Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Give Thanks To The Lord....even the little things!



"Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind"
Psalm 107:21

This verse took on new meaning for me recently and it being the season of Thanksgiving, I thought I would share it with y'all!

After living for several years with an oatmeal colored berber carpet, and three little boys who live in mud and dirt, our carpet cleaner refused to clean it again.  She had been faithful to the last gummy spot of black gumbo mud...but she wouldn't budge on that stuff again and I was glad.  It was time....time for some new flooring here at on the hilltop.

I looked for about six months and went back and forth on what to do.  Finally I settled on a laminate flooring that my husband and few angels laid down a couple of weeks ago.  My sweet man carefully cut the carpet in sections and neatly rolled it up and placed it beside the road along with the nasty carpet pad.  

There was a lot of the stuff and we knew that we were going to have to pay our trash service quite a bit to remove it.  I was happy to pay anything to have it gone!!!  Throughout the day, several people came and took a few rolls of it, but there was still A LOT of it left.  Towards the end of the day, I saw a precious woman standing at our gate.  

I went out to see what she wanted and in broken English she asked if she could have all of the carpet.  I was thrilled to give her the carpet!  What a blessing for me right?  Talk about my self-centered self....she needed it to cover her floors that had nothing on them!  She said she and her children were cold, because they had no heat.  She said that her husband had died ten  years ago and she had been supporting them on her meager housekeeping business, she said business was bad enough this last  year that she lost her home she had been paying on for 16 years!  She said so much in those few statements.  My heart broke for her.

Here I was getting new carpet because it was "old" and "spotty" and she just wanted to be warm!  I ran in the house looking for a portable heater and found a small one.  When I brought it out her sister was there.  They rejoiced over something so small.  Her sister brought a truck to remove the rest of the carpet that she couldn't cram into her small car.  They worked together packing the truck with the rest of the carpet.  

Then her sister "Karina" asked me the question: "Are you a Christian?"  I answered affirmatively and told her I wanted to pray for them.  I gathered hands right there on our busy little country road and prayed for my new sisters in Christ.  What a joy to share with them and rejoice at God's provision for them.  I was so humbled.

Berenice was able to have a family member lay  her carpet in her little home.  She was so thankful for her feet to be warm.  Can  you even imagine?  What a shift in my mindset on what I "need".  Since that time, I've been able to find another heater for the girls and their families.  They are so grateful to be warm.  

I'm praying that God brings us other opportunities to minister to the needs of people in our area.  I pray that as you go through this season of Thanksgiving, that He would show you ways to bless and be blessed.  God loves you and I pray you never let go of his unfailing grace!


Hilltop Blessings, 
Sheri




  

3 comments:

  1. Sheri,
    This is a good reminder. It's hard to keep things in perspective. A grateful heart is easily used by the Lord. How much fuller our lives are, also, when we stay in a spirit of Thanksgiving.
    Much love,
    Rhonda

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  2. What a wonderful blessing!! SO glad you chose to go outside to talk to her. Love you lady!!

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  3. Keep us updated if there is something to be done. :)

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