God is so good!

God is So Good

January 10, 2014

            Last year at this time I was feeling really depressed and discouraged. We were getting ready to return home from Arizona and I truly did not want to leave. Going home would mean that I had to return to the cold, rainy, and gray weather in western Washington. It took me a long time to get over the blue funk and to feel like God even cared one iota about me. I just felt like I had been left alone to wallow in my self-pity. But, I wasn’t alone because when I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior I also received the Holy Spirit and my body became His temple. Ever faithful, the Holy Spirit began to remind me of the truth of God’s Word.

            Well, for those of you who have been following my blog, you already know how the Lord is making His blessing very abundant and visible in my life recently. He did it again yesterday and I just have to give Him all the praise and share this testimony with you.

            My daughter, Rebekah, has been longing to be on the special Olympics’ ice-skating team ever since she found out that they started a team in Bremerton last January. She thought that they only practiced for the winter games which meant they would start practicing this month. Rebekah contacted the coach by email a couple of times to find out when practices would begin, but she never heard anything. So, I gave her the phone number for the ice center, and she gave them a call. The instructor informed Bekah that she thought they would start on Tuesday. We were at the rink last Tuesday, but no one ever showed up. We talked to the instructor/owner and decided to try again on Thursday (yesterday). My daughter was very upset when no one showed up and it took a lot of prayer and talking to get her over the mental issues.

            A little background on Rebekah. Most of you know that she is autistic and also deals with mental illness in the form of mood disorder. She takes medication for it, but it doesn’t make her a brain-dead zombie. So, she still has to deal with emotions that can overwhelm her. And now back to the blessed story.

            On Thursday we left early for Bremerton because I needed to get gas and wanted to look around for birthday gifts for Jerry. For that reason, I wasn’t home to answer the phone when two ladies called. At least they left messages. Jerry came home for a minute to get his work computer and to do a load of laundry. He was the one that listened to the answering machine. I was at SVDP when he called my cellphone and gave me some really bad news about ice skating. I had to pause a minute to pray and get myself prepared for how Rebekah would react to the news. Jerry was kind enough to tell Bekah the sad news that the team roster was full and that she could not be on the team. She took the news well and asked if we could still go to the practice. I figured it was worth going just to talk to the coach.

            Rebekah had a nice time talking to her friends while we waited for the coach to arrive. I was dreading the talk with the coach because I don’t like any type of confrontation. So, while we waited, I prayed. When I finally had the opportunity to talk to the coach, she explained fully about the program being different from the other sports offered by special Olympics due to the fact that the team was also a part of the federation of skaters and that the team practiced off and on all year long and competed in more events than just those sponsored by special Olympics. She was truly kind and encouraged Rebekah to learn and practice ice skating and try to join the team again in April.

            Once I got home, I listened to the messages on the answering myself. One was from the coach and the other was from a good friend. My friend said she would call back later, and she did. She wondered if I was okay and what was going on. That morning, before she even got out of bed, the Holy Spirit has impressed upon her heart to pray for me. I couldn’t figure out why the Lord had done that. We chatted for several minutes, and I couldn’t think of any reason for why God did what He did. When I finished the phone call, I asked the Lord, “Why did you place me on my friend’s heart, Lord?” And immediately He replied, “Do you remember how well things went this morning? Remember how well Bekah did with the bad news and how nice the coach was when she didn’t have to be? I DID THAT!”

            WOW, all praise to God for He is great and His mercy is amazing.