Have you ever had an overwhelming feeling to just drop to your knees and thank God for something? Often when I see the hand of God work in my life, that is how I feel. I get this huge feeling of gratitude and just want to, right then and there, drop to my knees and thank Him. Often, it is not possible to do this as I’m in a public setting, or in a place that is just not conducive but I make a mental note to remember to kneel and thank Him for his goodness to me at a later time.
This morning, I was in my own home and by my own bed and I knelt down and thanked God for what He did for me following hurricane Irma. Before the storm my oldest daughter and her dad had the generator set up on the back porch. When we lost power during the storm, we were set with lights and electricity to keep many things including the pump running.
The day after Hurricane Irma the girls, my grandson and son-in-law came and spent a day cleaning debris so we could get out of our house. A huge oak had fallen on the roof putting holes in the shingles and sprawled over the doorways such that we could hardly get out of our home. Also, with the help of a neighbor, they cleared the doorways and removed a part of the roofed tree. When the neighbor left, the kids used a tractor to push and pull limbs and stumps away. Then that afternoon, another neighbor brought a John Deere tractor and my children helped those neighbors clear things even more. It was a long day for everyone and I was so indebted to each for all of their hard work and the interesting thing was, I did not ask for any of their graciousness! So, already God had met my needs before the storm, during the storm and put in place a team of 7 to help me get things back to normal. God was not finished blessing though. Less than a week after the storm, the Austin, Texas team came by with a JEA representative to restore power and check downed lines. While they were in my yard, they used their resources to remove a huge and I do mean huge pine tree that was precariously hanging in between the branches of other trees. It was dangerous and certainly would have cost upwards $600-$1,000 to have removed. Hurricane Irma had left it dangling in the sky far above the barn and pump system. What a huge ordeal. But it was the Austin, Texas team along with a JEA representative from my own city of Jacksonville who brought it to the ground. All I could do was thank them and thank God for that blessing. It was so large, I felt it would probably be on the ground to rot away. As the Texas guys drove away, one lone voice said, “Ma’am from this day forward speak well of Texas.” I promised I would.
Having a yard full of trees during a hurricane always brings clean-up and so just removing two huge trees was not enough for what Irma left behind. While the chickens were fine after the storm, another huge pine tree had fallen straight down their run destroying their play area. Before the day was done, a team from Celebration Church and Manna Fellowship of North Carolina had cleared not only the run for the chickens, repaired the roofing but also cut away that huge tree dropped by the Austin crew. Wow! God had blessed yet again!
The Celebration-Manna team raked the yard, cut 5 trees and hauled away huge stumps for city pick-up and before driving away, shared God’s love with me with the presentation of a signed Bible. Now that is an example of the hands and feet of Jesus.
I tried to pay them for their services but one lady on the serve team said, “No ma’am, this is not your day to bless others except to just be yourself and accept our love today”. Wow! Indeed it was my day to be blessed and I was so very blessed by their hands-on care.
This morning as I knelt thanking God for His goodness to me, I was prompted to think of ways that I could myself be a blessing to someone else. Maybe they too would be encouraged to drop to their knees in thanks for all God would be doing in their lives.
Hurricane Irma frightened me. She tore through our city with great fervor and rage but I’m so thankful for the response of the people of God because of her fury. It goes to show how God works through His people. Thankful-
Josie-(aka-Nan)
