God Cares...

about what a 14 year old wants to wear to a Father/Daughter banquet. There is a story behind this and I want to share it because it is an example of God's love and goodness to my daughter. I pray she will always remember that He loves her this much. Hope's plans for this winter/spring included a father/daughter banquet at our church in February then a homeschool spring banquet in April. The dress for the father/daughter banquet was "sunday dress to semi-formal". We purchased a dress that was a bit dressy but was easily wearable for Sunday church. It was a bit pricey. We then found a dress for spring banquet...we didn't buy it but were planning on taking Dad to get it approved before the purchase...also a bit pricey. In the mean time we discover that we will be out of town the weekend of spring banquet. So that dress is out of the picture (it was beautiful and was gorgeous on Hope). There is sadness. Then we found out that the f/d banquet could be formal. New visions of the formal dress! We discussed it with Dad and he (wisely) said that there was already a dress for f/d and that we didn't need to spend so much on another dress when Hope already had one. He was willing to let her get another dress and gave us a limit, which I thought was a very generous limit. So the hunt began...and it was a hunt :P We literally looked everywhere I could think of for a reasonably priced formal. I was wishing that University Mall hadn't closed down because they had a store that would probably fit the bill but....it was closed. (for Autumn and Dawn, remember Nouri?) Anyway, there was one more store, that I found in the phonebook. That morning before we went shopping I prayed and asked the Lord to provide Hope's hearts desire. We went and looked...nothing (we were not only looking for low cost but modest or easily made modest) We left the store and I was ready to tell her that she would just have to wear the dress we bought. I said,"Do you want to go to the new Penny's one more time?" She said "yes". So off we went. As we came to the new shopping center where Penny's was located, I saw THE sign....NOURI. I told Hope to look at the sign. She became very excited and said "go, go" Well to make a long story a little shorter. The Lord completely answered our prayer. She got her hearts desire(the dress) AND shoes AND earrings for $15 under the stated budget!!! How wonderful of our God to do such a thing. Oh, the store had only been open for 4 days! God cares about His children and their hearts desires. Here is a pic of the blessing dress :) and our beautiful Hope.

Journey part 2

This is a journey that I know I must begin. It is one I want to do but it will take me out of my comfort zone.
1 Peter 4:9 says "show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Then again in Romans 12:13 "Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Yes, it is practicing hospitality. I love being around people, getting to know them and talking BUT I am so weird about it if they are coming to my house. The Lord has provided a nice home for us, so it isn't that. It is me...it is pride and fear of man. What will I talk about, will something burn, will I remember to make sure the tp is full? What if they don't like what I prepare, what if they get bored or we run out of things to talk about? What if my nervousness comes across and they begin to be uncomfortable because of my paranoia? Maybe silly questions but that is where I am. This has been something on my heart for over a year. Now, don't get me wrong, having family over? no problem, having close friends over? no problem. I don't feel the need to impress them. If they need tp they will ask or find it themselves. This is an area I need to grow in and I really think God in His love is going to teach me :) Here is why: the other day my sis-in-law, Melissa called and said there was a homeschooling family from Harrison down here in Little Rock. They had a family memeber in the hospital and there was another family member who needed a place to stay the night. AAAHHH All the verses about practicing hospitality and entertaining strangers came to mind. "Let me call Richard and double check with him." Of course he said yes. So I spent the day worrying about this person coming to my house. Would I make her comfortable especially considering what was going on in her life? I hope I did make her comfortable. We had a nice little visit. All this to say: God is good. He teaches His children what they need when they need it and takes them out of their comfort zone to teach them. I need to get out of the comfort zone and start practicing hospitality. So if you think about it will you pray for me? Thanks :D