Author Archives: Matthew, Karen, and God

God’s plan

I had stopped off at a local shop to pick up some wire fencing and ended up with three kittens. It was just before mothers day and I was in a rush to get these materials to finish up a job. One of the guys that was prepping the materials heard a noise and couldn’t find it, so he began a search. Inside a huge lawnmower box was three little kittens all cuddled up together obviously missing there mother. The man was going to have the animal shelter come and retrieve them but for some reason I jumped in and said,” I’ll take them.” I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them, all I knew was that God gave me a soft spot in my heart for animals and that it would be ok. These kittens were so tiny, the size of a pill bottle, but looked much bigger with all the fluffy fur. I had asked the worker if they carried any milk bottles and he told me they were waiting on a shipment and it would be in a couple of days. When I picked the kittens up they were really cold, so I tucked them in my arm and drove to another shop that ended up not having any bottles either. The situation was getting harder and all I wanted to do was feed these hungry little guys. I remembered that I could use a syringe to feed them and was able to give them a little food, holding them off till the next day when they had their vet appointment. One of the kittens look really bad, had a cough, and didn’t want to eat which had me worried. My wife and I were at the vet the following day and the doctor was looking them over. When she got around to the sickest one she told us that this kitten wasn’t going to make it and needed to be put down. I was so devastated and was starting to tear up upon hearing that news, but was trying to hold it together. My wife looked at me and could see the pain in my eyes, the nurse and doctor were totally quiet, watching a 300 pound man sobbing over these kittens he only had for a day. I had prayed for these kittens the night before and that morning for God to help these babies and had high hopes that all would pull through. They put the kitten to sleep, gave medication to the others and made an appointment a couple of days later for the other two. We fed them, kept them warm and prayed, with everyone watching out for them until the next visit. One of them looked the same as the first and we knew that the results would be the same so we prepared ourselves for the bad news. Our predictions were correct and the second was put to sleep, this wasn’t as difficult as the first but it still hurt. The doctor did however have great news for the last one coming out with a clean bill of health, so we named her Grace. The veterinarian hospital didn’t charge us anything for any of the appointments or medications, Praise God. Now we have a perfectly healthy cat that is full grown and ornery, a perfect fit for our family, Amen. Sometimes we don’t always understand why God does this the way that He does, but we have to trust that He has a plan. Jeremiah 29:11,” For I know the plans I have for you,”plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Tomorrow is not guaranteed

I have a huge problem with looking to far into the future, making up imaginary scenarios that I think will happen. The problem with doing this is that we are not living in the present and trusting God. It puts fear in our hearts that can damage our faith and that is exactly what the devil wants. James 4:13-14, Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”, whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. These two verses are not saying that we can not make plans but to not look to far into our future. We need to trust in God not only daily but hourly and in every minute because we can parish at any given moment.

Strength sent from Heaven

Having a family member in the hospital suffering can be painful for anyone. We want to be the rock for that person and sometimes it can be extremely difficult to find the strength to hold it all together. I haven’t heard from my friend Karen for the better part of a week now because of her sister being in the hospital. When Karen isn’t tired from her stay at the hospital she will call, giving me an update on her sisters recovery. Her sister suffers from dimensia and just recently received a bad strain of the flu and pneumonia. Karen has been by her bedside day in and day out being a solid rock for her to lean on. God has blessed Karen in so many ways that I couldn’t even begin to explain, but a couple of those blessings are being patient and encouraging in times of trouble. She always has a smile on her face and thinks of what to say before saying it and I know this from being friends with her for so long. Whenever we go to the hospitals and pray for those who are sick and in need, she has this ease about her that you want to be around. God has given her the strength to comfort just about anyone and He will give you the strength if you will request it. Isaiah 40:29, He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Heavenly Father thank you so much for working through Karen to be a beacon of light for her sister. We lift her sister to you this morning for quick healing Lord. We also lift Karen to you this morning, exchanging your yolk for her yolk because we know that yours is lighter. In Jesus precious name AMEN.

