God in everyday life.

I accidentally ran a red light the other day. I had dropped off the boys at their basketball camp, at a location I am not familiar with. I had a lot of errands to get in while they were at their two hour camp and my mind was distracted on finding the "Staples" store by this location. As my eyes came upon the store off in the distance and focused on it, I all-of-a-sudden saw this car coming at me from the opposite direction that would have t-boned me had I not swerved. Trying to comprehend it all in that second I looked up and saw a red light on my end. I realized in that moment how quickly my life could have changed or ended as far as life on planet earth is concerned. I also truly felt God had protected me from a crucial mistake. As I drove into the "Staples" parking lot my hands were shaking, I also half expected to see a police man running after me to give me a consequence to my mistake, but thankfully, gratefully, there was none, just my convicted conscience and a new appreciation for life itself and God's protective shield over me. 2 Samuel 22:31 says: "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him."

I spent my shopping experience getting the school supplies I had come for and were such a good bargain, but more than that I was praising God, thanking Him continually. It was one of those wake-up call moments where the day-to-day distractions from the really miraculous reality of life came full force into my consciousness. I kind of enjoy errands and especially shopping. Even more so when I am able to do so without three boys pressuring me to hurry up and be done and even more so with a renewed reminder of how precious life on this earth is. I so easily take it for granted, that God has given me another day to be a wife, a mom, a friend. I feel this was a Romans 8:28 moment where God worked a situation for good and He wants my realization of that and my acknowledgement of His complete sovereignty.

Today was another opportunity to be taught by Him. My oldest son gets the mail for us everyday and there has never been a problem with this. Today however, when we went to go with all of our things ready for our busy day....We were to go to our movie from the summer movie club, then on to a friends house to swim, eating lunch in-between, we found we could not find the keys. It had been a hectic morning, and to finally get in the van in anticipation of getting on the road when we had just enough time to make it to the movie....was disappointing. Re-tracing yesterdays steps lead us to the conclusion that Seth was the last one with the keys. He could not remember having them in the house after getting the mail. They were not in the mailbox nor anywhere along the path. We looked everywhere in the house we could think of, then stopped it all and went to the only One who knew the solution to this problem. We prayed, pleaded with God to help us find them, and to be with the person who most-likely took them from the mailbox when they saw them hanging there. My oldest son was in tears and felt really bad. Instead of lecturing him about the importance of being responsible (something I am prone to do), I told all three of my boys to keep looking and to pray. We then decided to go to the mailbox once again, see if there was a note, then decided to go door-to-door in our neighberhood to see if anyone saw them. We split up to speed up the process, I went to the house where new neighbors had just moved in. I had been meaning to go introduce myself, but had not made the time for it. So this allowed that to happen. Our new neighbors now know who we are, along with knowing we are not the most organized family in the 'hood! As soon as I turned away from that house, I heard Jacob (my middle son) jangling the keys and saying "I found them!". The neighbors right next to us had saw the keys left in the mailbox and took them in. What a praise!!

So we missed our movie, but we gained a very important life lesson in the process. Something I hope will outlive the enjoyment any movie would have ever brought us. God is there to help us, He cares about our deepest needs. I know His ways are not mine. Almost everyday I see accidents and know sometimes a simple mistake can kill. Suffering and frustrations are part of this earthly life, but even in that He is here to help us. We are not left alone to grumble and complain, unless we choose to. I hold on to His promises because I know they are where the abundant life is to be found.

He wants to be there in our everyday situations so that we can see that He is with us. Those who seek refuge in Him will have blessings. Psalm 34:8