Friday, November 23, 2012

Thanks #23

As I mentioned in a previous posts, I am thankful for my friends.  ALL of my friends.  The ones I see on a daily & weekly basis and those I see more in the "virtual" world than I do the real world.  Today, however, I can't get one of my friends out of my mind. 

Something amazing happened.  God truly allows blessings to come full circle.  We don't know when or how it will happen, but I believe that He blesses us in ways that we need Him to & at the exact time we need it.

So, let me start this by letting you read a father's facebook post from October 21st:


 "I saw Jesus with skin on tonight. As we were leaving the wedding of a friend in downtown Houston a homeless man approached asking if we had any food. My 14yr. son Caleb Johnson of course noticed the guy had ratty old tennis shoes with no laces on. Caleb asked him what size shoe he wore and then took off his own relatively new Addias basketball shoes and gave them to the guy. After he tried them on Caleb asked him if they fit and if he wanted them. The guy said yes and thanked Caleb for the shoes. I don't know if the guy can play hoops or not but at least he's got the shoes to do it with now. I'm filled with joy to see my son following the Lord's promptings at such a young age."
 
 
I was at the wedding that Caleb was at & when I read this post by his father that night I cried.  My first thought was, wow...that would make parents proud.  Then, I honestly thought...hmmm, I wonder if they were okay with him giving his shoes away?  Ultimately, I thought of the blessing that he was to that homeless guy.
 
So....back to today.  Patty Johnson is a great friend of mine.  Her & Gary, her husband, have 5 boys.  Josh, Ben, Caleb, Philip & Luke.  When we first started our church in Nov 2010 we pretty much kept to ourselves.  For New Year's Eve, Patty & Gary invited us to their party.  We went.  I was nervous, but we had a great time. 
 
Since then Patty has been an amazing mentor to me.  She is someone I admire.  She is a Godly woman, a fantastic mom, an amazing wife and never stops.  She is there if you need her, no questions asked.  She will lend help even when she is running ragged herself.  She works hard.  I mean H A R D.  Her boys are home schooled by her.  Her 2 oldest are in college and she will do whatever she needs to do to make sure they know they are taken care of & loved, even though they are far away in IL.  Patty helps many people, especially me, in so many ways and never expects any accolades from it.
 
Gary...he and Dan, yes, I believe, they were separated at birth.  If you dare, hang around them.  By the end of a couple hours you will be asking to be left alone.  (LOL)  They are both sarcastic men & have the same humor.  (you know...the kind that gets annoying sometimes?)  In all seriousness though, I have met few men in my life that care for their families the way Gary does.  He works hard and is there when his family or church family needs him.  A Godly, talented man who has raised his boys to be God fearing men.
 
So, why do I say all of this?!  Well, God knows this family works hard, is diligent at giving & never expecting anything in return.  They love and do because they want to.  They know they don't have to & they don't do it to get.  They don't have elaborate items.  They are happy with what they have & get what they need to make it.
 
Last night, Patty & Caleb went Black Friday shopping.  As Patty is very busy with homeschooling, working, teaching lessons & teaching for the home school group...she always goes black Friday shopping because that is when she has the time to get her Christmas shopping done.  As the night began, she dropped Caleb off at Sports Authority to wait in line while her & a friend went to Toys 'R Us.  The great thing is with Sports Authority, the first 80 people into the store were to receive a gift card worth any where from $10-$500.  Well, Caleb was one of those 80 people.  He received a card, went into the store & scratched it off.  After finally being able to scratch it off & meeting up with his mom (I can't possibly put the entire story on here) they had the $500 card!!!!  There was only 1 card worth $500 given!  Yup.  God blessed this family.  The cool thing is, it was Caleb who got it.  Of course, he gave it to his mom to use for gifts for the entire family. 
 
When I heard this story today, all I kept thinking is Thank you Lord for blessing this family.  They really needed this.  It was a Christmas miracle for them.  Honestly, this helped them to be able to have a Christmas they wanted & honestly they deserve. 
 
Understand this, I'm not saying others didn't deserve it, but I just wanted to share this as it touched my heart so much today.  I praise God for this family & all they mean to me & I am so thankful He chose to bless them with this gift. 
 
No matter how your blessings come, whether it be monetary or other ways, remember, God IS blessing you.  Sometimes, we just need to open our eyes a little more to see it & receive it.  I, am blessed by this family.  I am blessed by their story.  I pray you are too.
 
Front: Philip, Luke Back: Josh, Patty, Caleb, Ben & Gary


Patty & Caleb at Sports Authority check out


1 comment:

  1. This is wonderful how God blesses people who deserve a blessing. It sounds as if the boys have been taught right. God kept that card just for Cabeb. Hope it is a wonderful Christmas for this family. Beth, you deserve a wonderfu one too!!!! Love you. Mom

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