Tell What He’s Done for You
Blessed with Help to Get Home
The Lord is greatly to be praised! The writer of Psalm 107 says this four times: “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:8,15,21,31) We do so thank and praise the Lord for getting us home after traveling around the country.
One experience I especially want to tell about happened in Kingman, AZ. The evening we arrived in town, the motor seemed nearly choking as we made turns in town to get to a RV park. Thankfully, the Lord helped us to get the RV settled in a good place for the night. We had already had it tuned in Albuquerque, NM. But obviously we still had problems and needed a mechanic.
The next morning Husband rode our bike to Walmart a couple of miles away to get a timing light to test it himself. Near the end of the time he was gone, someone knocked on the RV door. It was an older gentleman whose name was Thomas. He had seen the scripture signs on the outside and was excited to find someone who would talk about the Lord. He said no one wanted to talk about the Lord, so he had quit trying. Then he had questions about whether he was really saved or not. I encouraged him to keep seeking until he was satisfied he was God’s child. Then he said he felt he had gotten saved in 1998. He had been a drunkard and the desire for drink had been taken away. I told him that it sounded like God had done something very special for him. I spoke to him about how justification cleanses us from our committed sins and sanctification is when God takes out the inherited sins and the depraved nature. He said, “This is encouraging.”
Husband had left the RV hood up, and Thomas also asked if we were having car trouble. When I told him where my husband had gone, he then took off to find him. Very soon they both were back. Thomas also was doing car repairs on his own vehicle; He was in the RV park borrowing a friend’s car to get parts. He and my husband began testing different things under the hood and felt that the fuel filter needed to be replaced, so Husband went and bought one. Thomas came back too and helped replace it. We knew the Lord had arranged our meeting. He was hungry for the truth we had to share, and he also helped us in our need. We went away blessed.
But our trials with the motor were not over; something still wasn’t right. We had crept up the mountain ranges of the Rockies with the motor not having the power it had previously, and now the Lord miraculously helped us across the Siskiyous in Northern California.
At one point we begin to smell something that was getting too hot. We stopped and checked the hot water tank in the coach. It had seemed unusually hot when washing breakfast dishes that morning. Perhaps the thermostat was malfunctioning. We starting driving again, but the smell grew worse. What could be wrong? It smelled like it could burst into flames! I pocketted my keys and phone in case we had to make an emergency stop in trying to escape a burning vehicle.
Husband took another exit to check again. But the engine wasn’t smoking; we just couldn’t imagine what was wrong. Lord, help us to know what is wrong. It definitely seemed to be coming from the coach area. We checked the hot water heater again. This time Mark dismantled the electrical hookup for the hot water tank. The air was getting a little chokey, almost like smoke.
Then I happened to look down, and there at the tip of my feet was a discolored spot on the throw rug. The rug was pulled back to find a 4-inch charred black spot on the vinyl flooring as well as the rubber on the back of rug! Thank the Lord for helping us to find the problem before it burst into flames.
But now what? Husband crawled underneath to see what was going on. He found that the muffler shield was gone. The muffler had been extra hot because of the strain on the motor. At this exit there was only one lone station, but he looked around and found a pile of junk, whereupon lay a piece of metal siding. The station clerk gave permission to use it for our need. He only had electrical wire to tie it on, but it did the job as we drove six miles to a store for better wire. After he had that fixed, he asked the Lord if there was anything he could do that would help this engine. Upon opening the hood, his eyes fell upon a spark plug that was not connected!
How good the Lord is to us in our trials! He truly helps us in them. Even though there were still other problems, it certainly did help. It was miraculous that we got over two mountain ranges with all these problems. Husband’s comments: “Within this trial were very many precious mercies and experiences which were worth the pain. For these, we thank the Lord.”
We were very thankful for the Lord’s care over us, and so thankful to be home again.
Hasty Obedience
This week our vacuum cleaner went out. We bought this vacuum cleaner when we first got married, and I had never truly liked it—I don’t like canister-style vacuums very much. But my husband liked it, and we bought it new. I was sorry for the inconvenience of it breaking, but I saw an opportunity for change. I told the children, “This time we are going to get an upright vacuum.”
Then, the Lord began talking to me about vacuums and our budget and my attitude. He talked to me about how a vacuum is supposed to clean our floor, and we are supposed to be content with what He gives us.
So I decided to look on craigslist [an internet site that lists classified ads], because we didn’t have much money for one. Now, I was pretty skeptical about using craigslist, thinking that people wouldn’t be getting rid of a vacuum that was any good. But I was praying, and the Lord had softened my heart so that I was sorry I had said to the children that “this time” I was going to get one of a different kind that I liked. It isn’t that God doesn’t allow us to have preferences, but my heart wasn’t in the right place, and He wanted it to be changed “hastily” to be desiring His way.
