The Lord's Storehouses Overflowed

Generosity: liberality in giving or willingness to give

I Corinthians 9:7 "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

I thought I had almost come to fully understanding how vital the Body of Christ is to our lives -- spiritually and physically. My understanding soared by leaps and bounds this past Saturday. The ladies of GBC (our church) threw me a surprise baby shower, and yes Matt knew from the very beginning. These women gave above and beyond anything I could have imagined, especially since I have only been here since September. Alot of them I have only met a few times, and some listed on the "contributors" card I have not really met at all! They have not hesitated to take Matt and I under their wings providing for our needs as new parents both spiritually and physically. Lord, bless these women for letting the storehouses You've given them abundantly overflow into our's!

And I thought secretly praying for a baby shower was selfish and silly...

Diane had the idea a couple months ago to give us a shower, but because her son was coming home from Afghanistan she could not do both. So she called up Anna and Sarah, two ladies in our mentor group, to plan it all and serve as the hostesses. Anna got to take the contributions and have a hay day with our registry, BIG items and lots of clothes! Boy, has she got excellent taste -- all of the clothing is what I would have picked! Sarah did the devotional, a good reminder to be godly parents and ignore the world's advice.

Cheryl (who offered to give me a shower before she knew about this one), Deborah, Doreen, and Karen (the avid picture-taker and sower of smiles galore!)

Laura, Lois (who offered her beautiful home), and Robin (I'm amazed at how well Robin has me pegged in just the short amount of time we've had with each other. It is quite comforting to know she knows my personality so well since she is my Plan B labor/delivery coach!)

Ruth, the cute and scrumptious cake, and the load of gifts

The gifts we were BLESSED with! The two white small print blankets were handmade/aceented. The bottom one even has "Judah 2006" embroidered on it! And couldn't you just eat up a little boy in those three pants outfits??? I almost got teary when I opened the sweater vest and kakhis! Items not shown are things like our baby book, a beautiful Noah's ark frame, our high-tech nursery monitor, an infant carrier (the kind you strap on to yourself), books and stuffed animals (some interactive), excellent brand of nursing pads, etc., and apparently a Target gift card is coming with further contributions!

And if that weren't enough...as I was working on this post, Karen called me. She said she had just talked with her brother who is getting rid of some nursery furniture just to get it out of their house. Guess what the LAST big priced item we were working on getting was? A glider and ottoman. Guess what Karen was offering us? Yep. A glider and ottoman. No one in their family wants this nice wood-toned blue slip-covered glider and ottoman. Her brother asked if she knew anyone that might need one. She immediately called us up. It is completely free to us. It is not a loaner. It is our to keep for as long as we want it, even after we move to Maryland.

Lord, "thank you" is just a dumb phrase now. Remember my 37 Weeks post? Yeah...even more we sing at the top of our lungs...

Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise! We have done nothing to deserve any of this. God is in the business of showing Matt and I His unending and abundant goodness...because HE wants to show it, not because we have asked for it or deserved it.

Would all of my readers just take a moment and praise God with us...and ask Him to bless the socks off of the GBC congregation for being God's instruments of provision?!?