Nuggets of wisdom—literally

How does a tray of chicken nuggets make anyone so happy?  Here’s what happened.  December is a different kind of month for our family.  As jobs have varying pay rates, December tends to bring us a more plentiful paycheck.  And while more money can be a good thing, it can also set up a struggle.  What is the right way to handle this extra money?  It’s the age-old man-versus-God tug-of-war.  Man's selfishness.  God's selflessness.  Malachi 3 tells of the same predicament centuries ago.  God explained that when people don't tithe, they're stealing.  When they don't return 10 percent to the Lord, they're robbing Him, and consequently a curse came upon the nation.  Yet if they would change their ways and bring the whole tithe to the storehouse, He would bestow blessing so immense they wouldn’t have room to hold it.  And that’s why I write today—to tell of the Lord’s faithfulness in not letting us wallow.  Pressing us through our battle, He put a pen in my hand and etched out a check, and our tithe for the extra income came to fruition. And very quickly He bestowed another blessing. My husband told me about an email we received from Chick-fil-A offering a free tray of chicken nuggets.  Now the word tray implies a large quantity, so we were prepared it might be a misprint.  Either way, big tray or small box, we decided to go.  Soon the cashier hands me a tray of yummy chicken nuggets large enough to feed 8 people, and our eyes must have ogled and our feet must have frolicked in blessing.  That’s $24 of chicken that cost us nothing but the tenacity to press through temptation.  And why would the Lord use Chick-fil-A?  Maybe because it’s one of my favorites.  A tangible illustration of His faithfulness to provide when we follow His word.  God’s grace fed us that day.  More scrumptious than ever, those nuggets warmed my heart.

Sweet Treats

Know anyone looking for a job?  Maybe looking to change jobs?  Here’s a story.  My friends sold their house in California and moved to Texas.  Needing new work, they wondered about transplanting their fire extinguisher business, but then an uncle mentioned selling ice cream.  So they bought an ice cream truck online and later signed a 6-month lease to open an ice cream shoppe neighboring a thrift store, a church, and an Alcoholics Anonymous office.  The truck and the shoppe worked hand in hand, with children buying from the truck receiving an invitation to eat pizza and study the Bible at the shoppe.  Studies began in the summer at 7 PM, initially attracting 4 kids, then growing to host 8, with most ranging in age from 10 to 13.  And my friends loved it.  They loved the children, and they loved the teaching, all the while focusing on honoring the Lord rather than making money.  And indeed the Lord took care of them, supplying income as they had sought and supplying joy that overflowed in every direction.  One mom said, “Thank you for teaching my daughter the Bible.  I thought she’d learn about God in church, but no, it happened through our ice cream vendor.”  One neighbor from the Alcoholics Anonymous office stopped by the shoppe, being grateful to find someone willing to listen, and in turn my friends took pleasure in offering to accompany this lady to church.  But alongside blessings, there came heartache too.  One of the neighborhood boys stopped coming to study because he was removed from his parents to go live with a foster family.  And as sadness set in for my friends, they were grateful all the more to have shared at least a short time with the boy.  As they look back on this whole endeavor with ice cream, they remember it being born from the desire to experience the Lord.  And experience Him they certainly did, even when obstacles appeared.  My sweet friend who is the wife in this story grew up in Mexico, and at first she didn’t feel confident in her use of English to communicate with the ice cream customers, yet she found such delight in watching the Lord navigate the details.  In Isaiah 41:10, God comforts His people, saying, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  And may we each step out in complete confidence of the Lord's ability to provide on our account.

Jesus, my gift-buyer

Is any experience with God any bigger or smaller than another?  Today I submit for you to judge.  And you should know this story causes great sigh within me.  It involves something regularly unraveling my every nerve.  The culprit is gift-buying.  Gift-giving brings joy, but so often before the giving, I’ve already endured the trial of buying.  Whether shopping at a mall, or buying from an individual artisan, or purchasing ingredients in order to make by my own hand—somehow I so easily encounter this hollow feeling.  Even buying for those I love dearly, this void of ideas evidences so predictably.  Recently I pleaded, “Lord, help me.  Show me a birthday gift for my husband.”  Soon I entered a Half Price Books parking lot, at first thinking I was there for paper birthday plates.  I debated, “But Half Price doesn’t sell plates, do they?”  Still I pulled open the store door.  Sure enough, the cashier says they don’t sell party supplies, but I resolved to look around since I was already there.  In the electronics section I see earbuds.  Amazement speaks, “Oh, wow, he’s been talking about new earbuds.  These’ll be great.”  But wait a minute.  Which kind?  Which color?  And there my heart sinks because it recognizes the lethal indecisiveness that’s about to set in.  And how thankful I become for the Lord's quick reminder to ask Him to choose the earbuds, so I don’t waste all afternoon vacillating between color and style.  Then I drive home.  Party time comes, and I realize something else.  As my husband gleefully unwraps the earbuds, he says, “You even got the straight kind!”  And bewilderment must have shown on my face.  He points to our old purple earbuds with the cords that dangle too close, and within me a new height of thankfulness blossoms to realize how the Lord guided my hand to select these earbuds without my even knowing about straight cord options.  Yes, He rescued me again.  And I don’t want to assign any size or weight to this blessing.  Just as the Lord rescued me from a rainy, muddy mess in Mexico, just as He rescued me on a deserted road in Israel, now He rescues me in America in the mire of my shopping.  And this shopping is not necessarily any less of a mess.  Our fears reveal in different settings.  Our weaknesses show at different times.  The message here is that the Lord rescues us over and over—whatever the deficiency, whatever the plea.  In 2 Peter 2:9, we read, “. . . the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials . . .”  The chapter gives historical examples of the Lord rescuing, such as with Noah.  And still today the Lord rescues.  He loves His children.  He hears.  He listens.  And with each rescue, my love for Him grows.