mink coat

God has an interesting way of doing things.  Many times I will just step back for a moment and stand in awe of what has just happened.  It has been my prayer lately to be more aware of God’s finger prints in my life.  I don’t believe in coincidences.  I do believe that God is in control and things happen for a bunch of reasons.  God is not some far off Deity that isn’t concerned about His creation.  He blesses in amazing ways.  Sometimes I am aware of His blessings right away.  It is my desire to be more and more aware of the wonders of God.

So here’s the story of the mink coat.

Before my father-in-law passed away there had been numerous challenges and situations that we were dealing with.  Life in the parsonage is not ever boring here.  In fact I was pretty much at my breaking point.  Yet God promises to not give me more than I can handle with His help.  It’s just that I really have no idea just how much I can handle.  Therefore there are  times I  think I  just can’t take one more thing.  Well, that is pretty much where I was at.  I was holding on to God tightly (Deut. 30:20 “…by holding fast to Him…)  and looking for that rainbow.

Then we get the news that Curt’s dad is at death’s door.  We begin preparations to head up north.  With four jobs that is not a simple task.  Before we leave we receive the news of his death.  We then make additional preparations as we know now that we will be gone for x amount of days.

I am more than a bit concerned about how I will cope.   It has been a most difficult couple of months.  Add to that all that a funeral entails and the fact that there would be no ‘wiggle room’.  Since we were staying with family, there wouldn’t be any alone time either.  I am most definitely a person who needs down time.  This had the makings for a disaster. 

My prayer became “Lord please help me to not do anything that I will need to apologize for later.”   I prayed that a lot.  

(Due to a prior committment we took a trip to Des Moines in the middle of all the funeral preparations.  That turned out to be a huge blessing from God.  I was able to have lunch with a very special friend.  Only God could know just how important that would be.  He does make a way for us.)

After the funeral everyone but Diane stopped by the cabin.  Grandma was in her glory, going through and giving away some of grandpa’s things.  The grand kids drug out the sled and did some sledding.  It was a highlight of the week.  Curt’s brother and family are from Georgia, so it’s not like they are going to be getting back to the cabin anytime soon.  If ever again.  😦

As we were getting ready to leave, Grandma asked me if I was interested in her mother-in-laws mink coat?  I was sure it wouldn’t fit but I tried it on and wa la.  It fit!!   Her daughters are quite slender and Jan (daughter-in-law) is much taller with longer arms, so in this case I was Goldilocks and it was just right. 

It was later that it dawned on me that God had answered my prayer.  He had helped me to successfully not do or say anything that I would need to apologize for.  The mink coat is a warm (very warm) hug from God.  Now each time I wear it I am reminded that even in extremely stressful situations God is a present help and with Him I can handle way more than I thought possible.  It is just like God to go above and beyond the helping point right into the blessing point!!!

til next time