When God Blesses

   A couple of days ago we were out grocery shopping. It had been a full morning getting ready to leave the house, trying to get four little people ready, finding that two of them had outgrown their shoes all of a sudden, getting together water bottles and sweaters and the diaper bag and blankets for baby, etc. Once we got to the store I was already tired! Then it seemed to take us forever just to get out of the van, making sure everyone's hair was combed and faces were clean. As we were nearing the end of this process I heard a lady call to the girls who were waiting for us at the end of the van. Wondering what was going on I went to check it out and saw an older lady with her granddaughter making their way over to us saying, "Oh! what pretty girls I've got to come see them!Nobody puts their girls in dresses anymore, what a blessing to see your girls looking so pretty...". As she walked up she caught sight of Andrew and said, "Oh! Another one! What a blessing!!! I've got something special for you!". Directing the last phrase at the children, she pulled out her wallet and starting handing each of them a dollar bill. When she saw me start to politely protest that she needn't do that she went on saying how she loved to share and how we children of God need to stick together. Before she left she told us again what a blessing it had been to see us and parted with the exhortation to Lee and I to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It all happened fairly quickly but even now I feel the residual affects of her smile and words of encouragement. It occurred to me as we entered the store that had we not run into a few snags that morning we would have missed this sweet lady and the great blessing she was to us. God used those delays and the time it took us to do things we could have overlooked to put us in the right place at the right time. Her words were the sort that will be brought to mind next time it seems to be taking forever preparing to do something as mundane as grocery shopping. We prayed together that night that the Lord would bless and keep her as she had blessed us, thanking Him for the smile He had sent our way :).

God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah. ~Psalm 67:1