Weigh Day! (or Road Markers)

The past 10 days have been so full of evidence of God's care for His children so I will start there.  One after another the praises have been rolling in and I love it when I can share praises.  I refer to these as "remember whens" as in the things I can recall when life is challenging and I need to trust more.  I have a friend who calls these times "road markers" along the journey of life.  A little over a week ago we hit some deep waters from flash flooding on the way home from prayer meeting at church.  It was dark and the street lights weren't close enough to reveal what was coming. I was worried that our van would be totaled because of water damage to the engine.  God was gracious to protect our van and we only needed new spark plugs.  Little did I know that was only the beginning of a week of His doing exceeding abundantly above what I ask or think so let me proceed.  If you will recall, we had been provided with a couple months of YMCA membership (yet another "remember when"). I found out they have a financial assistance program where people donate funds and help others who can't afford to pay for a membership.  I took a chance and filled out the paperwork, thinking in the back of my mind that we wouldn't qualify for anything.  Tuesday morning I received a letter stating that we had qualified for a 45% reduction in the cost of a year membership.  I was filled with praises because this was God's way of telling me that He wanted us to continue utilizing the YMCA to help us get more exercise and have a social outlet to be a witness of His goodness and hope.

It didn't stop there, however.  God had yet another blessing in store for us.  This year has been full of medical bills for both John and me and our insurance has a high deductible.  Not a good combination but it is what it is.  We had paid out close to $6,000 out of pocket before my husband needed some testing in July, using our tax refund and most of what we had in savings to pay those bills.  John's bills came in and because he hadn't met his deductible yet ($3000 deductible per person, $6000 out of pocket maximum per person), we owed another $2,100.  About a week ago I submitted paperwork through the hospital for a 2 year interest free loan to pay that off, trusting God to provide the money we needed to make the payments.  I received a call from the hospital billing department yesterday stating that they had researched our paperwork and we wouldn't be needing the loan because we qualified for most of it to be written off and our total owed on bills $83.75.  I welled up with tears and asked the lady to repeat the info, making certain I had heard correctly.  That was less than what each payment would have been on the two year loan.

It is true...God cares.  He meets us at our weakest.  He loves His children and pleasures in the exceeding abundant things.  How can I not serve Him with all my heart, soul, and mind?  My husband and I have made it a priority to choose His ways above our own, even when we felt as though we were drowning in deep waters.  So thankful for my God, who sees our struggles and encourages us on the way.  Grace upon grace.

You are probably thinking, "But what about your weigh in?"  Here it is.  I am down another pound for a total of 32 pounds lost since April 22nd.  One more pound and I have achieved the goal I had set for the year.  I will reveal what my new goal is for the end of the year once I reach the old goal.