Wherever He Leads: January 2010

Let me just preface this story by saying that He has ALWAYS been faithful, but this story that’s unfolded over the past few weeks in my life has been a constant reminder of the Lord’s faithfulness and provision.

I am getting through nursing school on student loans. Not the ideal situation, in my opinion, but I am so thankful for them! The first year I borrowed more than enough money, not knowing exactly how much I would need. When it came time to take out loans for the last year of nursing school, I ended up borrowing less than the year before. The thing I didn’t take into consideration was all of the extra costs involved with graduation…licensure…NCLEX prep course….etc.

The first day of 4th semester rolls around, and I am actually excited to be there! A chance to start fresh with classes….a chance to be more organized…a chance to gain more confidence in the hospital…a chance to continue my training for whatever type of nursing the Lord is preparing me to do. My excitement quickly faded when we were presented with an itemized list of the extra costs for graduation.

My. Heart. Sank.

When it comes to money, I have a lot of fear. I don’t like to spend money. If I feel I don’t have enough, I get anxious…definitely not trusting the Lord. So for the next two weeks, I worried….plain and simple. The thought of all the checks I would soon be writing was never far from my mind.

Then, literally, out of the blue I get an email from the school saying money was being deposited into my account. I was confused because I already received the same email at the beginning of January when my loans went through. I read the email and when I got to the end, I noticed that there was, indeed, more being deposited into my account. PRETTY MUCH THE EXACT AMOUNT OF THE EXTRA COSTS INVOLVED WITH GRADUATING!!! I have NO idea where it came from, but I am thankful. SO thankful! Then tonight I received another email saying I received another scholarship I was not expecting.

It’s been a humbling experience for me.

In that time of worry when I received the first unexpected gift, I was reminded of this passage of Scripture in Matthew 6:

²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

In that time of worry, the Lord reminded me of His GREAT faithfulness.

And in that time of worry, He worked a miracle in my heart, and I saw in a tangible and extremely meaningful way to me that He is Jehovah Jireh…God, my Provider!

I’m so thankful for the little (and big!) reminders in my life that He is ALWAYS there…He ALWAYS takes care of His children!

Right after Jenny finished finals, the two of us hopped on a plane and spent a few days exploring NYC. We both needed a getaway after the semester that we had. Jenny planned the entire trip and did a great job. I’m not sure there was ANYTHING else we could have squeezed in with the amount of time we were there.

Here are a few pics to highlight the best parts of the trip (in my opinion)…

The Big Apple Circus! A carriage ride through Central Park. The driver totally knew we were tourists and charged us $20 more for this ride than what he was supposed to charge. Central Park! One of my very favorite parts of the trip…I could probably spend several days there. You can’t see the sign very well, but this is at the zoo. I got to see a PUFFIN! Oh…and they had a black cow in their zoo…go figure!!Lunch at the Boathouse in Central Park! Mary Poppins on Broadway. SO GOOD!!! Snow….lots and lots of snow! At this point we still liked it. When we woke up the next morning to SEVERAL inches all over the ground and less than adequate footwear in our possession, we quickly developed a love/hate relationship with the snow. This pic will have to do for my next favorite part of the trip. Just picture this penguin as Jenny and the setting is in the middle of Park Ave. Yes…Jenny busted it in the snow in the MIDDLE of Park Ave. I couldn’t think fast enough to get my camera out because I was doubled over in laughter as people were pointing and laughing. The CHARMIN Store! Cleanest bathrooms in NYC…Charmin’s gift to NYC during the holiday season.