In a way I hate to admit how easy it is for me to praise right now.
I mean, why can’t I praise more quickly when it’s hard? Why do I have to wait for something really wonderful to happen to find praise easy?
But I’m not going to wallow today, wondering about all that. I’m just going to celebrate.
Today I was given a brand new, top-notch beautiful laptop AND laptop carrying case.
It sat open on a friend’s kitchen table. The wallpaper on the computer had been personalized to be a beautiful pink–like the color here–with a bouquet of pink gerber daisies and the note, “Your dreams will come true. Wait on the Lord.” They told me it was mine.
Wow.
My friends who bought this laptop for me said they’d felt lead to tithe their tax return to our family, but as they talked about it, the wife felt they weren’t supposed to give us the money, but to buy me a laptop. They decided to pray about it for a while and ask the Lord if that was what He wanted. As my friend prayed she not only felt convinced in her heart that they were supposed to buy the laptop, she even started having dreams about it!
Oh, wow. Oh, wow.
You guys, this isn’t just any laptop. It is better than my home computer. Better than anything I’ve even dreamed of when I’ve drooled over laptops. My friends researched for two weeks and got the very best for their money.
I am blown away.
The husband hugged me, kissed the top of my head and said, “As long as you keep writing and don’t give up, this is yours.” Then, with a twinkle in his head and a smile in his voice he added, “If you ever give up, you have to give it back.”
The gift alone is too big for me to comprehend. Beyond that, though, God confirmed a specific message that He started speaking to me at church last Sunday. During worship, I felt He told me not to give up on the dream of my books being published. He reminded me of the specific goal, passion, and calling He gave me last September as He probed my numb heart, telling me to open up to that dream again. To the passion again.
Then today, He gives me the tool to keep pursuing my dream.
Oh, man, oh man.
My husband, who almost never cries, got all misty when I showed it to him. I won’t say there were tears, but after 18 years of marriage I know when he’s overwhelmed with emotion and the tears are almost showing. He stared at me with this wonderful, blown away, loving look and said, “you deserve it, honey.” He’s an amateur computer geek and was thrilled by the quality and capabilities of this machine as well as the magnitude of the gift, but he also said, “It’s not only the laptop which is so amazing, honey. It’s confirmation of God’s plans for your writing.”
Oh, wow.
All glory and honor and praise to my God!!
(And HUGE hugs of love and gratitude to my dear friends who travel their own road of passionate ministry and determined faith. The gift is all the more precious because their new ministry to the homeless is taking them on a huge faith journey and they could have held onto that tithe to give them more security, but instead they freely gave. I am indeed overwhelmed.)
