The Lord is good

I can still see the passionate look on her face. The intensity of her voice. As Karen told me of what God had done in her family's life, she said,"Jim, the Lord is SO good. He is SO good." Karen and her family had joined us for lunch at Rosa's Cafe yesterday. Her son knows my daughter at ACU and she was here in town with her family. Her other son, Caleb, a special needs teenager, was sitting between us as Karen went on and on about the goodness of God in her life. And right in front of Caleb she said, "I know the Lord has special plans for Caleb."

Early this morning I recalled that conversation. And then I began to recount the goodness of the Lord -- in just what I saw Him do this past weekend.

1. Susan had her "Christian girls" reunion at our house all weekend. Years ago they were in an afternoon class in Susan's home, taught by her mother. For the last three years they've hada reunion at different women's homes. This year it was Susan's turn to be the host. She worked so hard in preparing the house, the menus, and the activities. And God blessed the whole weekend. Some of them said they felt such peace in our house. I know it's because our housecleaner, Janie, prays over the house as she cleans. The Lord is so good.

2. Our Brazil 2006 team had a garage sale Friday afternoon and Saturday. God blessed us with so many items to sell - including a bunch of nice furniture. And though it was a lot of work, our team (adults and teenagers) had so much fun and joy working together. The Lord blessed us with $6,800! The Lord is so good.

3. Late Saturday morning, I felt the need to retreat for a few minutes and pray over the garage sale. I asked a couple volunteers to come with me to Highland's prayer room. Two of our Brazil team members came with me. I thought we were going to pray mainly that God would bless our garage sale financially. But God had another agenda. These women's prayers were focused primarily on our being witnesses for Jesus to all those coming to the sale to buy things. "Lord, let them see You in us as we treat our customers with love and grace."

After the prayer time, these grace-filled women both shared their testimonies of what God had done in their lives. What amazing stories they told about the healing and delivering power of Jesus Christ. The Lord is good.

4. Sunday morning at Highland was another joy-filled experience. Mike Cope preached on Matthew 7:7-13, pointing out the character of God -- how He loves us not because of our worth. And how He calls His disciples to love God and love others. Love is the marker of the Christian!

Then we had another great Financial Peace class -- hearing the testimony of one couple who told how the Lord really changed their financial situation in a positive direction when they realized that "their" money was actually God's money. We're merely stewards of the money entrusted to us by God. After the main session, we were dismissed to our small groups. This same couple led us in a very honest group discussion where we confessed some of our financial blunders and encouraged one another towards more responsible use of God's money. We're already seeing some victories in this area of finances. The Lord is good.

5. To top off the evening our daughter had about 15 college students (along with Karen and her family) over to our house for a birthday party for one of Shannon's buddies. What a joy it was to see all these college freshmen crammed into our kitchen and living room, playing with balloons, eating cake, laughing and taking what seemed like hundreds of digital photos of each other. Susan and I went to bed while they were still out in the living room, exhausted from the busy weekend but with such thankful hearts. The Lord is SO good.

This song ran through my mind this morning, "For You are good, for You are good, for You are good to me." Amen...and amen.

As you look back on this past weekend or past week, how have you seen the goodness of the Lord in your life?

With a thankful heart,

Jim