More Blessings

So,...
I think it seems like I start all my posts with "So,..."

So, let me just tell a quick story. 

My friend, Penny, and I were able to get some solid oak bunk beds for $40 back in August.  There was a college selling off their dorm furniture.  We found out that they'd be selling one last dorm's furniture in the spring.  We were hoping to get some dressers to match our bunk beds when they sell more stuff.  Anyway, so I texted her one day to ask if she'd talked to the college about the dressers yet.  The day before, she'd received a call from a friend saying she had several dressers in her house that she had planned to paint and make nice but she hadn't gotten around to it and wanted them out of her house.  I mentioned to Penny that we only had ONE dresser in our whole house, so of course she was thrilled to be able to offer me some dressers!  I also mentioned that I hoped we could get more mattresses.  (Another college was selling off their new, never used mattress surplus so I got 2 extra longs for $25 each and a regular twin for $50... but I needed one more for Mitchell's bed now that he needed something other than his toddler bed.)  Penny had an extra from the same sale I got mine from, which means it'd match Keith's mattress.  Anyway, so then one night in our family prayers, I prayed for help getting our budget back on track (yeah, yeah... so I've been over spending in our grocery envelope... see www.mitebudget.com for more envelope information, it's the site Ben made for us and we now share with everyone!).  So then Penny calls me, tells me all of this, and the puzzle comes together that Heavenly Father has been placing things where they needed to be so that I could get a total of 3 dressers, a hutch, and a twin mattress... all for $50!!

You may wonder, why on earth would God care to give me all those things for such a price?  I'll tell you why.  Because He KNOWS ME.  He LOVES ME.  He wants ME to be HAPPY.  Because WE have a good RELATIONSHIP where I talk to Him and He answers back.  Call me crazy, but I tell my Heavenly Father about my day, my frustrations, my joys, my concerns, my desires.  I ask Him for blessings (sometimes the answer is "no" such as when I plead for a quiet, uninterrupted night of sleep, and then we've got one kid who doesn't want to go to bed and another that wakes up every couple hours), and I ask to be lead to others that I can serve and help.  If it's at all possible, I try to never say "no" to someone that I am able to help.  Remember when your mom told you "what goes around, comes around?"  Well, that applies to the positive, too.  Not just the negative.  Help someone and someone else will help you.  It's the pay-it-forward principle.  And I think I have a lot to pay forward after all my recent blessings.  So, let me know if I can help you!  ;)

Also, be sure to pray to find out that Heavenly Father knows YOU individually, too.  It's so amazing to know that we have a TWO-WAY relationship.  It's not all me talking (despite what you may believe, knowing that I never shut up).  I get responses, and if you pay attention, you will too!  It may come through the words of someone else.  It may come through the actions of someone else.  It may be a still, small voice that whispers to you so very quietly.  Answers can come in so many different ways.  But they come.  Yes, No, or Maybe... they come.  My favorite... when I feel the "I Love You" from my Heavenly Father.