A Thanksgiving Blessing.

My little munchkin (translation: Mr. Andrew) flew south to North Carolina (with his parents, of course!) where they were meeting up with another munchkin who's a little bigger (translation: Mr. Bayley-boo) who drove North with his parents to spend Thanksgiving with my Aunt and Uncle.


My Indiana family spent time with Kim's side of the family in Wisconsin and my one brother went to my sister-in-law's aunt and uncle's house while my other brother and his wife enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving at home, just the two of them. They did that last year and had a great time just being home that they'll probably do that most years. So we invited a couple and another man from church over for dinner.

During dinner, we asked David (who is from India) about his recent engagement and how he met Sirithia (that's a poor shot at spelling her name, but at least you get the idea!). For starters, David is in his 30s and his future wife is 28, so they're not exactly fresh out of high school. But their story is so neat and it's evident that God put them together.

Our pastor was keeping an eye out for a single, Christian, Indian young lady for the past few years. David was also looking, but the few he found he disagreed with on some issues, so they parted ways. But then one day in April 2006, the lady who runs the church's bookstore got a phone call from a pastor who had a question. Mrs. P. couldn't answer it, so she turned it over to Pastor, who happened to be in the building for once!!! After Pastor answered the question, he asked the pastor on the other end where he was from and he replied India. Pastor immediately asked if there were any single girls in his church, since he had a single Indian guy in his church.... no sense beating around the bush;). The pastor on the other end was a little flabbergasted, to say the least (!) but asked Pastor to send some information on David while he and his wife prayed over it.

Pastor did and after praying about it, the other pastor approached one of the single girls with the situation. She agreed to pray about it and after a little bit, she and David e-mailed for 4 weeks and then talked on the phone for 2 months. David made a trip to India in September and from there on out, they did a lot of things according to Indian custom but they maintained a Christian testimony through it all. They got officially engaged and now they are waiting for her to be able to come to the USA. Hopefully all this will happen in the next 1-1 1/2 years, instead of the original 3! God provides!

Yesterday morning after I dropped Andrew and his parents off at the airport, I returned home but decided to stop at the gas station and get the newspaper in order to save my mom a trip. They didn't have any left, so I continued home, grabbed some coupons I needed for a few items and then went to Weis to get the items and the newspaper. No paper. So I went to Eckerd to get the paper. No paper. Seven-Eleven. No paper. CVS. No paper. Turkey Hill. No paper. I was getting discouraged because I was traveling farther away from my house and my gas tank registered empty. But then the Lord popped the thought in my mind to go to Don's, a little convenience store that I have never shopped at, although I do pass by it occasionally. I drove my way across town and pulled into Don's. Two people stood inside: a clerk and a police officer standing by the newspaper rack. As I approached the police officer, my heart sank when I saw what looked like an empty newspaper rack (again!). But it wasn't. There were two left: one for me and one for the police officer to read! God provides!

And that was my Thanksgiving blessing. Whether it is big (finding a spouse) or small (finding a newspaper), GOD PROVIDES. All worry, anxiety, fear, and fretting that I do so often during a day can be neatly wrapped up in the thought that God will provide!