Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights in whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
James 1:17
Five days before our six-month deadline for submitting our dossier we received confirmation from our US agency that our dossier was indeed not yet submitted, but they had been told it would be ready on time. That same morning we received a phone call on a completely unrelated item that has since then filled me with delight at the good gifts God gives his children, and a sense of awe as I'm reminded that we are such time-bound creatures who must spend most of our lives in waiting. Until the moment something happens, we don't really know for sure that it's going to happen! Waiting is the place where we get to put faith into practice.
So, what was the phone call about? Well, some of you know how much Matt and I enjoy working in our gardens. For two long-time homebodies who now, with the life we've been called to, have an even harder time getting away, spending time out working in the yard is our way of "getting out." Because of the many perennial gardens we have, we can almost always use mulch, and this year as we continue landscaping around the addition, we have a number of new areas that need not just a little topping off, but a LOT of mulch. (In the past, when we've ordered mulch, we've ordered what's called "storm mulch" which is not beautiful, but it's the cheapest we can find. The very cheapest way to get it is to order a full 30 yard truckload because the delivery fee from the place we get it is the same whether you order 5, 10, or 30 yards.)
At the beginning of this summer, Matt and I knew we "needed" a load of mulch. (And obviously, we don't "need" mulch, but it would be really, really nice to have a load of fresh mulch!) But, with the adoption, we didn't want to spend the money. Even though it's cheap mulch, it still costs money! So when a friend on the west side of the Cities mentioned they'd gotten a load of chips from a tree service to use on their garden for free, I thought it would at least be worth a try! So I emailed a local service, offering our driveway as a place they could dump a load or two if they were nearby - we come out ahead with free mulch, and they come out ahead with saving time and money trucking it off. Although we got a friendly response, we had no idea if it would ever turn into anything.
Mid-way through the summer, while watering in some of our newer transplants, we were wishing again we had some mulch, and were toying with just getting a load, or at least just a few bags on sale at Home Depot! But then friends of ours from my parents' church gave us a sum of money - more than the amount of a full load of storm mulch - and we realized that we couldn't in good conscience buy mulch when people were giving us money for the girls. (So, friends, if you read this and are wondering why God prompted you to give us that money at a time when we were in an adoption spending lull, now you'll know!) So no mulch...until...the phone rang that Friday morning and we got *two* 15 yard loads of fresh wood chips from the tree service, for free!!!
I was practically giddy with delight at God's goodness.
After they dumped the first load, the little ones swarmed over it like ants at a picnic.
Many hands makes light work, right? Even Daddy had a slow enough day that we were able to get 2/3 of the first load distributed around the yard during Gloria's morning nap before they came with the second load.
I didn't post about this right away because it seems kind of silly to see a load of mulch as a directly God-given gift. After all, isn't something like mulch such a frivolous non-necessity? How can the same God be giving us free mulch when there are others of his people who are living under such tribulation and persecution that they do not know if they will still have their lives when the sun comes up? But I couldn't get it out of my head that day, nor any day since, that this is a taste of God's goodness in our lives, and why it's worth waiting. It would be equally wrong to NOT give him the credit for this "good gift" because every good gift is "from above, coming down from the Father of lights in whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." He doesn't change. He's the same God to all of his children, but that manifests itself in different ways. Just like we give different gifts to each of our own children, he gives just the right gifts to delight each of his children, just like he brings just the right trials to each of his children.
And all of those come at just the right time.
And they ALL come from him.
So, what was the phone call about? Well, some of you know how much Matt and I enjoy working in our gardens. For two long-time homebodies who now, with the life we've been called to, have an even harder time getting away, spending time out working in the yard is our way of "getting out." Because of the many perennial gardens we have, we can almost always use mulch, and this year as we continue landscaping around the addition, we have a number of new areas that need not just a little topping off, but a LOT of mulch. (In the past, when we've ordered mulch, we've ordered what's called "storm mulch" which is not beautiful, but it's the cheapest we can find. The very cheapest way to get it is to order a full 30 yard truckload because the delivery fee from the place we get it is the same whether you order 5, 10, or 30 yards.)
At the beginning of this summer, Matt and I knew we "needed" a load of mulch. (And obviously, we don't "need" mulch, but it would be really, really nice to have a load of fresh mulch!) But, with the adoption, we didn't want to spend the money. Even though it's cheap mulch, it still costs money! So when a friend on the west side of the Cities mentioned they'd gotten a load of chips from a tree service to use on their garden for free, I thought it would at least be worth a try! So I emailed a local service, offering our driveway as a place they could dump a load or two if they were nearby - we come out ahead with free mulch, and they come out ahead with saving time and money trucking it off. Although we got a friendly response, we had no idea if it would ever turn into anything.
Mid-way through the summer, while watering in some of our newer transplants, we were wishing again we had some mulch, and were toying with just getting a load, or at least just a few bags on sale at Home Depot! But then friends of ours from my parents' church gave us a sum of money - more than the amount of a full load of storm mulch - and we realized that we couldn't in good conscience buy mulch when people were giving us money for the girls. (So, friends, if you read this and are wondering why God prompted you to give us that money at a time when we were in an adoption spending lull, now you'll know!) So no mulch...until...the phone rang that Friday morning and we got *two* 15 yard loads of fresh wood chips from the tree service, for free!!!
I was practically giddy with delight at God's goodness.
I didn't post about this right away because it seems kind of silly to see a load of mulch as a directly God-given gift. After all, isn't something like mulch such a frivolous non-necessity? How can the same God be giving us free mulch when there are others of his people who are living under such tribulation and persecution that they do not know if they will still have their lives when the sun comes up? But I couldn't get it out of my head that day, nor any day since, that this is a taste of God's goodness in our lives, and why it's worth waiting. It would be equally wrong to NOT give him the credit for this "good gift" because every good gift is "from above, coming down from the Father of lights in whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." He doesn't change. He's the same God to all of his children, but that manifests itself in different ways. Just like we give different gifts to each of our own children, he gives just the right gifts to delight each of his children, just like he brings just the right trials to each of his children.
And all of those come at just the right time.
And they ALL come from him.
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