...the little unexpected blessings

over the last few weeks, I have waited...

God is very clear to me that He will provide all my needs...
but I must wait expectantly...
& with a thankful heart...
for His plans to be revealed...

the last several months have been a time of growth...
which is never easy, and at times, quite painful...
as I become more and more aware of my failures...
the folly of my actions and their consequences...

the more I learn about my mistakes and shortcomings...
the more I see the need for further changes...
which could lead me into a severe depression, as it did last summer...
and with only a promise of a solution...
and a real deadline looming...
I'm learning that I must fight the fear with trust...

NOT an easy thing, when all supply seems to have failed...

but during these last few weeks, some quiet...
unexpected, but good, things have happened...
things that have truly blessed me...
and given me hope & the courage to see this through...

first, there was the happy discovery...
that my mortgage payment would "skip" November...
then there was my car insurance premium that dropped by $145...
then, the utility bill for November, that was only $86...
[it's usually $106, reduced from $130...
due to their "low income" plan I qualified for...]

last week, I got my city utility bill...
[water, sewer, garbage, garden refuse]
it was only $89 for November...
it was $160 in October & $200 during the summer months...

I can't remember the last time it was so low...

it's as if God is stretching out my available funds...

I went grocery shopping on Saturday...

and though I couldn't afford a turkey [in any form...]
or any of my favorite seasonal delights...
ie eggnog, sigh...

I found a number of things I really needed...
either half-price or on sale...
most were not advertised...
so if I hadn't been "hunting"...
I wouldn't have found them...
[I have to admit, I do enjoy the "hunt"]

I should mention here that I had intended to go on Friday...
but was told to "wait"...
who knows what the difference in one day was...
I just know that it was a fruitful trip...
[and the last one for quite a while...]

the quietest blessing came this morning...

I'd been at a Renaissance group rehearsal last night...
I don't sing in every piece, since I'm the newest singer...
[BTW, just listening to the 4 of them sing the Byrd, "O Magnum..."
is a blessing all on it's own... pure purple velvet...]

so while the others were rehearsing...
[some 4 part pieces that they've done before...]
I was visiting with Mr GT ...
& enjoying some of his freshly squeezed OJ in my tea...
[I do SO love the pulp, but most OJ is too acid for me...]

I told him how I had gotten some low-acid OJ at half price...
but couldn't afford the oranges themselves, [they're never ripe anyway...]
so he offered me some of the oranges he "gleans" from his clients...
and I offered him some of my Meyer lemons...
[it's a "country thing", trading harvest bounty...]

we agreed to "a few oranges..."& "just a few lemons[6-12]"...
[citrus stores well in a cold place, not a warm house or apartment...]
the oranges & lemons are just starting to get ripe now...
and will be ripening on trees into March...

later, when I returned to the rehearsal from the restroom...
there was a bag with 6 oranges by my chair...



this morning, I peeled one for breakfast...
tossing the peel into my bedroom trash can...
it was SO ripe, juicy, sweet & mild...
the perfect orange for my sensitive system...

it also had 4 seeds, which I saved & planted...
placing the pot on a sunny window sill in my kitchen...
next to the grapefruit seedlings from last summer...
then, when I went back into my bedroom...
I was greeted with the fragrant scent from the orange peel in the trash...
a double blessing...

and that's the way it's been going lately...

little blessings, that keep blessing...

thanks again to all of you who have been...
and still are, praying for me...
you are also part of those "little blessings"...
and I pray that God will richly bless all of you...
in all you do, for your kind & caring spirits...

God is SO good, all the time...