Receiving Gifts

It is so easy to miss out on the gifts that are coming straight from the hand of the Father if we are not looking for it. The past month has been full of great and small gifts. Literally every day...

I had an unexpected amount of charges that I had to pay for this past week on my car...
... an Oil Change which added up to $250 worth of additional maintenance fees. Ugh.
... and a Registration Renewal, Smog Check to add to the list.
I was feeling a bit overwhelmed because my money is now finite having received my last paycheck from Biola last week.
I have enough to get me through the next 6 weeks or so of bills and living costs, but after that, I am broke.
Money is tiiiight and I am feeling it.
But sure enough, God provided.
Just today, I got a $300 check in the mail from family to cover the costs.

The stories continue...
Just a few weeks ago, a friend invited me to San Diego to join them on their vacation.
Unexpectedly, I was able to enjoy an inexpensive little vaca in my unemployed time off and it was so refreshing and good.
As we were at the outlet mall, we were in the changing rooms of the Banana Republic outlet (dangerous, very dangerous).
I was definitely not planning on buying anything, but thought I would go ahead and try stuff on for fun.
After trying on two beautiful dresses, my friends would not let me pass it up.
It was a buy one, get one free deal that day.
So they insisted on paying for these two dresses for me just as a gift.
No strings attached.
What?! Who does that? I am still blown away by their unsolicited generosity.

As I sit here and consider all the ways that God has lavished His good gifts on me in the past few weeks, I am overwhelmed...
He's provided a roof over my head, a room of my own, and weekly meals...
A borrowed laptop to use during the summer while I am looking for jobs...
Friends offering to pay for meals or fun summer activities...
Living with beautiful children that truly give me so much joy....
Living with an amazing woman who truly is a mentor and inspiration to me everyday...
Free gospel/salsa piano workshops to expand my keyboard skills and a borrowed keyboard to practice on...
Opportunities to lead worship and use my gifts for ministry within the church.
A free mattress and box spring...
Free storage for all of my stuff...
He's deepening current relationships...
Blessing me with new relationships...
Healing past relationships...
Giving me vision for future ministry...
And a heart for the neighborhood that our church is moving into in the coming weeks.
The list goes on...

How can I deny God's hand at work all around me?
It's so easy to zoom in on those one or two things that still seem to so intangible and beyond our reach, but miss out on the many things which God is doing all around us.
So as I sit here with still so many unanswered questions about the future, God continues to remind me, "I got you, Michelle. Don't you see that I got you?"

"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:31-34

I am learning to receive like a poor man, yet one who is inherently rich in Him.
May my life be a testimony one day that says, "God did it. He made the impossible possible. Come and see that the Lord is good."