When the Spirit Moves

Please forgive another blog post so soon but something amazing happened today that I need to share - it’s thrilling and I am in awe!

Background information first. We have a family in our church that would not want to be identified so I will give no specifics here but they are dear friends of ours. They are the type of family who would drop everything to help ANYONE if they perceived a need. They are kind and generous people. They own a small business and they work extremely hard.

They often give gifts at random to our children and we have eaten dinner in their home. We can’t out-give them. Their hearts are too big and God has gifted them with such a generous spirit!

Because of their kindness, our daughter has been asking me all week if she could go surprise them at their shop with iced drinks. They love surprise visits! But their shop is not near our home and our week was already all booked up with activities or chores. But my daughter persisted. She said she would pay for the drinks herself and would figure out how to get everything done in a way that would allow her the time to go. Finally, last night I found out that their whole family would not be at the shop because one of their children was leaving for camp. So I thought that was the end of the discussion and told her she could try again another time.

This morning our daughter, who is on the leadership team for her choir at school, had to join her choir in the classroom helping paint risers and make collages/posters. She came home in time for a late lunch but she had chores she needed to get done.

My son and I had been doing chores all morning and had more to do after lunch as well.

As we were eating lunch my daughter asked again about getting iced drinks for our friends if she got her chores done (she did a few of her bigger chores yesterday so today she had less than half of her chores left to do). I told her we’d see how things went but made no promises. She bounced off upstairs after lunch to fold laundry and gather up the garbage.

While she was folding clothes, I was supervising the dusting my son was doing upstairs when I got a text from our friend saying she had just gotten to the shop after her busiest day this summer running errands, preparing for the start of her daughter’s school year and going to a routine medical appointment. She sounded pretty tired and it was close to 2pm and her work in the shop was just beginning. Her husband had been doing all the work in the shop alone until she got there. They normally have help but not today.

I don’t always recognize the working of the Holy Spirit immediately. It’s usually VERY clear to me at the last minute that He has been orchestrating service opportunities but it usually has to be really obvious before I get the hint! My daughter seems to know way before I do how she can be used by God. And it’s awesome to be a part of!

I think you see where this is going! Once I got that text I immediately told my daughter that yes, absolutely, she could go bring this family some iced drinks on this stressful day for them. I told her, in fact, that she NEEDED to go. And when I found out, through texting with our friend, that they had so much work and no help, I told my daughter that they would not have time to stop and chat. Both of us came up with the same idea - she should offer to stay and help them and accept no payment.

I was not able to go with her because my son had been invited to swim, play video games and have dinner at a friend’s house at 4:30. This is another amazing story - this friend and his family need Jesus and my son has such a way with people that they just are drawn to his sweet and honest nature. He is unafraid when talking about his faith and I am praying a bubble of protection around him as he tries to be a good testimony before his Mormon friend.

And here I am, alone at home. Not being used by the Lord at all. Resting after a very busy couple of days and praying for my sweet children who I launched out into the world to be salt and light for Jesus! And I am basking in the amazing feelings of peace and gratitude and love for the Lord and for my children who love the Lord with all their hearts and who live out their faith in ways I could have never dreamed possible.

I am feeling so full of joy! It’s a feeling like no other. Being used by the Spirit of God to encourage others and draw others to Christ brings excitement and also a contentment and satisfaction that is unmatched by any other emotion. But when my children are the vessels the Lord is using, the feelings I experience are raised to a whole new level of joy!

And as a bonus, we had a really productive day! My energy held out and we all worked to get the house cleaned, the kids’ bedding washed and beds put back together, etc. I was able to accomplish everything on my list and the kids got all their chores done too so my husband will come home to a clean home tomorrow which will get our weekend off to a good start.😁

God is SO GOOD!!