God’s Blessings
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Do people still use the term “mojo”? I’m not sure because I never used it. If I said my blogging mojo has been gone lately, I’d be using it correctly, right? I guess it’s because it’s summer and I, apparently, need a total mental break from all things homeschooling right now.
Still, I like hanging out with y’all and when there’s no posting or commenting going on, I miss my blog-world friends. So, I thought I’d just tell you about a couple of cool blessings that we’ve experienced lately. Maybe they’ll encourage your faith like they have mine and, if nothing else, you’ll know I’m still around.
So, you know I posted about Brianna’s laptop biting the dust in my Weekly Wrap-Up last week. The biggest thing was that it had on it nine books that my otherwise non-writing daughter had been working on – one of them for well over a year. I’d prayed and prayed that we could get the files off the computer because I knew how much work that represented and how important those files were to her.
We had taken it to my brother-in-law last Thursday to see if he could extract any files from the hard drive. Another friend was going to wipe everything out and reinstall the operating system after that.
Well, my brother-in-law wasn’t able to get anything off of it. He said the hard drive had been corrupted and it wouldn’t do anything. He was going to wipe everything off and my cousin had a disc to reinstall the operating system, so we left it with him.
I had no peace at all Thursday night. I kept feeling like I hadn’t done everything I would have done if it had been my computer. I knew if it had been mine I would have wanted at least one other opinion before we just wiped everything out.
I prayed that if there were any chance at all that we could get the files off, something would happen to keep my brother-in-law from working on the computer.
I was going to call him the next morning, but I overslept and by the time I got up I figured that if he were going to do anything, he’d have already done it. When I took Brianna over there around noon to babysit, my brother-in-law had already left for work, but my mom was there.
He hadn’t been able to get the wipe-out disc to work!
I totally took that as an answer to prayer. I got the laptop and took it to a computer repair shop that had been recommended to me by a couple of friends. They looked at it and said the hard drive was shot. It needed to be replaced completely. They said it was “possible, but not probable” that we’d be able to recover any of the files and if they did, it would cost extra.
I was ready to just leave it there, but I called Brian and asked his opinion. He said to bring it home and we’d just let the friend who originally said he’d fix it work on it.
I called the friend and explained everything to him. He said that he’d replace the hard drive if we bought the new one and that he might be able to get the files off, but he wasn’t counting on it. I didn’t even tell Brianna there was a possibility since she’d already resigned herself to the fact that she’d lost her files.
We took the laptop to our friend Sunday night. He called later that evening and said that he couldn’t get the files off, but he’d replaced the hard drive and was loading the OS back on and would call us the next day about getting the laptop back to us. We mentioned how disappointed we were that it just wasn’t to be about saving the files, but thanked him for trying and for replacing the hard drive.
I laid in bed that night praying a bit more about it asking God to help Brianna not be too disappointed. I asked Him to show us if there was a lesson in this or a truth that needed to be learned. (Maybe that truth was “buy an external hard drive and back your stuff up”). I know this is minor in the grand scheme of things, but it falls under that “what hurts your kid hurts you” category.
Monday morning, I was reading email when my phone rang. It was the friend with the laptop. He asked, “Does any of this sound familiar?” and proceeded reading off file names.
It was the names of all of Brianna’s books and other documents!! He’d managed to recover them all, along with her pictures!
Can I confess that I cried tears of joy over those recovered documents?
Our friend said he knew how important those files were to Brianna and that he just kept tinkering with it and praying about it. I love that this guy is such a man of God and proclaimed right along with me that this was a total answer to prayer. He said God gave him the ability to know how to do stuff like that so that he could help people.
I love that God cares about all the little details of our lives. The things that are important to us are important to him.
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. – 1 Peter 5:7
I had a whole “Facing the Giants” moment with the kids when they woke up:
Who loves you more than anyone in this world, even more than me and Dad?
God.
Megan, what’s impossible with God?
Nothing.
Josh, what’s impossible with God?
Nothing.
