Days and months past and I was still painfully unemployed. But I put my faith in God that He would take care of me while I paddled urgently to stay afloat. He sustained me indeed. My needs were met and occasionally He would even take care of my 'wants' as well!
I was blessed to spend the summer with my son. Since I wasn't working I didn't have to worry about day care or summer camp. But I did have to come up with some kind way to keep him occupied. In the past it was nothing for us to just pack a little bag and head off somewhere fun. We called it "Going on an Adventure". Without money, however those fun adventures were hard pressed to make it out of our driveway. And then, what I can only assume was God pressing on His people to reach out to us, opportunities for some recreation started to show up! A family in my church, The Deatons, invited Matthew and I to come stay for a night or two on their annual, family camping trip. We joined them and it was an awesome vacation of camping, swimming, eating and line-dancing! I hadn't been on a 'family vacation' in many, many years and it was so refreshing. Not only to be somewhere other than our tiny, little town but to be somewhere with friends. I couldn't have planned a better "adventure" if I had a bank account stuffed to the gills with money! The blessing was in the fellowship and growing a friendship that already meant a great deal to me. (And if you wanted to see a little 'six degrees' link between the Deatons and me... Her grandfather was a brother to my mom's sister's husband's dad. I think. And that makes us some kind of cousins, twice removed!) So I went along on the family vacation with actual family! Small world? Or Divine Design?! You be the judge!
Because I had some time on my hands, one of the church deacons, Jim McBryde and I went to visit the elderly father of one of our members who had fallen and broken his hip. He was staying in an assisted living center. While having lunch, out of the blue Jim said to me, "You and Matthew are welcomed to use my little place at the beach if you'd like." We weren't talking about vacations or the beach or going anywhere at all. I have to assume that it just popped into his mind to offer. "I didn't know you had a beach place Jim! And how soon can we have it!" I laughed. I was so excited knowing that if I could just scrape up some gas money and some food we'd be beach bound in a matter of days! How kind of Jim to offer and how gracious the Lord was to press on my friend in that way. The generosity didn't stop there...
I am an open book. You can rest assured if I'm going through something - good or bad - I am going to put it all out there. Rarely do I hold anything back. I'm a self-proclaimed Drama Queen. I can make stumping my toe the biggest thing since the OJ Trial! I'm a story-teller (hello dear reader of this very blog post!) and I've never met a stranger. Because of these things, I think that Facebook is absolutely made for people like me! I'll 'update my status' because, you know, I think the world is on pins and needles wondering what I'm about to do next! Everyone very definitely cares that I'm at the grocery store or watching Dancing with the Stars... right? Not a day passed by during my 'season of unemployment' that I didn't update my Facebook Status. I praised God with my posts, I asked for prayers on my wall, I sought encouragement from my 'friends list'. I even took opportunitites to talk to others on Facebook about Jesus and salvation. I tried to encourage people who were down and I prayed for people when I was asked. And probably the most important thing I did was develop certain friendships with a small group of people from my past. Melanie made me laugh and reminded me to remember my "Westside Roots"... who ain't scared of nothin! Heather blessed me with her beautiful photographs and sent me pictures of rainbows. Andrea prayed for me and sent me emails full of encouragement and hope. Toni reminded me by her daily posts that I needed to read my Bible and spend time in the presence of God everyday.
And then there was Shelly. Oh, my beautiful friend Shelly. She cheered for me, she prayed for me like a warrior. She pulled for me the likes I've never seen and she encouraged me daily. I took some real knocks over the summer - big disappointments over lost opportunities (or no opportunities, for that matter) but she reminded me that nothing I was going through was out of God's control. She kept me focused, tightened my blinders so I could look at nothing but The One - my God, my Shelter from the storm, my Shield in the face of danger. She pressed into me that I was favored by God and the blessings were all around me. Because of the way Shelly saw things, I started to look at things differently. She never let me feel sorry for myself yet validated the way I was feeling. She loved me. But more importantly she reminded me that Jesus loved me and that He would never leave me or forsake me. And I loved her too. God gave me her as a spiritual motivation coach for this trial of mine. I had no idea that while growing up in that tiny little private school more than 25 years ago that Shelly would be the friend she's been to me. We knew of each other "back in the day" but we were from two different worlds completely. God Himself narrowed the very wide gap between us to form a bond that will last me the rest of my life! I found a real blessing in that time of struggle - friends.
It is true that God can and will use any situation, any person, any vehicle to do His will. Dare I say it, He'll also use Facebook. I felt surrounded by 'friends' even though I was sitting alone in my living room. Isolation is a dangerous thing. I know - I've been there but at least with Facebook if I didn't post something for 24 hours someone would always pop up to check on me! What I didn't realize at the time was that because I shared every up and every down and praised God for all of it was that people seemed to be getting something from my tales. Almost like giving your testimony as it was taking place. Someone I've never even had a conversation with would post up on my wall how blessed they feel by my posts. People would send me messages asking me to pray for them. What was that all about?! I was becoming a Prayer Warrior for others - and that took the focus off myself and my piddly little unemployment problem! I've been called "uplifting", "positive", "strong and courageous" and my favorite was "Barnabas - the Encourager". It motivated me. It nudged me to press on. It was a reminder that what I said and how I lived reflected Jesus. I had to "practice what I preached", I was a light - whether it was a good light or a bad light was up to me! My Christian walk was fully on display, people were watching and I just didn't want to let God down.
Meanwhile, because my story had "blessed her", she said, I got a card in the mail one day from my friend Andrea. Inside was a Walmart gift card with enough money on it to buy Gas for my beach trip! (Blessing!) I had some food in the house so Matthew and I were good to go! I was excited about the trip because Shelly and her family were also going to the same beach on the same week! They invited us to come over for game night or maybe out to eat one night. Another "family vacation" adventure! Coincidence? Hardly! It was all taken care of...the place to stay, the gas money and the food. Even entertainment was offered up by Shelly and her family. There was zero spending money but I was determined to make it work.
A few days before we were to head out, Matthew had a performance for the Gaston Baptist Association Choir Camp that he'd participated in - (thanks to my church sponsoring him to go... blessing!) Shelly, her mom and kids came to support him. As we were all leaving she and her mom both handed me cards. There was money inside! Spending money for the beach, they called it, because I had been a blessing to them. My heart lifted. And a warm feeling washed over me. I knew that God had heard my prayers and He answered them by urging His people to show some love in action by meeting a practical need. I'm sure Shelly or her precious mom never meant to have their generosity put on display ... but there was never enough words to properly thank them. So I would like to use Shelly and her mom and family as an example in the spirit of doing unto others. They didn't expect to be paid back and they didn't want anything in return. They helped me because God commanded them to. Matthew and I made it to the beach and we had a great time. We had some spending money too which made it easier. And I was able to pay my bills with the rest when I got home. And I hope one day to return the favor by extending myself to someone the way they extended themselves to me.
I spent time everyday looking for a job and sendig out my resume. And for the rest of the summer Matthew and I spent our time hanging out on other's family vacations, using our Carowinds seasons passes or swimming out at the Bessemer City Pool. I didn't realize it at the time but I was onto something when, thanks to a 'random' trivia contest, I won some snacks at the pool and used my Facebook Status Update to thank God for the Blessing. That Sunday morning the pastor used the "Finding Blessings in a Can of Pringles" example during his sermon. He had started a series on The Sermon On The Mount and talked about having a "Paradigm Shift" ... a fundamental change in one's way of thinking. I had had that shift. I started to see everything I had or would ever have as a gift from my Heavenly Father. And suddenly my faith grew stronger. Yes He will provide. Even potato chips.
To Be Continued.....
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