oh Me of Little Faith




Hi friends,

For those of you who don't know, hubby and I have been experiencing an unsettling situation over the past few months. You see, we live on one of 2 of my parents' farms. My oldest sister and brother also live on this farm. That is, my sister used to live on this farm. She and her husband sold their house to move closer to their children and grandchildren. Their house is just over the hill from our...in our back yard..sort of.

So when their house finally sold in May, the fervent prayers began to ascend;  we began praying for our new neighbors, mostly that they would be child-friendly (since our children would definitely be coming into contact with them since they are outside-loving children), and that they would be home school friendly (to squelch my fears of being turned in to social services every few days).

The prayers kept going up..and so did my blood pressure...as I allowed my fears to displace my faith. Others were praying, too, and that should have given me comfort. But I chose fear over faith.

My hubby was praying as I was, but he seemed to have complete peace about everything. I was fretting..he was resting. It unnerved me sometimes.

The new neighbors arrived yesterday. Hubby decided that we should introduce ourselves. We walked up the driveway and rang the doorbell.

Mrs. New Neighbor greeted us at the door with her 2 dogs and huge smile. She invited us in and  introduced us to  Mr. New Neighbor. He was the same: all smiles and cordiality.

During the course of the conversation, they told us that she is a retired school teacher. Uh-oh. I didn't think there was a chance of a retired ps teacher being pro home school, so I didn't mention it. The very next minute, she looked at me and asked, "You home school, don't you?" Yikes! Busted!

I told her yes, and she exclaimed, "I am a retired teacher, but I am very pro-home school. In fact, I have relatives that home school their children, and I think it's wonderful!"  Home school friendly. Check.

The next minute, she was asking about all of our children (and grandchildren)...their ages, names, etc. (The children were outside playing and didn't go in with us.) After filling her in about everyone, she said, "Well, I just can't wait to meet all of them!!" Child friendly. Check.

Relieved doesn't even come close to describing how I felt to hear those words! And shocked. Why was I shocked  that He answered our prayers when we had been praying about this for months? If the God of the Universe can save my soul from the pit of Hell, isn't He more than able to work out this situation for good in our lives? Where was my faith?

 I was immediately convicted when I remembered that I had wasted all that energy worrying - and not trusting the Lord for the very thing I was praying about.

So many times I have quoted Ephesians 3:20 "...He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.."   to friends and family when they are concerned or worried about something. How many times had I quoted the verse to them, and yet, with my situation, I had somehow missed it?? Ouch.

We are really looking forward to spending time with our new neighbors. And from now, I'm going to trust more, fret less. May He help me to do just that.

 "Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord. " ~ Psalm 4:5

 Praying for a faith-filled week for you, my friends.  :)








sharing this week with Deep Roots at Home
                                 

19 comments:

  1. Love that you shared this! We serve an awesome God!

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    1. He is awesome, my friend! :) Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

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  2. That is so wonderful! I hate to hear your sister moved though....My family has all moved in different directions and it is really sad and hard at times.

    Blessings,
    Amy Jo

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    1. My sister moved only 30 minutes away, Amy Jo. So the worst part of it all was wondering what kind of neighbors would be moving. All that stress was such a sad waste of time. :/
      So thankful for your visit today. :)

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  3. You sound like me, Lisa. That's exactly what I do, pray about something, but I'm very lacking in faith that God would ever answer my prayers. Good things only happen to other people, right? I'm so glad everything turned out fine and I hope you have many good years with your new neighbors. We have new neighbors too, who are going to have their first child today (inducing). We will bring goodies over to them later this week or weekend. Have a blessed week!!!

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    1. We'll be taking a meal to our neighbors too, Jane. All we had on hand last night was a dozen of our eggs, but they were thrilled with those. :)
      Always love to have you stop by. :)
      And I tried to friend you on FB, but there was no "send friend request" on your page.

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  4. Yeah! So happy to hear it, Lisa. Thank you for the article you posted, as well. Lots to pray about!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Hope you're having a lovely week.
      Much love you. :)

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  5. Thank you for this. :) We're looking for just the right house, and the list of perceived "needs" is long. And I'm getting impatient! But God has always answered our prayers regarding a home. Maybe someone out there is praying for neighbors who homeschool, teach music lessons, and are starting a church. (lol!) What are the chances of that? With God it doesn't matter what the chances are.

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    1. Hi Sally,
      Love that - "with God, it doesn't matter what the chances are.."
      Praying that the Lord will reveal His perfect will in your life. :)
      Many blessings,
      Lisa

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  6. Your hubby sounds like mine. Aren't we blessed?

    LOVED hearing the answer to prayer and the reminder to pray in faith.

    I've often been convicted about giving the Lord something in prayer and taking it back in worry.

    mommamindy.wordpress.com
    mommamindyprairieprimer.wordpress.com

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    1. Hi Mindy,
      We are so blessed!
      I am what you could call an Indian giver...giving it to the Lord, then trying to take it back again.
      Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment.
      Hope you're having a lovely day. :)

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  7. I have needed this whole week..and God is faithful :) will be praying for you my friend!

    Love,
    Delvalina

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    1. He IS faithful, Delvalina..even when we aren't. Thanks for the prayers and for stopping by. :)
      Hope you're having a week full of blessings!

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  8. So nice to hear about your neighbors. Your words are very helpful to me. I can relate.

    Hugs,

    s

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Thanks so much for stopping by. I love to hear from my readers, and your thoughts are welcome. And I try my best to respond to each and every comment. :)