Day# God at Work!! Blessings

Making supper 

Cutting up cucumbers and eating them!

This is the lady that God allowed me to meet yesterday. He is using the church property for His honor and Glory! 

Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes its hard to see God working. Oh, I know that He still is, and that He doesn’t abide by my timetable. But still, sometimes it’s hard to see tangible facts that God is working. I am thankful that He gives us reminders that He is still working in and through us.

Yesterday evening, Roger and I had a school board meeting. Roger is on the school board, and the staff/teachers were invited to come and give some input on a few things. It meant leaving our kids alone for a few hours, but I am thankful that they are old enough to  manage on their own for a bit. I left early for the school board meeting, and Roger was going to meet me there after work. I wanted to get some more work done on our preschool room, and I had some things to do to get ready for a preschool celebration that happened today. Anyways, as I drove into the church parking lot, I noticed a lady drive in behind me. We often have people drive through the church property as it is a beautiful spot right on the ocean bay. Last week when we had prayer outside, we prayed over the church property and the cross that sits on our church property. I made several trips in and out of the church building carrying things, and I noticed that the lady had gotten out of her car and was kneeling in front of the cross. It looked like she was praying. I didn’t want to interrupt her private moment, but I did want to see if I could help her with anything. After I put away the things in the church, I started walking towards her and she came towards me. She was probably about 45ish, and I could tell that she had been crying. I mentioned that the cross was a beautiful spot to come and reflect, and she started crying. She just looked like she needed a hug so badly that I could not help myself. I know all the social distancing rules (they’ve been shoved in my face the last few months!) but this lady needed a hug. I gave her a hug, and she broke down crying. She said that on Saturday her son would have turned 25 years old. She was really struggling with his death this week, and she had spotted the cross on the property. She apologized for trespassing, but said that she found comfort in praying. I asked her a few questions about her faith, and she opened up about how she had trusted in the Lord and that she was looking forward to Heaven. Apparently her son had died when he was sixteen years old. She had come up to Maine to help with her in-law, and this week had been rough. I really didn’t have any great words of comfort, but I can be a good listener and I can give a hug. When we finished our short chat, she mentioned that her name was Jennifer   (I have a sister named Jennifer), and she replied that she had named one of her three daughters Sarah -coincidence? I don’t think so! As I hugged her good-by, she mentioned that it was so good to have physical contact. She had come up to help her in-laws and her husband had stayed behind in the state they came from to help their daughters finish school. She hadn’t been hugged or even had a friendly touch in over three months! Just throwing in my two sense here, but that is not a world I want to live in! We need physical contact with people! Anyways, it was truly a God-ordained moment. I don’t know that I made her pain any easier, but she has certainly been on my mind and I’ve prayed for her often today. God brought her across my path, and He directly answered our prayers from last weeks prayer meeting that God would use our property for His glory!

Today we had our school-end celebration for our preschoolers. This event was optional as not everyone feels safe and comfortable being around people. We had six preschoolers and their families show up. While it was a smaller group than I had been hoping for, it was a great morning. I brought my three younger kids. (After not getting back from last nights meeting until 8:30ish, and then knowing I’d be gone again this morning, I wanted to bring the younger three with me.) They were happy to come and play with the preschoolers, and as a few other families had brought siblings with them, it was a fun morning. It was very good to interact with the parents and children that came. These parents that came this morning are very concerned about school in the fall- aren’t we all?! While we really don’t have a lot of information right now, it was good to hear the concerns of some of our families. The more we know our families, the better we can serve them. I am thankful for our small Christian school, and we continue to pray that God will work out all the details for the fall. (As with any small Christian school, the needs are great. And the money is lacking! If you know of anyone that would like to be a benefactor to an amazing Christian school, just let me know!) I am thankful that I have the opportunity to see God at work in an amazing way every school year, but sometimes it’s a challenge to wait while He works out all the details. Thankful that God is faithful!

The boys are each taking a night to cook the supper meal over the summer. Chandler cooked supper tonight, and he made bacon, lettuce and cheese sandwiches with cucumbers on the side. He did a great job cooking, and all the kids said it was good food! (They are easy to please.) On Monday, before I went grocery shopping, I sat down with the boys and they picked out their menu. I steered them mostly towards the ingredients we already had in the pantry or freezer, but they did their own final choosing. Garett is making spaghetti tomorrow with peas and garlic bread on the side. Wyatt is making tacos. Travis hasn’t come up with a plan yet, but he said he might make leftovers...um, that plan only works IF we have any leftovers! I’m happy to help the boys learn to cook, but along with that comes the clean-up process!

Today we reached our 100th death from Coronavirus in Maine. We have 18 new cases but 101 new recoveries! That’s right! 101 new recoveries! Our governor has come up with a plan that she says will help people coming from out-of-state avoid the 14 day quarantine. If a person who wants to visit Maine can prove that they’ve had a negative COVID-19 test in the past three days they can avoid the 14 day self-quarantine. It sounds better than it is, in my opinion. Now all the hotels that were hoping, preparing and planning that she would relieve the 14 day quarantine by July, still have to deal with that all summer long. Many hotels have stated that people are just cancelling reservations right and left as getting a COVID-19 test is just another reason not to visit Maine. They might as well go somewhere else for vacation...and that is bad for Maine- for all of us!

In a world that is full of darkness, fear, paranoia, chaos, and confusion - take hope! The God of the universe is watching over us. We need not fear the darkness when we know the LIGHT!