Little reminders of His faithfulness

by Alisha :)

Romans 7:6: “Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.”

With Brad being gone on his project trip to Uganda for a couple weeks, I took the boys to the zoo the other day. They each bought a small bag of sweets. I didn’t buy one then, but after tasting one of theirs I decided a little while later that I might buy some too. As I stood in line with my one pound coin and a scrumptious bag of sweets picked out, I felt a “no” that somehow led me to hang the sweets back on the rack and leave the little side shop.

I rejoined the boys at the park structure just outside the window and we all headed up to toward the giraffe enclosure where Graysen had his heart set on face-painting.  He had been longing to get his face-painted for many trips to the zoo.  Watching all the fun, Jonah soon decided to get his painted too, and seconds later, Brodie was keen to join in as well. As Graysen finished up very pleased with his colorful, leopard spots, I suddenly realized I had to pay in cash rather than with a debit/credit card!

Frantically, I hunted through my wallet in search of gold coins or bills - we never carry very much cash! Coming up two pounds short and in a panic, I dug one hand deep into my front pocket and found a pound coin.  Still desperate for one more, I reached my other hand in the opposite pocket, and there was the pound coin I still had after putting the sweets back on the rack.

Later in the day, I realized what a blessing that coin was. From it, I learned that listening to the gentle “yes” and “no” promptings in our heart leads to living by God’s Spirit rather than the “do’s” and “don't's” of the law. There would have been nothing ‘wrong’ with buying the bag of sweets, but God had a different plan, and it was better than mine. For years, Brodie has had to forego things like face paint in order to avoid allergens that sent his whole system into a tizzy.  But as he's grown older, he's becoming more and more tolerant of different foods and things that used to set him off.  On this afternoon, he got the chance to be a kid in a way he'd never had before.

Jonah (left), Brodie (center) and Graysen (right)
Brad's caption: They often act like wild animals, but on this
occasion they got to look like them too! (Words spoken like only
a loving father would! :) )

All three of our boys enjoyed the fun of strolling off with spotted-leopard and striped-tiger cheeks, because God delights in the details.  Everything we do is an opportunity to live according to the promptings of the Spirit, in both big things and small things alike. If we have a gentle spirit and are willing to make the effort to listen, so often God rewards us with treasured little reminders of His faithfulness.