Gifts from God

God never ceases to amaze me the way He surprises us in the most unexpected of ways.

2007 was a particularly hard year for my family. We were dealt a crushing blow with Shannon's job that made our financial situation very difficult. We also had more health issues to deal with than any other time in our lives. It was a tough year.

Since money was so tight, we didn't get to treat our kids to much of anything. One weekend Shannon and I were talking about that, and we both decided we wanted to take the kids somewhere fun. Shannon's favorite place to go with the kids is the zoo. The weather was really nice that time of year for outdoor fun too, so we decided one way or another we would figure out a way to buy our family zoo tickets.

I sat down to go over our "budget" that next week, and I just didn't think we would be able to afford to do it. Nevertheless, we still had our hearts set on doing this with the boys.

Wednesday of that week, I went to the mailbox and there was a card for my family. There was no return address on it. I opened it up and on the card was this single word, "ENJOY!"...When I opened the card, four tickets for admission to the zoo fell out of it. I could not believe my eyes. We could not think of anyone that we had even told about our desire to go to the zoo. But here I was holding four tickets in my hand. We never found out who God used to send us the tickets, but we were so grateful to them for their generous gift.

God's love for us completely overwhelms me. He loves us so much. He not only provides for our needs, He also wants to give us the desires of our hearts. Zoo tickets were not necessary for our survival, but He wanted us to have fun. Just like we wanted to treat Matthew and Daniel because they are our children and we love them, God wanted to treat us. Sometimes, with all the struggles we are going through, we seem to forget that we are His children! He loves us!

So we went to the zoo, and my mom joined us there. It was the best time that we had ever had at the zoo. Walking into a place knowing that God sent you there is an amazing feeling. Shannon and I felt both humbled and blessed. Our kids were both overwhelmed as well. A gift straight from Heaven to our family. God said, "ENJOY!" yourselves. It doesn't get any better than that.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Here are a few pictures from that day.

Shannon and Me


Mammaw and the boys


The pandas were adorable!


The polar bears were ENJOYING themselves as well.

1 John 3:1
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!......"

Thank You, God, for the love you lavish on us all!