Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Three Things

I've been loosely following this blog. The author's name is Brin and she describes herself as a 20-something single Christian gal, who left her hectic city life behind for Freeman House -a rambling old fixer-upper in the heart of a small town that time forgot. She invites readers to join her as she renovates and gardens, cooks and bakes, sews and knits, travels and writes, and learns and laughs her way through one messy, thrilling, blessed life.

In November she lost her job and she's fallen on tough times. Her search for employment has been unsuccessful and it was painful to read about her auction were she sold off her personal items in order to pay her back taxes. She sold her vehicle. Her heirlooms. At one point she had no power.

It seemed she was days away from being destitute when this happened: "A lady who owns a building downtown dropped in.

I want you to come see this, she said. Be at my shop at one o'clock.

I wanted to argue but didn't. At one o'clock, I walked past seven houses, the old jail, the railroad tracks, and past two shops into her building.

I just had the floors waxed, she said. Then, I want you to take the front of this building an open a little bakery.

We smiled at each other and then I said, slowly... thankfully... Thanks. Thank you. But I can't afford to.

Yes, you can, she said. I only want $50 a month rent. And you can paint or do whatever you need to do.

We talked for two hours. And by the time I'd walked home after three o'clock, we'd made a tentative deal."

She summed it up by saying, "This means that everything I've lost made room for the thing I wanted most."

And presto - she got her happy ending. She opened the cutest little sweet shop/bakery two weeks after the space was offered to her and her posts were filled with joy.

BUT WAIT!

Yesterday she wrote this:

"The bakery's been closed for a week now. Last Tuesday as I was happily serving coffee and selling muffins, the Health Department walked in. Someone had called them, then drove over 20 miles to file a formal complaint against henrybella's. The inspector who came through apologized over and over again, then said our 1901 building simply wasn't up to code as it pertained to sinks. Yeah. The inspector sighed as she delivered the verdict: I had to give away the rest of the food, shut it down and lock the doors. It broke my heart."

She was gnashing her teeth in despair when someone directed her to this post about three things. If you're too lazy to click that link, I'll copy and paste the first part for you:

In the midst of their trial God told Israel to do three things: “Fear not. Stand still. See the salvation of the Lord.” His call to Israel was, “I am going to fight for you. You’re simply to hold your peace. Just be quiet, and put everything in my hands. Right now, I’m doing a work in the supernatural realm. Everything is under my control. So, don’t panic. Trust that I’m fighting the devil. This battle is not yours” (see Exodus 14:13-14).

So, Brin put everything in God's hands. And you know what happened?
This:
The building's owner was here when it all happened and was deeply outraged. She immediately called a contractor and told them to get their men here to make necessary changes. In a week, a commercial kitchen's been added at NO COST to me. Commercial equipment, including a stainless steel monster sink, a stove, bakery tables and shelves have all been donated. As in, given.


Is that not a great story?

I love the Three Things:
1. Fear not.
2. Stand still.
3. See the salvation of the Lord.

or: Just be quiet, and put everything in His hands.

Don't you just love the internet?
I do.
I think God created it and said it was good. Like flowers and baby kittens.

Three things I am thankful for:
1. The friends who emailed me regarding yesterday's drama queen prayer post. I have the best readers in the whole entire world. Thank you, thank you, thank you, friends. Know that your messages were received as gifts.

2. I'm thankful for our God. He says this: "Don’t panic. Trust that I’m fighting the devil. This battle is not yours." That is worth remembering. This battle is not mine. I don't have to panic. I'm prone to panic sometimes.

3. Know what? It's snowing again. And I've just about had it with winter. I am thankful that we are at the veriest tale end of this abonimal season (ha, I almost typed "abdominal" season). Any second now, spring will get sprunged.

Shalom,

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been following her blog too now for months...I love it.
Happy Thursday Jane!
Love september

Anonymous said...

I like your blog. Just an aside though, it's abominable not abonimal

Jane said...

I knew I should have done a spell check before I hit the publish button.

Thanks anonymous.

Now that I see the correct spelling I realize that I've always slurred that word.

Christine Lindsay said...

This story is so encouraging to me too, when I don't know which way to go--job-wise, money-wise, husband's health-wise, you name it. But God has a plan. Stand still and don't be afraid.