I returned to read the familiar passage yet again, having read it repeatedly for a number of day. The red words throughout the chapter stood out to me, but then, how could they not – – they are in red, the very words of Jesus in Matthew 6:

• “Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
• “When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything will reward you.”
• the words of the Lord’s prayer {{enough said by me}}
• “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life…”
• “Why do you have so little faith?”
• “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”

I have sat wondering how God was going to connect all these verses. And yesterday He did …

I sat at my desk, located by our back door, and watched the snow quietly falling. White and silent, it blanketed my world in a beauty I so love. And yes, the call finally came at 6:03am {{can you tell I was waiting 🙂 }} – a snow day! The first one for me!

On Sunday, Palm Sunday, it was my father-in-law’s 87th birthday. We went to visit him at the VA nursing home. We sat with him for over an hour. An hour, in which he never knew we were even there. A man, once vibrant and more active than anyone I have ever known, his mind stolen by Alzheimer’s. For the first time as we drove home, we spoke aloud the words we both were thinking, “Is it horrible to ask the Lord to take him home?” How can one ever make sense of such a disease?

Then the snow came. All winter I had waited for a good storm and a snow day. Just one I had longed for and it had not come. Now it is spring. The time of year when the grass begins to turn green and grows, the bulbs begin to peek out from the dirt, the trees bud, and the get warmer. And it snowed, bringing me the reminder …

He is always in control of the things we cannot change or do for ourselves.

Our Father in heaven knows. He knows what we need. Our lives are more valuable to Him than we can ever comprehend. He is intimately and perfectly in control of it all for each one of us.

The Lulu Tree is a ministry which is close to my heart. Our founder is traveling to both Uganda and Sierra Leone this Friday to visit and encourage our Mamas. This week we have seen the faithful provision of our God:

• of cameras
• of desperately needed vitamin supplements
• of Bibles and Bible storybooks
• of water filters
• of a chlorine generator
• of Gideon International New Testaments

And I am reminded of Palm Sunday …
All we need to do is come with our palms.
Our palms down before Him, that is.
He is a good, good Father.
Even when we don’t understand.
He’s perfect in all His ways.

Today I am joining … Testimony Tuesday and Unite and True Story and Titus 2 Tuesdays and Intentional Tuesday .