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Since I’ve been out of work, we don’t have dental insurance. Thankfully God had made provision for us to pay for a wisdom tooth I needed to have extracted a few weeks back.

We’ve known for a while my daughter needed all of hers removed. Since they were not bothering her, and it was going to be so expensive, we decided to see if we could wait until next summer. By that time, we’d be on my wife’s insurance.

Well, last week her teeth started bothering her. So we talked about it and prayed about and basically concluded we’d go forward with it now, and trust God to provide.

Now to finish this story I have to tell a side story.

About 3 months ago we got some official looking mail from a local Clerk of Court describing a class action lawsuit. Apparently a company we had a loan through several years back had some issues with how loans were handled, and some people got some lawyers and sued them in a class action lawsuit, whatever that is. Anyway, we got a letter from the court that said we were listed as a plaintiff, and we had to do nothing, but we may eligible for a part of the settlement. To be eligible, we didn’t need to do anything. If we wished to withdraw as a plaintiff, we could.

So we read it over and checked it out and it was legitimate. So we figured we’d stay in it- figuring we might get enough for dinner or something. I filed the letter away and promptly forgot about it.

Fast forward to today. I went to the dentist for a follow-up, and told him my daughter needed her wisdom teeth out. The dentist made an appointment to evaluate her this coming Monday. We’d have to draw on our dwindling savings, but if it’s what is needed, like I said, we would place our faith in God to provide, not our savings.

So I get home, and I’m telling my wife and daughter about the appointment. My daughter checked the mail. An envelope came in from that same Clerk of Court.

It was the settlement check.

More than enough to cover my daughters tooth extraction.

I just started crying. How amazing is our God? How great are His blessings.

Heavenly Father I praise Your Holy Name. I cried out to you in time of need and You made provision sufficient, though I do not deserve such mercy and compassion. Holy God I praise Your name, Most High Heavenly Father.

Please take a moment to watch and this and rejoice with me, praising God for His mercy and provision. How great is our God!

One of my favorite authors, John Eldredge, updated his blog with a post titled “Blog Shame.” He compares not blogging for a while to not calling your parents for a while…. the longer you go without it, the harder it is to do it. I can associate with that.

I don’t blog here often, as most of my blogging efforts are focused on AgapeModels.com, a modeling-ministry website. And I’ve found that for just the day-to-day stuff, I like using Facebook. Still- Facebook got a bit old. How many times can you say “I’m at work” or “Hey, there’s a squirrel?”

Then one day I decided to simply praise the Lord for a Facebook entry. I don’t recall what it was…. just something short like “Thanks for the beautiful sunset, Lord!”

And that got me hooked.

Now, instead of posting what type of cereal I had for breakfast or the color of the car that passed me in traffic, I turn whatever I post into a praise. A short little conversation with God.

Not because God needs a Facebook post…. I just figure I should use whatever means I can to praise Him- and share that praise with others.

So all this rambling is getting to this…. if I could be so bold, John…. maybe don’t think of blogging as something you do for readers, a chore to be accomplished. Just talk to the Lord. Like in “Walking with God“. Only every day, as it comes to you. Sometimes seeing how others talk to the Lord- and hear from Him- can be a transformational witness. I can testify to that- “WwG” really made an impact on me, and my daily walk.

Might as well practice what I preach!

Lord, thanks for John and his ministry. His writing about You has really been a blessing in my walk with You, Father.

And thanks for that sunrise, Lord- wow! The way you had the pinks and oranges of the sun’s rays alongside the purples and grays of the clouds…. it was if the entire sky was singing out to You Lord! And to set the background music on the radio to “Open the Eyes of My Heart” moved me tears. That is what I needed this morning- it was like getting a hug. Thank You Father.

I saw a commentary today on CNN titled “Why we lost faith in Wall Street — and what to do”, written by John C. Bogle. It talks about the problems in that financial market, causes, and ways to deal with it.

Now, I am not going to say that prudent management of the resources God has given you is not a wise thing to do. We are called to be good stewards of all God has blessed us with. Certainly, there are sound Biblical guidelines for how we should use those blessings to honor God. So i am not preaching against wealth.

However, I do call into question where we place our faith. Markets will fail. Money is uncertain. We live in a fallen world, and simply put, bad things happen.

Yet if we put our faith in Christ, and in His Lordship, we will not ever have to worry.

No, it doesn’t create an immunity from financial failure. It’s no guarantee of fortune. Yet the blessing we receive from that relationship will never cease, never fail.

Because it’s not about us, as Rick Warren states so clearly in the opening line of “A Purpose Driven Life”. It’s about God’s glory. His plan is perfect. I urge you, put your faith there.

Have you ever looked around you? Have you really seen those people to your left and right? Did you ever think that God desperately loves them, just as He does you?

Sometimes? Rarely? Never?

Yeah, me too….

Yet I’ve found when you ask God to… well, “Give me your eyes”, He will. And you’ll see the world quite differently. Like Neo in The Matrix. The world is no longer abstract. You see it in a whole new way.

It is a battleground. A place where people need rescue.

Lord, give me Your eyes.

And thanks that Your eyes are on me.

I’ve grown quite weary of the political season. I know, I know. It’s important. It’s not something to just ignore. It effects all of us.

Still- I can’t help but look at it and think it’s all just more of the same. McCain. Obama. Biden. Palin. Bush, Kerry, Gore, Clinton, Dole….. in the end, it’s all folks who are career politicians and I can’t help walking away from the whole thing thinking “I trust none of them.” because I don’t.

I guess the whole thing would be worthy of despair, except for one thing. One very, very important thing.

I know Who places people in authority. I know Who’s Hands they’ve gone through to get where they are.

Now there is a big difference between “annointed” and “allowed”. But all are ordained according to His plan.

So be careful who you put your faith in. If he wears a tie and participates in debates…. might be the wrong place to put your faith.

A picture is certainly worth a thousand words. I was reading a story at CNN.com about the tragic earthquake in China. As I scrolled through the pictures, I was struck by this photo of a man carrying his mother in a basket, strapped to his back.

I don’t know any facts about the photo other than what you see in the screenshot. But it just struck me how this so lovingly shows a man honoring his mother. They are both weary, and downcast. I can’t imagine the tragedy they have endured, which could include loss of family, home and possessions.

Yet this man sacrificailly chooses to carry his mother to safety.

Exodus 20:12 says “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”

It is a Commandment with a promise from God.

I do not know this man, his name, his mother’s name. I do not know if they know God, though I pray that they do. Yet seeing this picture brought me to tears, to lift this man and his mother up in prayer before the Lord. This man chooses honor his mother. God bless him.

And I urge you, if you don’t already know God as your Heavenly Father, to open your heart to Him.