Monday Morning Musings. Grateful.

A few years ago, on the morning of Friday, March 13, 2016,  I wrote a blog post about frustrations. On that same morning I had posted this quote from A. W. Tozer to my Facebook page:

"God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which he must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves."

Just a few days after the post about frustration, I wrote another post, this one about God's timing. Here's part of what I wrote then:

On Saturday, just 17 days short of one year since we signed the listing agreement, we signed an agreement to sell our house. 

The house was shown on Friday, and on Friday afternoon we received and accepted a verbal offer. On Saturday it became "official".  And "real".

 It's overwhelming! And we're still a little numb. After months of praying and waiting, we have our answer. And in many ways, it's hard to believe it's real. 

But it is!

And our God, who is able to do "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:18), has done exactly that, and we are set to close in just 45 short days.

Every year when March 13 rolls around, I remember. Remember that God answers prayer. That He answers in His time, and not in mine. A lot happened quickly in the weeks after that Friday afternoon showing. We signed the contract to sell our house. We spent hours looking for the right house here in Spartanburg. And just when it seemed the one we wanted was no longer available, suddenly it was back on the market again! That made our decision very easy, since this house was our favorite of the ones we had looked at.

We packed. We unpacked. Then we went on that whirlwind trip around the country for Al's work. We returned home, feeling a lot like we were moving in all over again.

When I look back on that year, I remember it as a year of transition. Of time with friends. Of making new friends. Above all I remember it as a year of gratitude! Of course, it ended much differently than we might have anticipated - that was the "stroke year" - but even with all that, still I am grateful.

Grateful that God's timing is perfect. Grateful that even through our frustrations and our impatience, He knew what we needed and when we needed it. Grateful for the way He has provided all our needs.  Grateful that even when life took a strange turn at the end of that year, God provided our needs then too.

Just so grateful.

"I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together."  (Psalm 34:1,3 NASB)