Blessings on Blessings

Have you ever just sat in awe of what God is doing in your life? Maybe you’ve seen Him working in the tiny details of your life and it reminds you that He sees you and cares about the little things in life? One of my favorite verses is James 1:17 which says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” God loves to give His children good gifts — what loving parent doesn’t? As a mom, I know that I want to give my boys good gifts because I love them so much — and how much more does God love us?! When we take the time to look around, I bet we can find His good gifts all around us — after all, every single breathe we breath is a miracle!

The past few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind filled with change and excitement! Since March, I’ve started two businesses which was not on my list of goals for the year! I wanted to focus on self-discipline this year, but I had no idea that my self-discipline would develop through the busyness of business. Through so much encouragement and prayer, I started my Sourdough Micro-bakery and that has been so much fun! I’ve been able to serve many different families with fresh bread and baked goods and it has been such a gift! I have seen God’s hands all over it and when I tell you that He’s in the details working things out on our behalf before we even know it — it’s because I’ve witnessed Him doing it! Let me explain.

Marc and I were considering getting a larger fridge in order to hold more loaves of sourdough at one time. Our fridge quit working — not on a dough day thank goodness — and Marc was able to purchase a larger fridge that day and it’s been such a blessing. Then we were looking at a way for me to bake more than two loaves at a time, but bread ovens are out of our price range at this time. Marc figured out that if we had a 36 inch range and invested in oval dutch ovens instead of round ones, I’d be able to bake four loaves at a time which would double my production. Well, 36 inch ranges aren’t cheap either, but God was already working that out.

Marc was looking on Facebook Marketplace one day and found a brand new 36 inch range that was 72% OFF which seemed too good to be true. He went and looked at it and they told him a leg was broken — which was it’s only problem. He decided that he could figure that out and bought it. When he got it home, it took him less than ten minutes to figure out how to fix the leg and it didn’t even require any extra parts! When I tell you that God is in this you guys! Another item we considered was a commercial mixer, but those are also quite pricey so Marc went back to Facebook Marketplace to try and find one, but couldn’t find a decent one so we put that search on pause. BUT GOD!! While at a women’s event at church, God used one woman to connect me to another woman who has a commercial mixer she’s no longer using and wanted to let me borrow it! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? I mean, God is all over this thing and I’m just sitting back in absolute awe of His goodness!

He loves to give His kids good gifts and they don’t always come in the form of good deals on ranges or commercial mixer borrowing. Sometimes they come in the form of encouraging words at the exact moment that you needed to hear them. Sometimes they come through a parking spot near the door of the store or someone paying for your coffee in the drive thru line. Sometimes it’s a sunrise or sunset or the laughter of your child or a really good meal. His gifts are all around us if we would stop for a moment and acknowledge them — acknowledge Him. The verse that has sat on the table of my porch pick ups for the month of April is Ephesians 3:20, which says, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think…” He is able to do more than we can even imagine! I never imagined all the good gifts He has blessed me with when I listened to the encouragement and started selling sourdough from my home. I couldn’t have possibly known all the ways He’d show Himself to me — and He isn’t even done yet! There are so many people being His hands and feet in my life right now and I’m just so grateful!

Remember how I said that I started two businesses? Well, in the midst of all of that, I was presented with an opportunity to partner with a company that sells organic, bio-active, water less skincare and after learning about the company, the products, and the ingredients, Marc and I knew that it would be a great fit for me. We are always learning and we care a lot about what we put in and on our bodies. We try to make our decisions based on what we are able to do to steward our lives and the lives of our children well. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Our desire to glorify God is the driving force behind the decisions that we make for our family and we’re so grateful to have the opportunity to share what we learn with others. We know that we can’t be perfect and we know that everyone has different priorities in their lives, but joining the team that I did has been such a gift! God has already used these women to encourage me in more ways than just business. The team I’m on is called “Glory to Glory” and the leaders chose the name based on 2 Corinthians 3. The key verse they based it on is 2 Corinthians 3:18 which says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” More than success in any business, these women encourage us to be successful in our lives by living them for the glory of God!

Through all the excitement over the past few weeks, I have been repeatedly reminded of what an absolute gift it is to live this life. With or without these businesses, my life has been filled with good gifts and I have been blessed beyond measure. I’m so, exceedingly grateful that God has blessed me with the gift of being a wife and a stay-at-home mom. Those were my dreams throughout my childhood and it isn’t lost on me what a gift it is to get to be a wife to Marc and a mama to our children. Every single breath is a miracle and every moment is an opportunity to glorify God. When we live our lives for the glory of God and the good of the people around us — we will see His blessings and good gifts all around us. Please don’t hear that living for God means that our lives will be all sunshine and roses — life is hard and there is a lot of pain in this broken world. Even so, God is good and He walks with us through all the good and all the hard. He truly is good all the time!

Song(s) of the Week: This week I chose “Counting My Blessings” by Seph Schlueter and “Counting Every Blessing” by Rend Collective. Enjoy!