This year started out so differently than the last, but through both the drama that unfolded on Jan 1 in 2016 and the much quieter start to 2017 – God has been evidently clear.
This time last year, we were dealing with remodeling after an accident resulted in some minor damage to our home. And while I dealt with contractors and vendors that came into my circle, I realized how each had the exact skill set I needed and offered options that were a precisely what I needed within the small budget we had.
A couple years prior to this I’d been in the building industry. (Every writer has a day job unless they’re James Patterson.) When the oil and gas industry took a dive, I was laid off. I never understood the ‘why’ behind it. We all ask ourselves ‘why’ things happen. Why do I have to go through this valley? Why me? Why now?
Well, it was never more clear in the ‘why’ when I was knee-deep in home repairs and contractors, knowing that I could speak the lingo and check their work – ‘knowing what to look for’ so that it was well done.
God immersed me in those moments with his presence giving me a strong sense of his answer to the ‘why’ that I’d asked only two years prior. He let me go work in an industry that I was destined to be laid off from to allow me the knowledge to navigate through a sea of what could be unknowns only to have the knowledge needed to get it done right. After the repairs were done, it was left in better condition than when we first moved in.
He gave me very clear insight of his gifts to me and blessings through the chaos when we finally sold our home and landed in an area that we loved but couldn’t afford. The house we made an offer on appraised lower than the area called for and coincidentally for one hundred dollars LESS than the top dollar that we could afford.
God showed up in so many ways in details that I won’t bore you with that go deeper than what I describe here but just know this… His presence and peace wrapped around us like nothing I’d experienced before.
Fast forward to this new year and I woke up in our ‘new to us’ home on a quiet day, much different than the year prior, and felt his whisper in my heart, which said, ‘Welcome Home’. It had been a year to remember and one for the record books – and God’s hand was evident through the entire process. Through darkness, chaos, and fatigue, He lifted us up, led us through, and brought us home.
Whoever says God is not active in our lives has blinders on. He is with every single one of us through it all things, good and bad. All we have to do is look to him, ask for Him, and rely on Him. His gentle love and tender embrace is there – just lean into it.
daily blessings 