Five years ago, I hit a bit of a harder patch than ever before. Injuries, illnesses & secrets revealed combined in an attempt to soak me dry to the bone.
Without God, the enemy would have succeeded in fully leaching the life out of me.
As it is, God held me even closer, spoke to me more clearly, and poured life into me, each & every day.
He keeps doing so with each new today.
The hardest part for me each year seemed to always hit around my birthday.
And quite frankly, without God, my kids & my best friends, there wouldn’t have been anything worth celebrating.
My hubby, post two major surgeries without full resolution of all his problems, got some good news this week. They may know what is causing his last plaguing symptom.
I ended up with an unexpected tax bill this month, which slapped me silly for a few hours before I could hear God whisper, “I got this. I told you breakthrough is coming.”
Hubby got one of his best tax refunds back within 6 days of filing. Which more than covered my bill, the two main needs we have needing repair, and knocking off 1/4 of our debt.
Numbers don’t mean that much to me. Relationship is more important, and always will be.
But the weight I was still carrying over our finances was quite a load, and God told me this week its His to carry, so hand it over & stop taking it back. He set me free.
So far this past 48 hours, God has been knocking my socks off with an outpour of blessing I have not been expecting, but am so grateful for.
My hubby, daughter & son all amped up and blew me away with their gifts of love, and time.
My besties rocked me again with blessings wrapped in laughter & care. They have kept me close through the rocky days, and loved me as I needed to be loved all the way. My chicks, my heart sister gifts God knew I would need in my life? Abundant blessings, each one.
My coworkers sang me happy birthday, and threw me an apple themed party (apple crumble, apple coffee cake, sour apple can’t & apple danish!).
My parents are taking us all out to dinner tonight, and have been so supportive to us all over this past long haul that tears well up from thinking about their love shown in action.
What I have learned, and celebrate today?
I have always had blessings growing around me, because of His handiwork.
He has been the giver and keeper of my life.
He is the Water I need to drink in every day, to keep life flowing in my spirit.
He is the Word I crave daily, to fill me up and direct me how to life & get to know Him more.
The garden of my life will never run dry when I choose to ask the Gardener to keep pouring Himself into it. The pruning, uprooting and straightening out that occurs under the Gardener’s hand may be painful, the pests attack may try to permanently damage, but I celebrate the Life Giver has me.
Not just my back.
He’s fully got me.
And so, even when the bad days try to gray out all the Son, I can still water my garden, with His love, grace and mercy, and hope for the new day’s blessings to come, as He has planned for me!
Every day, not just our birthdays or anniversaries are worth celebrating! So pull out your nice dishes, fave tea cup, recipe you save for a special occasion.
Jesus has you.
Worth celebrating every moment of every day!
Don’t forget to allow Him to water your garden daily. Keep your eyes on the new growth each season. Let Him bring to life a new you as you sink deeper into Him.
KARLA LEES @hopenHispresenz 