I interrupt my regularly scheduled programming...

To bring you this:

Today did not go the way I planned.
I know...a lot of times life works that way.

This morning I woke up to a very cold house.
It was 2 degrees outside.
We really couldn't believe we had run out of oil again after just getting oil just 3 weeks ago.

Before I go any further, let me backtrack a little bit for those of you who don't know my entire story.
You can read the story about the disappointment and then way God turned that disappointment around when we wanted to buy our house here.
My husband works for our church full time, and when we made the decision for him to take that job it was knowing that with that came the decision to live in a 1 family house with 2 families.
That second family was my parents, and even though we shared a house and a kitchen for 6 years, I love the deeper relationships we have developed and the memories we have made and wouldn't trade if for a minute.
However, as our boys were getting bigger and we felt God calling us to do other things that had the need for our own space, we decided to buy a house.

Since that decision, it has obviously been quite a change for us.
Going from paying no rent to paying a mortgage is quite a change.
God has blessed us so much and has given my husband 2nd job opportunities the last few weeks, but things are still just...tight.

But. We aren't complaining.
We are still serving, and living to please God. Because we know we can trust Him to provide.
We know this is where God has called us, and we have no doubt that He will take care of us.

Ok. Back to today.
I am part of a group of christian women photographers called Pursuit 31.
It may sound strange to some of you, but some of the women I have met as a result of this group are literally some of my very best friends....like very best.
So this morning, I posted in our closed group on Facebook that I would love prayer because we had no heat and didn't know how we were going to be able to pay for the bill.
Prayer.
That is what I asked for.

God had totally different plans.
One of my friends posted my paypal address, and when I checked my email address 15 minutes later, I realized that a handful of people (who I had never met) had donated $90.00!
I was shocked.
Totally couldn't believe that people would be willing to donate money to bless a sister in Christ.
The next few hours (while I was still at my homeschool co-op and totally unaware) countless other people took on the burden with me and literally lived out the verse in 1 John 3:18...

"Let us stop just saying that we love each other, let us really show it by our actions."

Because of these women, and their love for God, and their ability to hear His voice, they have given us way more than we could have ever hoped or imagined for.

I mean. Way.

The kind of way that has left me crying all day long.

That has left us in awe of the kind of God we serve.

The kind of God that chooses to use people to bless others. 

The kind of God that loves His kids so much that He sometimes chooses not only to give them what they need? But even way more than they need.

I feel so undeserving.

I feel so honored.

I feel so loved.

I feel so grateful to be a part of this group of women who decided to sacrifice and to put actions to their words.

What I was a part of today was something I will never, ever forget.

It was something that will affect me, and my family's lives forever.

And it inspires me to do more.

To give more.

To love more.

Imagine how much different the world would be if we all decided to stop just saying that we love each other...

and really showed it by our actions.

Thank you to my sweet, giving, incredibly, amazing friends who have shown the love of Christ to me.

I can never ever put into words what your gifts have meant to me. Some of you gave $5.00, some of you gave over $100.00, and some of you said you couldn't donate but you would pray.

Every single email I got meant the world to me. I mean it.

Whether it was big or small, it was a sacrifice to you and it showed your love for me.
You know you're my homegirls. For life.

And to my Heavenly Father.

Thank you.

Thank you for loving me.

For always keeping your promises.

For never changing.

Great is your faithfulness.