Temptations

Last weekend I went to the place that everyone goes to for fun & shopping – WalMart!
Everything was pretty normal till I got to my car and realized that my new toothbrush was laying in the bottom of the basket and hadn’t been scanned.
I had made it through SECURITY – through the watchful eyes of the WalMart Greeter / Receipt Checker / Basket Watcher Person with merchandise that had not been paid for.
I was very close to becoming a THIEF! (and I hate thieves)
Amazing thoughts went through my head – the wrong side of my brain was yelling “go ahead and take it, nobody’s gonna know” and “you spend a fortune in this store – ‘bout time you go a little bonus”.......
Well, the good side beat out the dark side and I went inside to pay the $2.50 for my new toothbrush.
I just wonder why it is that we continue to ever be tempted by even the simple things, the things that we actually hate?

It's Not My Plan

Here is the final product. I'll put some pictures of the inside here soon - but, this is one beautiful building - isn't it!

Getting from the shrub covered ground to this - from August to now has been an adventure, a challenge, a frustration, a joy, a pain, and has involved every emotion that I have. I know that I am not alone in this - I'm not the only one that has laid awake at night wondering if all of this was really God's plan or just one that I tried to blame on Him.

All along I have been confident that this is 100% his plan, there have just been time when seeds of doubt tried to creep into my head. In hindsite, the periods of doubt were almost always when I was not spending enough time in prayer - neglecting the reason for this home. In the end, God showed me that his promise of taking care of things is really a promise.

Everytime that I am reminded of the faithfulness of my God, I remember the words to a song written by the Crabb Family - a Southern Gospel group from Kentucky. This song is called "Through The Fire" and the words go like this -

so many times i've questioned certain circumstances
things i could not understand
many times in trials, weakness blurs my vision
then my frustration gets so out of hand
its then i am reminded i've never been forsaken
i've never had to stand the test alone
as i look at all the victories the spirit rises up in me
and its through the fire my weakness is made strong

he never promised that the cross would not get heavy
and the hill would not be hard to climb
he never offered our victories without fighting
but he said help would always come in time
just remember when your standing in the valley of decision
and the adversary says give in
just hold on, our lord will show up
and he will take you through the fire again

This was a song that really helped Terri & I to get trough some really dark days. When I bought the CD I hadn't even heard of the Crabb Family - I just liked the cover of the CD.....
One thing is certain - God continually shows us that his plan for us isn't generally the easy way out. Isn't that great - if he just poured everything out without expecting us to work then we would be a bunch of spoiled faithless children - Working hard - no doubt is God's plan for us to learn, to build our faith, and to grow stronger in him.

Thank you Father for the lessons you teach me. Thank you for your faithfulness and the lessons of patience that you teach me by doing things on your time - in your plan - and not mine. Please bless the children that you have in your plan for Casa de Esperanza.