Unusual Discoveries...

Have you ever come across something that you saved and you have no idea when or why you ever saved it in the first place...and how is it that you have just now discovered it?

That just happened to me.  I was looking for something else, and I found this cancelled 25 cent postage stamp with a picture of a Barred Owl on it.  I checked the dates for the years that this particular stamp might have been in circulation, and it had to have been somewhere between 1988-1991. I have no idea why I saved this stamp. I do not collect stamps. And back during those particular years I had absolutely no knowledge of or interest in Barred Owls. Nada...None...Never...Not one bit.

However, if you jump forward about 19 or 20 years, as evidenced by the following links, you will see that I became quite interested in Barred Owls... (You can go back and read these posts later at your leisure...)

1. Waiting on the Lord

2. The Last Farewell

3. He Watches Me-We

I found this quite unusual and strange that I saved this stamp so many years ago...but who knows why it caught my interest? I am sure I don't know...and I am not suggesting anything supernatural here. Just thought it was odd.

In my life I have discovered that God often works in mysterious ways. This really has nothing to do with the owl stamp...at least I don't think it does.  Maybe the owl stamp got me thinking about the mysterious ways God works.

 See, I discovered the owl stamp while I was rummaging through our antique secretary desk looking for an unused guest book that could be used to...well...record guests...what else? And why was I doing that, you may ask? Well, I have always made it a practice to have a guest book in my home.  This practice began when we started our life in the ministry, and we wanted to keep track of the many wonderful people who blessed our home with their presence over the years.

These guest books became a type of journal, with memories of joyous times of fellowship with family and friends, and sometimes even signatures of total strangers who became ambassadors of God's love and ministry to us.
There are also many signatures of loved ones and friends who are no longer with us here on this earth, but whom we look forward to reuniting with someday in the great banquet hall of heaven, where our names are written in the Book of all books...the Book of Life (Revelation 20:11-15)

 So, how is all this connected to my search today?  I already have a guest book in use, and it isn't full yet. I really shouldn't need to start a new one.

But God may have a reason. He may want to record a new group of names...the beginning of a new type of ministry...here, in our home. This was suggested to us today by one who hopes to participate in that new ministry with us.

That suggestion reminded me of a Bible verse I was reading just this morning and reflecting on what it might mean...

"And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago;

But now you also must complete the doing of it..."

II Corinthians 8:10-11

and also the following verse:

"Let brotherly love continue.

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels..."

Hebrews 13:1-2

These verses and thoughts go along with a previous post that I reposted a few days ago: "Blessed to Be A Blessing".  It seems as though God is confirming those thoughts today...and by faith we are acting upon this apparent direction.

Tonight I am not certain exactly where this is going to lead, but I am trusting God to guide us one step at a time. If this is indeed ordained by Him, He will show the way...and will provide everything that we need. He may have already provided interesting clues along the way that we did not fully comprehend at the time...kind of like that Barred Owl Stamp that had no significance whatsoever when I first saved it...

Yes, God does work in mysterious ways...

"Jesus answered and said unto him, 'What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.'"  John 13:7

Stay tuned for further developments...and pray for us if you are so inclined. Thank you.

"You Otter Be In Maine"

I love the title of this blog today...it came from a notepad that we were given way back when we used to live in Maine...and I have just one page of it left...in my Bible, with a few scribbled notes and scripture references jotted down on the dog-eared piece of notepaper, which is now being used as a Bible bookmark.

What is interesting is that a couple of weeks ago in my morning devotions I was reading the prescribed scripture reading for the day in II Corinthians 8:1-9, and I kept on reading down through verses 10 and 11 as follows:

"And in this I give advice: it is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have..."

As I read those verses, I had to scratch my head and try to figure out, "Now, what was I desiring to do a year ago that I must now complete?"  Hmmm...I'm not sure...except that we had gone up to visit our son and family in Maine because he was in the beginning battle against the aggressive cancer that had just previously been diagnosed in his abdomen.  I know the desire of my heart at that time was to be with him and try to help him and his family in some way...but because we had major issues of our own here at home to deal with we weren't in any position to be of much help at that time.  Thank the Lord, Matthew successfully completed his course of chemotherapy and now, a year later, seems to be managing amazingly well, all things considered. He still has some residual issues, but we are trusting God for his complete healing.

But, back to the scripture reading for that day...here we are a year later, and we still have the desire to be closer to our kids in Maine and also one in New Hampshire.  A lot of things have changed in our circumstances here in the past year.  My dear father recently passed away, my mother-in-law has moved up to live with her other son and family, and my husband has just lost his job and had to take an early retirement (such as it is) to try to survive until (or if) he can find other appropriate employment.  I have a good job, but without any health insurance benefits, which, at our age, is crucial. 

So, anyway, a few days after reading those particular scripture verses and contemplating just what God was trying to say to us, I was turning in my Bible to find the new reading for that day, and this piece of paper fell out of my Bible that said, "You Otter Be In Maine".  I showed it to my husband, and we both laughed at the funny picture of the little otter in the corner of the page and said, "yeah, we otter be in Maine if we could figure out how to get there."  Well, then I looked at the words I had jotted down on that note at some point in time...(it's dated July 2, but without the year)  and it was a scripture reference and my scribbled note of that verse....yep, you guessed it...

2 Corinthians 8:10-11 "Do what you began and were desiring to do a year ago (complete the doing of it..."

There were a couple of other things written on there at different times as well..."June 17th: Matt. 5:33-37..."Let your yes be yes"...and a note "Divine counseling at night"...and "Little girl, get up!"  (I believe I was listening to T.D. Jakes on TV when I wrote that note).

So now...what does one do with such messages being put before them in such a strange way?  Well, if you are people like us, you start praying and asking God just what He is trying to tell you.  I don't believe in coincidences...I look for God literally in everything I do...especially when it happens in an unusual way.  Now, I don't want my family to panic, or my employers to get nervous, or friends to tell me I'm crazy...but I have to consider that there may be a message here for us...and I am the type of person who prefers to listen to what God may be saying.  Of course, there needs to be some corroborative action on His part to convince me further before I pack my bags and move...but I want to be ready for action..."ready to go...ready to stay...ready to do His will..."  (from an old hymn entitled, "Ready", written by A.C. Palmer back in the mide 1800's)

I guess what I am trying to say here is, don't be surprised if God moves us back to Maine in the near future. I don't know anything specific yet...and I am not even sure it would be smart at this age to move back into those long, frigid winters when I am already living where most of the population of Maine would probably prefer to be (at least in the winter)...but I am open to God's leading.  I am listening for His voice...and if I hear "you otter be in Maine" again, I may have to start packing...

What would you do?