The Tale of the Poor Old Roof, Part 3

I'm picking up my long-winded story where we left off...

Well, this Monday, the adjustor from the old insurance company finally came out to look at the roof.  He spent about 2 minutes up there and I thought, this is a waste of his time, he's surely going to say our roof has no damage, etc.  It just seemed so outlandish, because to hubby and I it looks fine. My hubby had even gone up there and said he didn't see anything wrong.  


But the adjustor guy finished his short inspection and said, you have major storm damage and some hail damage to your roof, and the insurance company is going to have to pay for a new roof for you - !!!  Can you believe this company that doesn't even insure us anymore is giving us a new roof??  And within five minutes he was handing me a check to pay for a new roof for our home!  

Wow!  The prayer request was answered exactly to the letter - we are getting a new roof for free!

I have to tell you what had happened just the day before this adjustor came out and told us we had hail damage and that we'd get the roof replace - just the day before, we had gotten so low on money this month, that my husband had sent me to the grocery store with a mere $50 to buy groceries for 2 weeks - for our whole family of two adults and four growing and food-loving kids.  I had added up things as I went through Walmart and had gotten the super cheap Walmart brand for everything.  The kids' snack for the coming weeks was going to have to be the $1 saltine crackers.  I was buying dry beans and bulk bags of rice, etc.  The grocery bill had come to $47 and I had been so relieved to get some things within budget.  

And then the very next day someone was handing me a check to pay for a whole new roof!

To be continued!

The Tale of the Poor Old Roof, Part 2

In the last post I told how we had found out, just after cancelling our old home insurance policy, that our roof had failed the inspection for our new insurance company, and that we were facing a difficult situation.  Now to continue the tale, picking up just after the second company gave us the bad news..

So now we were going to have to somehow get a new roof in 3 weeks or go elsewhere for a new insurance policy!

BUT, something else had happened that I need to mention - the very day that the second company told us we had failed inspection, that morning I had read in TWO of my devotionals the same verse, from Phil 4:6-7 about not being anxious but presenting your requests to God, and the peace of God guarding one's heart.  I thought that was neat that God gave me that verse twice, but I remember thinking I wasn't really worried about anything.  Then an hour later I found out the bad news about our roof and said, oh, Lord,  that was what You were preparing me for!  

So I knew I wasn't to worry about this, and I even told the insurance lady about the verse and all.  So after I got off the phone I felt strangely peaceful and went to walk outside a bit.  I remembered the verse said to present your requests to God, so I said, "We need a new roof - for free!"  Haha!  It seemed like the most outlandish prayer, yet somehow there was some faith inside me about this happening - !!  Which is really big for me..



Well, I did call the old insurance company and ask them to send out an adjustor.  I felt so sheepish and foolish, for it seemed like such a crazy idea.  Several days passed and I completely forget when the adjustor was coming.  

To be continued....

The Tale of the Poor Old Roof

Do you ever have times when things seem to come to such a tense point that you feel there's no solution, and things seem overwhelming?  Our family felt that way recently, and I want to share our story here over the next few posts..

So here's our tale:  

A few months ago we decided to switch to a new home insurance because it would save money.  We waited to cancel the old one for a month because we wanted to make sure we were never without insurance.  Well, a few days after the cancellation went into effect, the new company called (it was in mid-Sept when this happened) and said our home had failed their inspection because of our roof being so old and run down - and that unless we put on a new roof by Oct 19, they would not insure us!  There was NO way we could get a new roof right now, so we were suddenly going to be without insurance!  We are in financially tight times right now and there is no way we could do that!  We didn't want to go back to the old, expensive insurance, so we had to find a new one that hopefully wouldn't do as strict an inspection..  Well, amazingly, we found another company and exactly on Oct 19 they started insuring our home.  We still didn't know if we would fail THEIR inspection, too, but at least we had another chance with a different company. 

