Moments of Grace After the Storm

I almost cried as I watched this video earlier. Such a beautiful reminder of God's grace and provision. Many people believe that God causes things like devastating tornadoes to happen to demonstrate His grace. I don't believe that. I believe He demonstrates His grace despite them.

With so much heartache surrounding the situation in Oklahoma City right now, I hope you are encouraged by this story as much as I was.

The Grace of Manna

This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’”

The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”

However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

-Exodus 16:16-21

Lately, I've been thinking about the concept of God's provision. All too often, I think we try to stockpile God's blessings or His grace in our lives so that we can then go into our garage full of manna whenever we feel like it.

What this attitude creates, though, is a dependence upon ourselves rather than a dependence upon God.

Have you ever noticed a propensity to want to have all the answers? Have you ever thought to yourself, "If only I knew where all this was headed." Maybe you've thought that about your writing career, or a personal struggle for answers in your life.

The thing is, God's provision is already miraculous. We deserve to starve out there in the dessert, but He has already made a way for grace. And yet, He never promises to give us enough manna for a month or a year or a lifetime.

He promises enough manna for today.

That's a powerful concept because it teaches us the need for a shift in focus. We have to stop looking for big-picture provision and realize that big-picture provision lies in the day to day meeting of our needs.

It's okay that we don't have a lifetime supply of manna because God is not going to run out of ability or resources. It's okay that we don't understand everything to come and that we only have enough spiritual and emotional food for today. Because this "today" is all we should be facing.

Have you ever found yourself, like the Israelites, trying to "stockpile" God's provision in your life? What can we do to be sure we put down the rotten manna and make way for the new promises each day holds?

Two Dog Bowls and One Seeking Heart

If you know me very well, you know I adore animals. I've always been an animal lover and even became a vegetarian at the age of five upon the sudden realization that meat comes from a different source than apples.

My love for my own dogs, though, is pretty difficult to put into words.

Sometimes I get the impression people think I'm a little over the top. I don't know what it is that gives me that feeling... perhaps it's the strange looks I get when I dress the dogs up for each holiday, the expression of panic most visitors get when they come over to my house and immediately get licked in the face with puppy kisses, or maybe it's the fact that Maddie sleeps on pillows like a human.

But the fact of the matter is, my dogs are like furry children to me.

Humor me for a second and let me tell you a little about their stories. Maddie was born at the Humane Society. God bless those people. Her mother and father were found wandering around on the side of the road, and her mother was pregnant at the time. Some gracious person picked them up and took them to the Humane Society. In other circumstances, the dogs could've easily been hit by a car or taken to the kill shelter. But they weren't.

All the puppies were adopted within weeks from the Humane Society, but Maddie was returned about five months later for tripping her elderly owner. That just so happened to be about the time my husband and I were looking for a puppy. And the rest is history.

A few months ago, though, we decided Maddie needed a friend. I'm a huge believer in animal rescue, as there is currently a terrible problem with pet overpopulation in America, so naturally I started researching dogs at various local rescues.

I didn't want a shelter dog (from a kill shelter) because shelter dogs have a stigma. They're not always vaccinated. They sometimes come with emotional baggage. And let's face it, kill shelters are terribly sad.

But then I found Schroeder, my handsome purebred Cocker Spaniel, and he changed all that. We took a chance on him, and oh, what a glorious "chance" it turned out to be.

So you can see how my dogs teach me daily about redemption. They came from awful situations, and now they're sleeping on Brookstone blankets. At least, when we're not looking.

That's where this blog fits in.

Maddie has this obsession with their food bowls. She wants their food to be in both bowls. If one bowl has food but the other doesn't, she will paw at the empty bowl until someone comes to fill it up. So the other day, there I am, sitting on the couch and watching TV, and Maddie walks over to her food bowls and proceeds to shamelessly paw at the empty one in an effort to get my attention. I told her, "Maddie, you have plenty of food in the other bowl. Eat out of that one." Reluctantly, she walked over to it and ate from it.

And in that moment, I thought to myself, how many times does God say to me, "Ashley, you have plenty of food in the other bowl. Eat out of that one."? Sometimes we get so distracted with what we think is the perfect means of sustenance that we miss out on the bigger bowl. We're so filled with discontent that it blinds us from seeing provision.

In what ways do you find yourself focusing on the empty bowl, and how has God called you to a bigger one He's already provided?