Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?

God did an amazing thing yesterday.

I shouldn't be surprised.  He has proven Himself faithful over and over and over again.  Yet somehow, I am still amazed to see Him work things out in such unbelievable ways.

When Paul got out of the Army last August, he had decided to go directly into the Reserves so that we could pick up medical coverage when he opened his own practice.  We thought it would be an easy transition, but it ended up taking six months to get the paperwork straightened out.  In the meantime, we had transitional coverage until the end of January.

Then that ran out.

We waited and waited and finally thought everything was taken care of...until yesterday.  I was trying to refill a prescription when I was informed that we still had no coverage.  The problem was that I only had six days of medicine left, and our coverage apparently doesn't start until April 1.

I called a pharmacy and discovered that a 14-day supply would cost $75.  We knew we didn't really have any choice.  We were going to have to pay the full amount.

I decided to call our doctor and ask if they had any samples.  A sweet Christian nurse from the clinic answered the phone and listened to my story.  A minute later she came back on the phone and said that they had one sample box I could have.

"How many days is that?" I asked tentatively.

"One month," she replied with a smile in her voice.  "When do you want to come get it?"

The kids and I ate a fast lunch and drove right over to the office.  When she handed me the box, I told her thank you and she said, "God is good all the time."

On the way home, Josiah asked to look at the box.  I said, "Do you know what you're holding?"

"No."

"You're holding $150."

And then God said to me, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?  And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from Your Father...Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows."

Amazing.

Our Latest Birthday Celebrations

Micah and Sarah turned seven in February!  Here are some pictures of them with their cakes!  As you can see, the cake tradition continues, and we had a great time celebrating the birthday of our twinnies!  They got the presents, but they are the gift!

Sarah wanted a garden cake complete with a pond!  This may be one of my favorites!  The fence is made out of frosted graham crackers, and the little girl is made out of gum paste.

On the afternoon of Sarah's birthday, Paul came home from the store with the pot of daffodils.  You can't have a garden cake without real flowers too!

Micah wanted a football cake!  As we were finishing up the cakes, Paul decided to make a frosted graham-cracker scoreboard.  It is a little hard to see, but Michigan is beating Ohio State 77-7 with 7:07 left in the fourth quarter.  We do bleed maize and blue in this house!  The field is complete with yellow gummy bears to represent Michigan and red gummy bears to represent Ohio State.

Micah even wore his Michigan jacket for the picture!

Rudderless

Paul called home one day last week to check in with me, and he asked how my day was going.  I said, "I feel rudderless today.  Absolutely rudderless."  Then it dawned on me why I felt that way.  I had stayed in bed later than usual and then one of my kids got up earlier than usual.  I wasn't able to have the quiet time with God that has become like my very morning food over the last two years.  No wonder I felt rudderless.  The unfinished, most-important thing in my day was hanging over my head.  I hadn't acknowledged the One that directs my steps, so I was completely lost.  What a realization.

When Paul deployed, I very quickly learned that if I was going to have any joy at all through those twelve long months, I was going to have to start each day giving everything over to God.  It became my habit and something that I actually look forward to each morning.  What I didn't realize, though, is how much I had come to depend on that time.  It is my "breakfast" of solitude, reflection, prayer, and listening to what God wants for my day (although it is always done with a cup of coffee in my hand!)

Sometimes the baby-steps of progress in my Christian life are so imperceptible that I hardly see them.  What a grace that God would allow me to see how He has brought me along in my own personal walk.

I started the day rudderless.  I ended the day encouraged and thankful.  Onward I plod-- by God's grace and for His glory.