Before I say goodbye to November, here are a few experiences I had last month where I felt the hand of God in my life. Listening to William Bradford’s book, History of Plimoth Plantation

and my friend Audrey’s podcast about William Bradford  shows me God’s hand in the Pilgrims’ lives. The Pilgrims weren’t perfect, but neither is any other group of people. They did some great things. I’m so grateful for their sacrifices. That got me thinking more of how God moves through all of us. Here are few of my experiences

1. I went to the bank to withdraw some money early in November. It was a Saturday so it closed early, at 1 PM. I was in a hurry to withdraw some money and then get to a friend’s home for a social event. I got to the drive-thru portal with just minutes to spare so I was feeling flustered. Someone drove up behind me,  and parked behind me, waiting for his or her turn. That made me even more flustered. I wondered, “Why is that driver parking behind me when he or she can go to the empty lane and get service right away?? Now I feel even more flustered.”  Within seconds of driving away after finishing my withdrawal, I got a phone call. A friend,  who also lives in my church congregation, asked me if I had just been through the drive-thru. She said she was right behind me and found my driver’s license in the tube carrier thing. She told me that the bank teller had it now so I could go back and get it from her. I thanked her of course and promptly retrieved my license. So the person I had let myself be irritated with turned out to be my greatest help in that moment. God knew I was going to accidentally leave my license in that tube, so I feel he inspired her to drive up behind me so she could let me know and save me some stress and frustration. Who knows when the bank would have called me. It just makes me wonder, how many times do I let myself get irritated or frustrated by someone or something, when really, that person or thing turns out to be a great help? I could save stress by just treating all potential irritations as potential helps.

2. My husband found a $100 bill on his dresser. He asked me if I put it there. I said no. He didn’t leave it there. We don’t know how it got there, but I feel so blessed that we received it. It meant we were able to have more money instead of month at the end of November. We’ve been doing the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps. We got out of debt in June and have been doing Baby Step #3 so the budget is still pretty tight with all that money that went to the debt snowball now going to savings. I like to think an angel put it there.

3. For years, I’ve been wanting to  read aloud picture books and play more games as part of our homeschooling routine with my children. I started out the plan to play the games in Utah before we moved. Then here in AZ I attempted to do it on Fridays. That didn’t last long. These kids didn’t want to play games! Go figure!

Well, I was recently given an opportunity to have other children in my home for part of our schooltime. As I thought about what to do, for my “lesson plan” I realized, hey, we can do what I’ve been struggling to do with my own kids, over the years. That is, read at least one picture book a day to ALL of them and play educational board and card games!

I read aloud chapter books every day, that’s been a decade-long or more habit, but the picture book thing for all of them wasn’t a daily habit yet. I’ve just been reading aloud picture books at bedtime to my youngest, my baby, who is ten. He’s my baby but he’s growing up! I’m so glad he actually likes being read to.  He actually askes for it. That melts my heart! The other kids, thirteen and fifteen, however, don’t ask for it like he does at bedtime but will cooperate with me if I insist we do it for school. The trick has been remembering to do it!

I kept forgetting to have it be part of our morning time school routine. But now with these other kids coming over, I remember. I love playing games and reading aloud picture books! I could do it all day! It’s especially fun if I can have the picture book relate to the game. Like one of these days, after Christmas, I’m going to read them the picture book about Monopoly

and then play it even though I loathe that game! I heard there’s a 30 minute version of Monopoly so I can handle that. That will be for our history day. We do language arts on Mondays, math on Tuesdays, history/geography on Wednesdays and science or art and music on Fridays. I feel God has been watching over me, knew the desires of my heart, and worked out how to make it happen in my life.  I look forward to seeing God work out my other righteous desires. How has God been working in your life?