So I looked on craigslist, and there was a vacuum exactly like ours—the same brand and the same features, just a different color. The owners were selling it because they liked upright models better, and they were only asking $20. I knew how much these kind cost, because we had bought ours new. I talked to the lady about it and how much it had been used, and I ended up buying it. When I did that, the Lord just filled my whole heart with His grace and glory for being willing to have what He had for me.
You know, obeying “hastily” is really just being willing. My husband and I have taken in quite a few foster children, and a lot of people will tell me, “I can never deal with difficult children. I don’t know how you do it.” Many times the Lord gives me this reply: “You just have to be willing to do whatever the Lord has for you to do.”
I know this was just a vacuum, but the Lord filled me all up inside. After we bought the vacuum, I told the children, “We have to thank the Lord for this, because He provided something that we can afford.” It doesn’t matter to me at all now that it is not an upright vacuum.
I’m so thankful that the Lord knows that hastily obeying is the best way. We don’t want our children to drag their feet, and not really listen—we want them to be hasty to obey because that is the best thing for them—to be hasty and happy.
I’m thankful that the Lord chastened me and didn’t allow my attitude to progress to getting what I wanted.
Thank You, Lord—Thoughts of My Mother
I had a wonderful mother. While the tears came at her funeral, my heart said, “Thank You, Lord for all Your blessings!” Thank You that she had given her heart to You before her marriage, and lived an example of a godly life before us.
When I was a young child she had diabetes; her hair was falling out, and she was getting weak and pale. At a camp meeting she was anointed and prayed for and the Lord restored her health. How different my life would have been if the Lord had not touched her. When I was 13 she gave birth to twin boys. At her prenatal visits there was never any mention of excessive sugar in her system. The Lord had done a complete healing. How different our lives would have been if the Lord had taken her at an early age, leaving my sister and I without a mother. Instead, I had a mother who taught us to garden, cook, sew, and to love homemaking. My parents were faithful in having devotions and reading us Bible stories and other profitable books before bedtime in the evenings. How blessed we were!
Lord, thank You for the godly counsel You inspired my parents to give.
I remember standing for the hem to be measured on a new dress. I was getting older and Mother thought it should be longer. I didn’t want it to be any longer. Finally Mother said, “Alright, it will be between you and the Lord.” Oh, now that put a new complexion on the decision! I immediately was willing to have the dress longer.
There was the time I had been reading the farm magazine ads about a correspondence course in interior decorating. I sent for the information and pored over it a good while, reading examples of what could be done with difficult areas of one’s home. It was all very fascinating to me, and I was really thinking this would be a good thing to learn. Then I approached my mother about it. She said, “Well, I have noticed that women who are always thinking about how they can redecorate their homes are not very spiritual women.” Lord, I thank You for the wise counsel You gave through my mother. Surely, I have been spared temptations that would have been mine otherwise.
There was the time of a hard decision of finding God’s will in marriage. I know both Mother and Daddy were praying for me. This time it was Daddy whom the Lord used to give counsel. He said, “This is supposed to be a happy time.” No one but You, Lord, will know the freedom that simple statement gave me! It gave me freedom to exercise what I felt was the will of God, clearing away some confusion and uncertainty.
As Mother neared the end, it was hard for me to be so many miles away from her. The Lord brought to mind that I could call and sing to her every day or so. At this point, strokes had affected her speech and she could no longer say anything. My sister would hold the phone to Mother’s ear. Once my sister asked me, “What were you saying to get such a reaction?” Mother had been nodding her head up and down. I had been singing, Precious Home of Rest. She is now in her desired haven of rest. Even though we miss her, I would not wish her back to this land of care and weariness. Rather, focus our lives on living so we can someday join her.
The Saturday night after Mother’s funeral, sleep did not come the whole night. I had a small pain that came just often enough to keep me from falling asleep, and I also had a lot on my mind in seeing everyone. I also kept thinking of the scripture in Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” I thought about that word precious. What does precious mean? The definitions “valuable or rare” came to us in the night. I later looked in the dictionary and found: “of great price; costly, of great desirability; held in high esteem, beloved, dear.” My mediations in the night continued—why does the Lord use this most endearing term in speaking of His children? These children are the ones who have surrendered all to His control. They have striven to be soft, pliable, yielded to the will of their Lord. They prayed daily that their lives would measure to the words of God. They were called to go through trials or perform tasks that only God’s strength could help them through. Yes, that is why He calls their death precious. These were souls with whom He could have His own sweet will and way.
These thoughts were a challenge to me and I trust will be to you, also. That I might come to my end and have God say of me, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”