God's Big Winks

Last week in my Hodgepodge blog post, I mentioned that we have had so many opportunities to see God at work during these past three months.  We've all heard the phrase "God Works in Mysterious Ways" and normally we simply nod our head and agree that "Yes He does."  Well, let me tell you, He really does.

This lengthy account is primarily to bring glory and praise to the God who works in our lives bringing about His will in His time and way.  It is also to encourage you if you have doubted that God cares what happens to you.  Thirdly, it will be a permanent record once printed in book form as I print out my yearly posts.

A couple years ago our daughter strongly suggested that Dick and I begin thinking about moving close to either her in Dallas or John in Northern Indiana.  Both she and John have demanding jobs and families to take care of, and should something happen to one or both of us, neither of them would be in a position to take care of us.

She wasn't being cruel.  She was actually letting us know that by not being close to one of them, we were not being fair to either of them.  And yes, at that time we were not as old as we are now, 80 and 76.

Dick and I discussed the options and decided we just weren't ready to make such a drastic move and where to move loomed largely in the decision making.  Do we move to Dallas or Granger, IN.  We love both our children greatly and both were welcoming us.  So, we decided to not decide.

This past October, while in Indiana for our grandson's wedding and shortly after Dick's 80th birthday, the topic came up between him and Christy.  Again, the "you're getting old" inference was made and stressed that we really needed to make a decision.  This was done lovingly by the way.

Since Dick and I had planned a two-week road trip following the wedding, we had plenty of time to talk and pray and by the time we returned to our home in Shreveport, La., we had made a plan.  Because extreme cold is not healthy for Dick and it gets extremely cold for a good bit of the long winter in Indiana, we agreed the heat of Dallas would be the best choice.

Other major considerations in our decision was remaining close to my sisters in South La.  Being in Dallas, we have easy access to airports and direct flights to the locations we would be going.

Since Dick was a realtor, we decided to have an Open House for our gated community before he listed it on MLS.  A neighbor told his best friend and in three days we had a contract for the amount we wanted.

Christy and Chuck had been telling us about a 55+ gated community right near the church they attend in Plano.  It was about 10 minutes from their house.  These condo units do not stay on the market long because there is such a demand and because of it's perfect location.  But God had a plan!

There was one home available.  The original owner had made upgrades and following her death, her daughter had made additional improvements before listing.  After seeing the community and the house, we knew this was where God wanted us to be.  We no longer needed yard work, and all exterior care is taken care of.  There were so many advantages here for the future and it could not be a more safe place to live.  We are adjacent to multi-million dollar homes without paying for them.  Perhaps the greatest sign was that the owner dropped the price $10,000 the day we were to see it.

Our neighbors, Charlie and Glenda are from South La. and Charlie is also the HOA president and they were ready for Louisiana residents.  He also called the owner and told her she had to sell to us.  I kid you not!  By the way, Charlie was Ross Perot's right hand man for 30+ years, so evidently had acquired convincing skills.

In case you are keeping count, in less than three weeks we had decided to move, sold our home and bought a new one.  Folks, if these aren't signs of God's plan and provision I don't know what is.

As I mentioned in my last post, in the middle of packing both Dick and I had Covid19 symptoms and tested positive.  Our case was mild thankfully, and worst the worst part was the total fatigue and exhaustion.  Thankfully, our son instinctively knew the mother he talked to on the phone each night was not the one he knew.  My sisters were also very concerned so God worked it that all of them converged at the same time to rescue us needy old people.  This was such a God Wink because I had hit a wall and couldn't go forward.  Never been there before, but having help made it possible to move on.

God led us to the nicest movers who were willing to work with our ever changing closing dates right in the middle of Christmas.  Our son-in-law was able to attend the closing for us and our daughter was able to have the house clean and ready to move in.

There are too many little God Winks for me to mention them all but let me share a few, lest you think God put us here and moved on to greater concerns.

Dick was able to get a referral fee on the purchase of our house; we found the exact sofa and desk we wanted both for less than half price; our new house has a sunroom that faces the morning sun; we have a wonderful yard space for flowers and plants in the spring; God has blessed me with ever blooming irises in the middle of winter, in mine and my dad's favorite colors, purple and yellow; we have learned that the living room rug I bought several years ago for $120 originally sold for over $10,000 and is currently valued for at least $7,000.  Is that not crazy?

One of the best blessings is that God knew Dick's desire to continue serving Him in this new place and he has already been asked to consider teaching a week-day Life Group.  This doesn't happen in a church of thousands of members in less than three weeks of becoming members.  God has led us to a church where worship and missions are paramount.  The Word is taught and preached every Sunday and a Biblical World View is presented.  There is no doubt that Prestonwood Baptist Church stands on Biblical principles regarding issues of the day.

Another best blessing is being able to worship with our family for the first time in a very long time, and to enjoy visiting with them when it's convenient.

Yes, God has more than winked on this whole process.  He has blessed abundantly.  And wants to do that in your life as well.  It may not be in the same way He has blessed us or someone else, but He does desire to shower you with His blessings and make Himself known in your life.

Jesus is the light of the world and His light shines through His people.  Be His light in your world.