Well, during all this, the lady I talked to from the second company (the company that rejected us because of our roof) mentioned that we should have our first insurance send out someone to look at our roof to see if it had hail damage, because they would have to cover the repairs since it was under the time they insured us that the damage had been done.  My thought was, oh yeah right, our roof doesn't have any hail damage, and why would the old company that we left want to pay us any money?  We left them and aren't even insured by them anymore.  Surely they would say we had no damage and try not to pay for any repairs.  Those were my thoughts.

Could there be any hope for the family living under such a poor old roof?

To be continued...

When I See You Smile

 

I don't know much about this song or the artist, but when I heard it it made me think of my relationship with Jesus and all the grace and love He brings into my life!   His smile means the world to me - just one look at His smiling face and everything is okay somehow, I can face the world again..

His smile of grace says, "Right now, as you are, in your mess or confusion or struggles, whatever it is, it doesn't matter, right now:

I accept you, 

I love you, 

I hold you, 

I uplift you, 

I am on your side, 

now and forever, 

no matter what you do or don't do, 

I'm not requiring anything of you, 

I'm so happy being in this fellowship with you 

right now and always!" 

His smile of grace lights up our world  - it's truly like a light piercing the dark and clearing away the cobwebs of confusion, doubt and fear.  

He's okay with us, He smiles at us, He delights in us - always!

 

Grace - What a Message of Rest!

Here's a wonderful quote I read on the facebook page of Dynamic Love Ministries, actually a comment made there.  Jesus spoke peace to me through these words and ministered REST to my soul!

"I just love it when I see grace, how God wants to take care of us in everything.  Religion always puts the cart before the ox - Jesus!  Just letting God be God, just letting him be our Abba, just letting him do what he does best - to cherish...us - is too much for words to accurately explain exactly what it feels like; peace beyond measure with nothing to prove to God or man.  The best thing we can do for God is to let him love us!  Thank you for your rest, Jesus!"    
                                                                                   Mark Boyce

God takes care of everything for us!

What he does best and loves to do most is just to cherish us!  God LOVES loving us!

It is peace beyond measure to know that we are in a place of real REST, with NOTHING to prove to God or man!  I love that!  Those words just ministered rest and refreshing to me....I don't have anything to prove.  Don't have to do anything or show that I'm anything. 

All is well between God and me, now and forever.  THAT is rest! 

And what a great thought that the best thing we can "do" for God is to let Him love us!

I felt God telling me recently, "I'm not asking anything from you."  He doesn't want anything from me.  He is not demanding something of me or asking anything from me.  He just wants to GIVE to me!  He is the giver and I'm the receiver of all His many blessings!  I can just relax as the waterfall of His grace, mercy and love flows over me in a Spirit wave constantly.

All He wants is to love us..

May you just feel and enjoy and be refreshed by those arms that are around you today;  He is hugging you.  He loves you.  He perfectly accepts you like noone on this earth ever can. 

We are in a safe place with grace.  A place where nothing at all is required of us.  Where all is done for us already!  All is well..peace to you and grace from God our Daddy and the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Yahweh, Let Time Pass Away As I Simply Praise You...

Oh, I love this song, it reminds me of Mary just sitting at Jesus' feet and basking in His presence and love and healing words spoken to her heart..

He is all grace and love and He is all that we need today..

I love You, Lord, You are so beautiful, so good, so sweet, so wonderful..

You Are the One (Jason Castro)

 

YOU ARE THE ONE

Looking for meaning
Looking for love
Looking for something to
Never give up
You are the one
You are the one
Looking for purpose in all
Of the pain
Looking for someone to
Hold in the rain
You are the one
You are the one

You came in my darkness
You came in my night
You came without warning
You came to my side
You are the one
You are the one
There’s no before you
There’s no too late
There’s no without you
There’s only today
You are the one
You are the one

You are life more beautiful
You are love more powerful
You are the light that always shines
You are the one
You are the song I wanna sing
You are here
You are everything
You are the light that always shines
You are the one

And I will never move on from you
Oh oh
I will never move on from you
Yeah

LOVE NEVER FAILS

Jason Castro

You Reach For Me (Peter Furler)

This song has been coming to my mind often lately, and I thank God for reminding me of the wonderful truth in the lyrics.  He reaches for us even when we aren't seeming to reach for Him.  He calls us even when we sometimes don't call on Him.  His is a love that just won't let us go, that is always reaching out to us, embracing us, holding on to us, doing us good no matter what!  Wonderful grace...

