Thankful Thursday: Christmas Blessings and Monuments

It's Thursday and I'm thankful for Christmas blessings and monuments.

No, not the National Monument located in Washington, D.C. but the monuments of life, moments where God intervened on my behalf, times where my faith in God has been strengthened through His answering my prayers in ways I'd least expect.

I must give credit where credit is due, this whole "monuments" idea is inspired by a dear friend of mine named Emilie who during our conversation a few days ago, encouraged me to "set up monuments" and look back on it to remind myself of how God is providing for me. "That car God gave you," said Emilie. "Is a monument!"
Earlier this month, God made a way for me to get a brand new car without being able to make a down payment. It was a very significant monument for me because for the past five months, my beautiful car that I loved was acting ugly. The door locks would repeatedly unlock every time that I pressed the "lock" button. It would happen morning, noon and night to the point where I was not comfortable driving my car anywhere because it made me feel unsafe. Now in the meantime, I'd taken my car to the dealership at least twice a month but their maintenance crew could not pinpoint the problem much less resolve it. And I did everything I knew as a Christian who believes in God should do during those five months of frustration, worry and doubt that God was hearing me. I even claimed the victory in the Name of Jesus (Christ my Lord)! But nothing worked, not even prayer. Or so I thought. Little did I know that God was working behind the scenes to remedy this situation and at the beginning of this month, He did. God made a way for me to trade in my old car for a brand new one and yes, I truly did not have to put any money down. My family emphasized the significance of that reality saying, "That NEVER happens! It's unheard of that somebody buys a new car without making a down payment." But with God, ALL things are possible! He can make ANYTHING happen and for this great monument, I am forever grateful.

Not only am I grateful that God is faithful but I am encouraged. I will use this experience as a lesson point and that is when you're pushed against a wall (metaphorically speaking) and caught between a rock and a hard place (also metaphorically speaking) God has not forgotten you and He is perfectly capable of making a way for you out of no way. Only God can take a situation that appears to be hopeless to us and turn it around for our good, filling our hearts with His HOPE, our life with His LOVE and our minds with His PEACE. And that's exactly what God did for me this Christmas which leads me to my next point, Christmas blessings.

God doesn't wait until Christmas to bless His faithful followers, I promise you. But I call this part of my post "Christmas blessings" because it happened at Christmastime. My brother was in a car accident on the beltway earlier this month. A car rear-ended his vehicle. Thank God he was not hurt but his car was totaled. Now the back story on this situation is that our parents had told him several times to buy a brand new car because his current one which was about 8 years old, was worn out and making noises that caused concern. But my brother refused to buy a new car because he did not want to pay a new car note. So what does God allow to happen? He allows my brother to be in a car accident that totaled his car which resulted in the insurance company sending him a check which in turn, resulted in my brother using that check to make a down payment on a brand new car that he loves even better than his first vehicle!

In closing, I'd like to encourage you in the words of my friend Emilie, to make monuments and when times get tough or your faith falters, return to those monuments in your mind and remember how God provided for you in the past. It's like that song "Same God" by Tye Tribbett that says, "If He (God) did it before, He (God) can do it again!" So don't give up or give in. Trust God to turn it around for you. God is AWESOME and He knows exactly how to help you. Best part? He never changes so His promises are good for eternity. Clearly, if God provided for you in the past, He will provide for you in the present. Trust Him with your life. He loves you and will watch out for you! God has your back, not just today and tomorrow but forever. GOD is forever Faithful! :) Read 1 Corinthians 1:9.

Allow your mind to marinate on those words.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! :)