Brianna, what’s impossible with God?
Nothing.
That’s right. God loves you very much and He cares about the things that are important to you. He has blessed you today. [Our friend] was able to recover all your document files and photos off your computer.
Can I express to you what a cool thing it is to be able to share God’s love for your children with them in such a real and tangible way?
Would God still have loved Brianna if she’d lost all of her documents? Absolutely! Are there much bigger prayers that seemingly go unanswered – or, at least, not answered in the way we’d like them to be? Yes. But it was so incredible to see God bless my daughter that way.
Wow, I spent a long time talking about that, so I’ll make this other one quick. Just before we left to go get Brianna’s laptop on Monday night, Brian noticed that the AC wasn’t very cool. After we got home, he went and got some new fuses. That wasn’t it.
He called a friend who works on air units. They thought they knew what the problem was, but it was dark by this time and couldn’t be fixed until the next afternoon.
We live in the South. It’s been close to 100 degrees this week. We braced ourselves for a miserable day.
The night was miserable until it finally cooled off about 3 or 4 AM. The next morning, though, I woke up and it was raining! It was cool and rainy all day. It never got over 75 degrees outside and not over the low-80’s in the house with the windows open and the fans on.
Though they had a little trouble finding the part, Brian’s friend was able to get the part and get the unit fixed Tuesday evening at a very reasonable price. I don’t think I’ve ever been so thankful for the blessing of a cool, rainy day in my life.
How has God blessed you lately?
Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.
I loved this post, Kris. I never tire of reading about how God works in people's lives. He hears our cries and He works all things for the glory of His name. Thanks for taking the time to share with us here…I'm glad you haven't lost your mojo! :))
Ok, I cried with you on that one! It's so awesome to see that God cares about the details of our lives like that!!
what a wonderful story! i love the movie facing the giants and have used the football scene with my son during a tough day of homeschooling. it gives me chills everytime i see it.
Yes, and I love when He lets our kids — His kids — see that.
I think that's my favorite scene in the whole movie — well, maybe second
after seeing all the kids praying on the football field.
Oh, I cried too!! This was such a beautiful story, Kris. How brilliant that Brianna (and your other two) were able to see God's blessings in such a personal way! Awesome!!
A couple weeks ago, I had a little health scare. I went to the doctor for blood work and a consult. It was a last minute appointment and I didn't have anyone to watch my two little ones. I was scared out of my mind, having lots of anxiety, and just not in a good place. I was a bit apprehensive about having the girls with me. Too young to be in the waiting room alone, but old enough to possibly be worried themselves when I talked w/ the doctor.
I was sitting nervously in the waiting room that morning when a good friend from our co-op came out, having just had an exam herself. She came over and after talking with me, prayed right there in the waiting room for me. Then, out of the blue she asked if she could sit with the girls while I went back to see the doctor. I hadn't asked or even mentioned the girls. I just cried right there. As it turns out, her appointment had been the next week, but had been rescheduled at the last minute. My appt. was made only the day before. She has four kids and is never alone or without something to do, but that morning, she was completely free. She used her free time to bless me. I know, without a doubt, that the Lord used her to bless and reassure me that day. I knew that whatever happened, that He was with me.
It was wonderful to be able to talk with my girls about how God used our friend to bless us. And, just yesterday, we, in turn, blessed her with a post-surgery meal for her family!
Oh, what a beautiful testimony of God's care for you, Christine. It just
amazes me how much He cares for us and takes care of what might seem like
little details on the outside, but to us are huge. Thank you for sharing
your story!
Hooray for you! God is SO good!!!
PC problems seem to be the word of the week. I am SO going to be backing up my stuff this afternoon. I need a good online place to keep files. I heard dropbox is good but I can't get it to work right.
Wow, how gracious of God to let You see His care over all the details. It's so reassuring to know He is right there along with us, always. 🙂
That story gives me goosebumps! Thank you for sharing another example of God's faithfulness and how He even cares about the small things. I am so glad that your daughter was able to experience one of His blessings too!