How HOPE came through Cash Coffee and Sausage

This post is about seeing more clearly....so this pic of Eliana wearing my glasses seemed fitting.

Today God showed up. Yes - He's always here - I know that and I believe that. But today was huge for me. As many of you know, there are days and especially nights that our world feels pretty bleak. There are moments when Lindsey and I both feel like we're just about to snap...like we just literally can't take it any more.  Last night was especially rough and it felt like Hope was just about gone. Today God sent us message after message to declare - "I'm still here and I've got this." I'm writing to give God Glory tonight...

Today was one of those days where I had to take the afternoon off from work in order to allow Lindsey to rest. Lately Eliana has been exceptionally anxious and in the red as we say.  It's typically better if we can get Eliana out of the house. Often a change in location can help to reset her. So Eliana and I went to my current favorite store on earth, Home Depot. In Home Depot she was basically running all over the place - climbing on or getting in every display she could. She had to go potty twice. I grabbed the Sawzall blades I needed and we checked out. 

As I was strapping Eliana back into her car seat I noticed  some cash on my passenger seat. I don't really carry cash and I certainly don't leave it laying around my car. I quickly scanned the interior and realized there was $100 in twenties scattered about the seat and floorboards. What! How? I had left the windows cracked to give Polly Esther the Pomeranian some air.  You may know that Polly travels with us a lot these days as Eliana is obsessed with our dog and "needs" to have her with us at all times. At any rate someone slipped 5 twenty dollar bills in through my window. Side note, I'm sure Polly must have been barking her head off while this went down. I quickly scanned the parking lot to see if I noticed anyone or any familiar cars but nothing. It occurred to me that I may not even know the person who gave the money. The bottom line was that in that moment I knew it was God appointing someone to send us a message - that He has not forgotten us.  I prayed a huge prayer of gratitude and slowly pulled out of the parking lot to continue going about our errands.

Later this afternoon I decided to pull through a Starbucks drive through. I ordered at Venti Americano.  As I ordered it I thought how it was slightly more expensive than the brewed coffee I normally order but that perhaps it was ok since we'd just been given the money at Home Depot. As I pulled forward to the pick up window the Starbucks lady told me that the sweet lady in the vehicle in front of me had already paid for my drink! I quickly looked up to see an unidentifiable SUV/Van type vehicle take off from the parking lot. At that point I told the Starbucks lady - well Praise God! As I pulled forward I grabbed my hair and just strarted yelling my Praise to God. I had to park the car I was so excited. I was shouting Praise God thank you - thank you! Eliana got excited too and together we were shouting out thank yous whooping and hollering! Eliana didn't quite get it but I told her God had given us money at Home Depot and that God had given me my coffee for free! We both just got tickeled and she thought it was so fun that I was so lit up!

Talk about living expectantly! On both of these occasions today I Tweeted and Facebooked my gratitude to the anonymous messengers of God's love. I almost posted my next location just in case someone else wanted to join the trend! Instead I drove home just happy.

Back at home Eliana and I were playing in the front yard. A neighbor friend drove up to surprise us with food! She showed up with our favorite snack - a block of cheddar cheese, Ritz crackers and summer sausage (pretty country I know)! She also brought a bottle of orange juice - Eliana's beverage of choice! This too was just because...

This morning I remember asking God to show up - to bring us new hope. Wow. I'm speechless. I'm stunned. I feel such peace inside in this moment. Today was a message of far greater worth than the actual value of the cash, coffee and sausage. Today God spoke. Today God reminded us.

Thank you God. Thank you that I took the afternoon off. Thank you that I went to Home Depot and took Polly so that the windows would be cracked. Thank you that you show up in the ordinary details like Starbucks lines. Thank you for folks that are praying for us. Thank you that just this afternoon a friend of ours, Millie Snook in Washington state told me that she'd be doing 1 Thessalonians 5:17 for us - praying without ceasing!

You never know what a day will bring. I'm reminded of Matthew 6:25-34 and especially verse 34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." It seems that lately our days are filled with trouble. Lindsey has felt horrible for longer than I can remember. Eliana seems to be in a near constant state of fear & anxiety. I feel stretched thin and worn. But God keeps showing up. He keeps giving us just what we need when we feel that we our slipping from sanity. Moral of the story... if God prompts you to GIVE or GO, you should do it! If you don't know the person, do it anyway! If it's give anonymously to the Wheeler's - go for it and we'll write about it...just kidding...sort of. Glory to God.

Grace and Peace,

Chris