God's "Presence" = My Birthday "Presents"

I have enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and birthday week. The "celebration" kind of all started Tuesday evening and will actually continue through tomorrow. Tuesday evening I enjoyed a quiet dinner with Chad at Huber's (without the kids ), and Wednesday I invited myself :) over to Denise's house to hang out with her all day. I might add that I only had Christian with me all day; Jalen and Emrie were hanging out at the Kane's house, and Kayla was with Jordan. My fellowship with Denise was oh-so peaceful, enjoyable and quite edifying! She also served these premium MONSTER burgers for lunch. I bet they were every bit of 1/2 lb.- even after they had been cooked! What a treat!

Thursday, we had "the main meal" at my Dad's. Everything was deeeelicious! Then we moved along to my aunt's to visit with my mom and her side of the family. Tonight, we will be heading to Northern Ky to visit with Chad's family. This week has already been such a blessing- a TRUE Thanksgiving celebration, full of "happy birthdays," cards, cakes, gifts, good food, and time with all kinds of loved ones! I am so very grateful to God and thankful for all he has given me, especially my family and my new friends.

All of that was extravagant, but I would have to say that my favorite present was the one that I believe God gave me. Let me tell you what happened. I received a birthday card from Janet, the person who led me to the Lord, which meant a GREAT deal to me. Although I think of her constantly, we hardly ever get together or talk these days. I had been thinking about her a lot lately and admittedly had been a little sad as I wondered if she thought about me much anymore. So when I got the card I was elated.

In it she wrote, "The scripture that came to me for you is Galatians 6:9 don't lose heart, you will reap." After I read that I was trying to think about how it applied to my life, and if you know Janet, you know that when a scripture comes to her, it it undoubtedly from God. Janet is soooo in touch with the Spirit. I long to grow into that type of relationship with Jesus- extremely genuine and intense and intimate.

That brings me to the next part, the "coincidence," I use that term loosely, because you may or may not already know that I don't believe in coincidences with God. I knew that even if that scripture didn't mean much to me at that moment, it wouldn't be too long before it would. Sure enough, that same evening, I opened up the book I had just started reading by John Bevere, called The Bait of Satan. I love John Bevere, and consider him one the most insightful preachers and teachers that I know. (Drawing Near is a must read.) Right there in front of me was his explanation of Galatians 6:8-9, in the context of his book. How awesome is that! Although it's tempting, unpacking the content of that scripture warrants a whole separate blog entry.

I know what I see in Janet and her extremely intimate relationship with the Lord, and interestingly enough, I feel like John Bevere has a similar closeness with God, which I believe is so evident in his writing. Those are definitely two persons with whom I would love to just spend hours picking their brains about their spiritual walks and their spiritual disciplines. I really want what they have!!! Wasn't it cool that God has known that, and had merged these two people together under the umbrella of one scripture so that I would know it was from Him. I sat on the couch, book in hand, while my spirit leaped for joy! I know the "handy-work" of God is all over the place, but I just love it when he slaps you upside the head with his unmistakable presence.

Then, the next day, to put the icing on the cake, my mom called me to let me know she had one last gift to give me....but that she had lost it. I told her, "Thanks anyway, it was the thought that counted- by the way what was it?" She ended up telling me that it was a T-shirt that said something about "God" and "Coincidences." Pretty Cool, huh! I certainly thought so! I sure hope she finds it, so I can remember my Birthday "Presence" from God every time I wear it!