"Be careful not to forget the things you have seen God do for you. Keep reminding yourself & tell your children and grandchildren, too." Deut. 4:9

I have spent most of the day at home, recuperating from my cameo appearance at church yesterday (please not that this is totally tongue-in-cheek)! I had planned to catch up with Art & Spanky this morning, but did not realize that Mom doesn't return to work until tomorrow. My mouth has been watering all day at the idea of my 10% discounted cinnabon. Art & Spanky will be at the mall tomorrow and so will I (cinnabon in hand)!

I have been very sleepy today! I guess the weekend took more out of me than I thought it would. Generally, on lazy, sleepy days, I like to curl up with a good book. I did just such a thing today with Jan Karon's "Home to Holly Springs". I kept coming back to particular quote that I fell in love with in this book:

"Let us be as grateful for crumbs as we are for banquets."

My parents have had a particularly rough year financially. I have watched them struggle week after week, month after month to purchase groceries, make mortgage payments, continue on with my brother's tuition, etc. The list is endless and the bills keep piling up. Necessity has forced us to be grateful for the little things. The problem with calling them "the little things" is that it detracts from the greatness of God's provision. If you've followed this blog at all, you'll remember that I recently reference the following song lyrics, "Little is much when God is in it." That is nothing that should fall under the label of "little things."

The Lord has continually met every need. He has never once failed or "forgotten" to supply dinner or electricity or gas. The water has never been shut off and the lights are always on. My parents have been just as grateful for PB & J as they would be for fillet mignon. It would be very easy, in a few years, to forget this time because it is unpleasant. However, you cannot know true joy if you never experience hardship. You cannot experience freedom if you've never endured bondage.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of going to lunch with some of my favorite people in the world. One such person shared the story of his nephew who is a parapalegic due to a car accident that took place twelve years ago. Spiritually, this nephew is stronger and was heard to say, "I prefer myself now to the way that I was," meaning that God used this tragedy for His glory, thus changing this person's life. Of course we could look at this situation and lament at the sadness of the physical changes in this person's life. However, God changed him SPIRITUALLY; drew him closer to Himself. It is never a problem to be physically weak if you are spiritually strong. Each time we draw closer to our Savior, we gain another drop in our already overflowing cup.

"Be careful not to forget the things you have seen God do for you. Keep reminding yourself & tell your children and grandchildren, too," Deuteronomy 4:9. Take pride in what your Savior does for you! Do not cast aside struggles nor forget hardships for in doing so, we lose the joy of sharing God's grace with generations to come!

"Future Generations"
- Four Him