Thursday, January 24, 2013

An Envelope...with a note

"On the last day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice,'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive." John 7:37-39

This picture was taken at a beautiful rapids in Uganda. This country never ceases to amaze me as the beauty of God's creation is displayed. I love water falls. I love "looking" at the rapids, NOT riding them, thank you! I love the powerful sound.....I always wondered in awe at how God created powerful, loud waterfalls for His pleasure, there to flow even if no man ever discovered them. My heart is feeling a bit like this rapid, beautiful power right now.

Let me explain: several years ago when Dustin was laid off from 13 years at a company, we hit some hard times. These were "lean" times, but God showed us His faithful provision. Dustin was working for family out of state and I would be concerned about the next bill to be paid, the food to buy, and keeping two young growing children clothes. There were days that I literally cried out to Him for His help. Then, I would go out the front door and there would be an envelope there...with money inside and sometimes a note. The amount would be just what we needed. Sometimes, a dear friend would give us a gift of money and say "The Lord put you on my heart." Sometimes, friends would take us to lunch. Well, that sounds good, but that was 3 years ago that Dustin was laid off and now we should be settled because we have moved, right?

Well, living strictly on support is not being "settled". It is trusting God, listening to wisdom, waiting for His provision. The past few weeks have been difficult for us emotionally as a family. The first Christmas ever for us to be apart from our oldest daughter and her family, and our oldest son. It was ok on Christmas Day because my sister and her husband were here and we dined out with quite a few friends, our Amani family, and Danyne(my niece)'s family. We had a great celebration time, a blessed day. But after the New Year began and the holiday season began to slow down, we missed "home".  There were days I would cry, some days that both children would cry, and Dustin was so weary from working hard on the new babies home. We moved into the new place on December 4, 2012 and his hard work has paid off, it is a great place.

Now, Dustin is not the only one working. There are volunteers here daily. They hold babies, teach preschool with me, help with laundry(you have NO idea how much laundry), play the children and just love, love, love them. These serving hearts are invaluable to Amani Baby Cottage. Some are here for a few weeks, some for a few months, and some long-term like us. They have painted, cleaned, sorted, dug, built and made Amani a beautiful place for children. There is a team coming soon to build an outdoor playground! We are blessed by the volunteers. So, Dustin has had help, but he has been on sight for months, taking no time to rest. I have begun teaching preschool. We have children of our own that we home school. There are families adopting that I have the responsibility and privilege of walking through the process when they arrive here in Uganda. WE HAVE BEEN BUSY!!

My heart's desire was to have a time away, a mini-vacation, but we simply could not afford such a luxury. Our rent is due, we pay 6 months at a time, and no money is available for anything "extra". My heart was heavy with missing family, Dustin is physically tired, and the children have been such troopers with all that has been going on, but they are missing their family. The Scripture above says, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me." One day when the children and I arrived home, there was an envelope on the door.... with money inside, and this time a note included. ".....for transport to Kampala and a night's stay in the family suite at....hotel....a time of rest for your family." I just stood in awe. The kids were literally jumping up and down. Dustin was attending a seminar "Farming God'sWay" and they couldn't wait until he got home to tell him the good news. Our reservation has been made and we are planning to go this next Monday through Tuesday for a time of rest, fun, and refreshing. "Whoever believes in me.....streams of living water will flow from within him"

Thank you for letting me express my heart, full to overflowing. Not just because of the gift we have been given, but because God cares enough about us to bless us with something such as transport and hotel. He didn't have to do that. That person(we don't know who it is) didn't have to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. We could've used the money for rent. BUT GOD is faithful to meet our needs, which include emotional and physical. If you have a need as you read this, know that God has streams of living water ready to flow into and out of your heart, if you believe. This has given us great hope....the rent will be provided and paid. This has given us hope...something to look forward to(the kids think we should pack already for a trip  still 4 days away). This has given us hope....He cares about us. Blessings on you as you read. Thank you for your support with prayers and financially. We couldn't be here without you. Next report.....AFTER the mini-vacation!


The new member of the family...Lady Faith Wooma Nuttall......a great Christmas gift from Grandpa Tony!

1 comment:

  1. Looking forward to wonderful stories about your trip! Love yall! May

    ReplyDelete