Christmas Blogsings

It made me feel like He was planting a seed in my kids. They know we made this choice to follow what we felt like God was calling us to do. They have had to hear us say "no" to going to restaurants, movies, or buying toys. They have watched as we got rid of cable and our cell phones. But now they will always know that God can be trusted. He may ask us to give up a few things, but He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ask or imagine!

Merry Christmas!
The Carroll family had some amazing surprises this Christmas. They seemed to be designed to remind us that God loves us and He cares about the specifics of our lives!
We were planning on a pretty slim Christmas this year. I had already prepped the kids that their grandparents would buy them a few presents, but Mommy and Daddy wouldn't be able to this year.
We had a plan that we would spend the night at Grandma's so that when they woke up on Christmas morning their would be something under the tree because I didn't want them to run out to nothing!
Well, God blew our minds. He humbled us and showed me not only how much He loves me, but how much He loves my kids and can provide for them too! I know that is a no brainer, but it has been my biggest struggling as we live by faith. I can handle not getting certain things, but I start to fear that my kids won't get what they need.It began with an amazing answer to prayer and a generous donation of 50 presents to our church. We were able to bless ALL of our Sunday school kids, most of which were going to have a slim Christmas themselves.
Then we got some financial donations which helped us out a lot. Josh and I took a little of that money and got some stocking stuffers for the kids. Every year we decorate stockings as a family tradition. I was happy we were able to fill them!
Here's where it got crazy!!! I was thankful for what God had done already. I felt like He had answered prayer and worked everything out so that our kids would have a great Christmas!
Well then Christmas Eve came. There was a knock at our door and when we opened it there was a family standing there with their arms full of gifts. I thought for sure they were at the wrong house. Surely they were supposed to be at one of the neighbors who were really struggling! But the gifts had my kids names on them! I asked who the gifts were from and all I was told was "Merry Christmas!" I tried again by asking "Are you from a church?" Again I was told kindly "Merry Christmas!" I was not going to get anything out of this family! :)
WHOEVER had blessed us (I stress whoever because it is still driving me crazy not knowing) had truly gone above and beyond. The gifts were so personal and encouraging! They were things my kids really wanted or really needed. They were the right sizes, the right styles. Down to the specifics it was a perfect gift. It was so encouraging reminding me yet again that God cares about the small specifics. On top all that they gave Josh and I a date night complete with baby sitting money. Gift cards, and even a basket that contained a family movie night with gift cards for pizza and movies, a blanket and a game. My daughter was in tears along with her Dad and I just knowing God had done that for her. I had a hard time accepting it knowing that their were people who needed it more than us. At one point I said "We need to give some of this away!" Jackson looked at me like I was crazy and my husband gently told me to let the kids enjoy their blessing. :)
Well we spent the rest of the day totally taken aback when ANOTHER surprise knock came. It was a sweet family from our church. They had spent the time and money to pick out some incredible presents for my kids. Again they were things my kids LOVED. It was a huge bag and the kids just started screaming "NOWAY!" Here I had prepped them for a slim Christmas and God went above and beyond.
It made me feel like He was planting a seed in my kids. They know we made this choice to follow what we felt like God was calling us to do. They have had to hear us say "no" to going to restaurants, movies, or buying toys. They have watched as we got rid of cable and our cell phones. But now they will always know that God can be trusted. He may ask us to give up a few things, but He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ask or imagine! And He does bless you when you are trying to do His will sometimes materially, sometimes through growth, sometimes we probably won't see or understand the blessing until we are in heaven, but He us trustworthy!