Blessing from Above.

Let me start off by saying God is Ahh-mazing.  Every single day I am learning new things about Him, myself, and the world we live in.  Every day I am challenged, I am strengthened, I am blessed because Jesus is in my life.  Even through the rough times, through the conflicts God and His love is so much bigger.  Today as a team we came together and talked through things that happened the day before, we shared our hearts, we listened to one another, we encouraged one another, and at the end we came before the Lord and praised Him for who He is and the way that He is shaping our hearts.  We also wanted to spend quality time together as it has been go-go-go since we have landed in Thailand.  We decided to visit a cafe that is run by a family who is working to reach out to different Asian cultures here in Pattaya.  We walked for an hour in the blazing sun, all of us were tired, hungry, and were *dreading* the walk back home. I even said "Oh maybe they will be at the cafe and will feel pity on us and give us ride back", I was making a joke, completely sure that it was out of the question. We had never met the lady who owned the cafe, we had only worked with her husband a couple times, and without even knowing who we were she blessed us so much.  A big part of the cafe is their bakery, and secretly we all wanted dessert but did not have the money to spend.   As we are finishing our meal she randomly comes with two big slices of cake, insisting that we much taste test her carrot cake!  Then she gives me a bottle of water for free, and then she gives Marcus a bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies!  We were all so pleasantly shocked by her generosity and hospitality!  As we were outside, lathering on the sun screen, she comes out with two more bags of chocolate chip cookies for us!  Now we were really feeling like the generosity was going way beyond normal, we kept thanking her and thanking her, smiling, unsure of what else we could do to express our gratitude.  Now finally, we were getting ready to actually leave and as we start walking away she runs out the door with three loaves of homemade banana bread!  Like come on.  I gave her a hug and almost started to cry because I was just completely in awe of her generosity and Gods blessing to us through her!  And for the grand finale... as we walked a few short feet from the cafe, her husband who we know, pulls up and tells us to hop in his truck because he is going to give us a ride home.  Tears, the tears are going to come,  I feel completely humbled because we are so undeserving of all of these gifts, yet God chooses to bless us.  Wow. God is just incredible.  He loves to surprise us, He loves to show His love for us and to use other people to do it.  In simple things like today, I feel God's love washing over me like a tidal wave.  If something so small can make us rejoice in God, then how much more should we praise and worship Him for the sacrifice He made of sending His son Jesus to die a death on the cross for our sins?  We should give Him all the glory, all of the honor, all of the praise, we should dedicate our lives to Him because He is so majestic, so incredibly amazing,  He is everything.  Not only do I feel just more in love with Jesus, I am challenged to be generous with all that the Lord gives to me.  Most people say the more God blesses us with the more we should bless others, when actually no matter what circumstances that life throws at us, we should continue to serve, continue to bless, and continue to give freely and generously to others.  It is an act of obedience towards God, and when you listen to Him, when you bless another, it could be just the encouragement they need to get them through the day or to strengthen their faith, or challenge them to do the same.  When we give freely of what God has given to us it is a win-win situation.  Victory is the Lords and the devil is defeated! 

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

"Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed."