A New Day, A New Heart

After days of ridiculous warmth I awoke to a fine chill this morning. Emma was already up and readying herself for school. I remind her to take a cardigan. My morning cup of coffee feels better in my palm today. Like it has real purpose for being there. When I was little we walked about a mile to school every day (can you imagine that today?) Of course we complained about it. Especially on very cold New England mornings. My grandfather, Poppy, used to lovingly scoff at my complaints ( he lived just a few doors away from us) saying he walked at least 3 miles each way. He would tell me that, in the winter, his mother would pull baked potatoes from the oven and wrap them in a cloth and stick them in his pockets where he would stuff his hands for warmth on the long walk. Then at lunchtime he would eat his "handwarmers" for his school meal. The point of this little story is that my hands wrapped around this warm cup of coffee today reminds me of my Poppy's hands wrapped around his baked potato then.
Yesterday, I was having a bit of a freakout day about the economy. I was ordering inventory for the store and stressing about it. We sent in the deposit to Covenant College to save Annie's place there for next year and I was worrying about finding financing for that. My mother called and said 4 people at my brother-in-law's workplace had been laid off and my brother, Chris, called and said there was no work in N.J. (he's an electrician) for him or his friends (plumbers, etc.) and he wondered if Thom had work still. All this together led my mind to melt.
This morning is fresh and new. God has cleared my mind and reminded me that He will provide and protect for all my needs. I have always given donations to everyone who walked through the shop door and asked for them. These past weeks the amount of people asking has multiplied and I've started asking people to leave their "cause's" paperwork and I'd go through them and decide which ones I wanted to give to. Wildlife Turkey Federation, La Leche League, Maryland Charities, local schools, United Way, Habitat for Humanity, Humane Society, every local police department, each local fire department, every church in the county. The list goes on and on. There have been days where I've had more folks ask for donations than I have had sales.
This morning I realize this is not the way. God has given to me and I need to give back to the community as I always have. The economy doesn't make a difference. I'm using that as an excuse not to give abundantly. This has lifted my heart. God promises He will continue to provide for my family as he always has. No matter what happens. It's just that my vision tends to get blurred. Fortunately, neither I, nor you, ever need worry that the Lord's vision will blur...