Showers of blessings

The the past few months, we have been experiencing unexpected blessings.

First came the lasagna. A visitor decided to fill his luggage with boxes of lasagna noodles when I mentioned that the local cost of lasagna runs about 6x the price of other pasta. So we just don't buy it. When he came with 10 lbs of extra weight to fill, and we had no better ideas, He filled it with lasagna! 

Then came the Cheerios. There have been Cheerios and other cereals in Tete for years, but at nearly $10/box, we just skip over them. Suddenly the corner store was filled to overflowing with HoneyNut Cheerios... and they were selling for $1/box! So, we stocked up. Felt blessed to have an alternative to the usual toast or corn flakes, and moved on.

Next came "Pie Apples"... now apple pie is always a treat, but "pie apples" are never part of my usual shopping list. They are canned apple slices... they are unsweetened. So they are sort of like chunky applesauce if you want them to be... When the store was glutted with tins of "pie apples" I bought a few. Then I bought a few more when the price dropped again. Then I just hauled off a load, because they got so cheap I couldn't resist. Now we can have apples on pancakes or pies or whatever... easy-peasy.

Finally there came the overload of oats.  At 30 cents a pound, you might as well buy as many as will fit in the freezer. So, a once almost-luxury item became the cheapest grain in available! Granola bars, oatmeal cookies... apple crisp (with pie apples, of course).

Now we just keep our eyes open for blessings. It seems like God is pointing to things and saying, "Here, this is for you. I know you never consider these as essentials, so you don't splurge on them. Here you go, it's on me." 

Besides this, we have been blessed by a new friend who decided we "need" a water tank. We've done without for a long time, and our landlord doesn't make it a priority, but it is nice to flush at least once between 11pm and 5am... or maybe wash dishes at 10am if the water has unexpectedly gone off early (like today). So once our neighbor manages to tie up his enormous boerbull dogs when the plumber is actually here, we will have water in the house, even if the city turns it off for a half a day or so. Nice.

I have just one more testimony of God's keeping an eye on things around here... we were recently robbed. Most of what was taken belonged to our daughter. Turns out, she ended up at boarding school a thousand miles from home with only one pair of jeans. What's a mom to do? God seemed to provide a "just in time" opportunity for several friends to be in the right place at the right time to buy jeans, pass them on to a traveler whom our daughter will visit in a week or so. 

So, even if we aren't rich... Even if we aren't the most connected important people in the world... We are seen by our Father in Heaven. We are known down deep inside our hearts. Heaven and Earth will do His bidding... and His people will be blessed. I'm thankful to be His child and live a life He planned for me. I'm impatient and sometimes I don't realize just what lengths God goes to to take care of us. But today I do see and today I will remember to be thankful. God bless you too!