The Spirit's Waterfall of Grace

I wrote recently about how I had been going back under some performance thinking and feeling condemned and "not good enough."  And God in His grace and love just helped me so much and reminded me of the truth that I'm not under performance pressure (law) and that He has already made me "good enough" and even better than enough through Christ!  It has been a relief to just relax lately and know that He is not requiring or demanding anything of me.  That He is happy with me and loves me right now in the place where I am.   I need to hear the grace message EVERY SINGLE DAY, and I can't be truly happy and at peace unless I know that He's okay with me and is here with me, accepting me.  That is the bedrock of my life, the foundation upon which I function.  Without Him and His love for me, nothing else fits together.  But praise God we DO have Him and His love forever, whether we always sense it or even remember it or not.  So we are always fine in Him, secure and safe in His arms, dearly loved and cherished, accepted and acceptable, whole and perfect to Him, whether we see that or not.  He is the One who draws me back to seeing that truth.  He removes the blinders and lies and clouds that confuse me sometimes.  He pushes back the accusations of the enemy.  He clears the air with His fresh breeze of GRACE as He whispers once again to me, "I love and accept you now and forever.  You are perfect to Me.  You are beautiful to Me.  You are mine.  We will always be together and I will always love and hold you." 

One wonderful experience I had during this whole time of "crash and renewal" happened when I met with my dear friend Julie one day to talk and pray.  I love Julie so much, for she reminds me of the truth about me, the truth about who God has made me!  At one point as we talked, I was telling her about my mentality lately, and I said, "I am such a legalist."  My friend looked at me with deep intensity, with a look that went right into my soul, and she said so strongly, "You are NOT a legalist.  That is what you WERE."  Wow!  I was stopped in my tracks!  Yes, that's right, I slowly remembered.  My brain fog began to clear and I was able to say, "Right, I am a NEW creation and I'm not a legalist anymore!"  Thank You, Lord, for a friend who will tell me the truth about my identity in Christ and remind me of the good news that we are new and righteous because of Him!

I have to share another amazing moment from that meeting.  We decided to pray, and Julie began to pray for me.  She put her hand on my head and began a heartfelt prayer.  I just felt like a little baby, really, just so weak and vulnerable, needing to receive help and care.  Then as she prayed, Julie said, "I see water pouring.  I see water pouring down from the top of your head, washing all the way down your body, then going off into the gutter, washing away all the old thinking, all the legalistic thinking."  It was so wonderful!  She had this vision of God washing away all the lies and old performance-based thinking, just washing it away by His Holy Spirit's Waterfall of Grace!  And I really do feel lighter since that day, and find it easier to pray, find myself just knowing deep down that everything is okay.  I am able to rest again in Him.  I am able to know that I don't have to prove anything to anyone or look like a super-Christian.  The pressure is off.  The clouds are gone.  He really did remove some kind of oppression that day, and I am so thankful to Him!  I really wanted to share all that and just give Him praise and thanks!

I guess any of us can get confused and troubled sometimes.  The enemy tries to inject feelings and thoughts of inadequacy and being lacking and of needing to 'strive' or 'try harder.'  He tries to make us feel condemned by our failures, tells us lies.  But grace is always the answer.  God gives us a refreshing drink of grace, or maybe even a waterfall drenching of it!  He is so good to us.  He never leaves us confused.  "I will not leave you comfortless.  I will come to you." "Nevertheless I am continually with You.  You have taken me by my right hand."  The grace of God will be there for us, no matter what.  Even when we can't see Him, He can see us!  Even when we can't remember grace (now what was that truth of grace again??), He remembers!  He is still with us.  He is still holding our hand.  His grace is still carrying us!  He is still working and lifting us up, pushing away the clouds so we can see clearly again!  His grace is sufficient! No matter what, now and forever - what a wonderful God!