Take a time out

Busy, busy, busy, that word runs through my mind multiple times a day and is a word that frequently runs out of my mouth. I can be so busy in fact doing what I think is God’s works that I don’t take the time to be with Him, asking and listening to what He wants from me. That can be a slippery slope, leading me to do whatever I want, which is exactly what the devil wants. Take time to be with our Heavenly Father this morning and listen for His voice. Matthew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Slow to speak

This is something that used to be so very hard for me and I still stumble with it once in a while. Being quick to say whatever came to mind was always easy for me, but the problem was that the words that came out weren’t thought out or even positive. Being quick to listen means that I needed to shut my mouth no matter how bad I want to spit something out. Slow to speak means that it gives my mind time to process what the Holy Spirit needs me to say. If we respond to quickly we can misinterpret something and maybe start to anger us. Take the time to follow these steps with someone today and you will be pleasantly surprised at the end result.

Being thankful

How often do we give thanks to God for all of the things He’s done and given us? I would have to say not nearly enough. Waking up taking that first stretch and breath of fresh air, or being able to walk, to kissing a spouse goodbye as you head off to work. The fact that you have a job and clothes to wear, having a vehicle or being able to take a vacation. We all have so many things to be thankful for, and yet we don’t always take the time to thank our Heavenly Father for these wonderful things that He is providing. Sometimes it takes something horrible to happen just to really realize what we had. The loss of a spouse or child, loss of your legs, job, car or home. I try and thank God for everything He’s done and it can take a while, so usually I will do it on a walk, it can be the perfect time to reflect and appreciate all the gifts we’ve received, plus it helps the walk go quicker and often times you will go a bit further. Heavenly Father thank you so much for all the gifts you have given us that we over look sometimes in our day to day activities. We want to thank you for the first breath that we take and the fact that we can get out of our beds in the morning, till we lay our heads down to sleep and everything in between. In Jesus precious name AMEN. 2 Corinthians 4:15 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.

Trust in God

A couple of years back I was wanting to get into the honey business, but needed to transition out of construction. This process was going to take a while because it takes quite a bit of money to buy all that is necessary to have a successful business. I started buying things little by little with every pay check that I brought home. I hadn’t asked God through prayer however if the honey bee business is what I should be doing, I just thought it would be a fun hobby that would turn itself into something bigger. I finally had enough hives to put out in the fields and bring home a little bit of money but not enough to live on. I was so excited but still needed to do construction to pay the bills, so back to work I went. I went to work to install a 9 foot window, the homeowner needed to help me carry it from the back house where it was being stored and hoist it into place for there new bathroom. We both grabbed a side and slowly headed out the door when I suddenly realized that this particular window wasn’t going to fit in the window opening. After telling him of the discovery we started backing up to place the window back where it was. All of the sudden my leg hit something really hard and it was just enough of an impact to push me over sideways! My leg was still planted firmly on the ground and felt a huge sharp pain in my calf, the window was bending as I fell so I pushed it with my left arm as not to break it, landing straight on my shoulder really hard! Standing back up was extremely difficult with pain shooting throughout the left side of my body. There was a warm wet feeling in my leg kinda like blood running down and wasn’t able to put any pressure on it, it hurt so bad I was crying and laughing at the same time. It took me an hour to get home but it felt like it took a full day, I went to bed hoping the next day it would feel better. The next day I went to the doctor because the pain was worse and the doctor told me that my calf muscle and hamstring were torn, plus I tore two spots in my rotator cuff. He asked me if I wanted to have surgery and I declined, opting for physical therapy instead. It took me a better part of a year and alot of prayer be fully healed and lost almost all of my honey bees in the process because I hadn’t the strength to lift the beehives to care for them. In this time frame however I was still working construction and God told me to write the book, “ARE U UP FOR THE CHALLENGE”, and what a blessing it was and still is. All we need in life is to trust in God and He will get us through even if it is painful.