Life is beautiful

By Elizabeth Prata

Life has been getting harder lately no? The wider world, it seems to me, is in flames. Ugliness.

But the smaller sphere of my life is beautiful. Here is what happened just yesterday, from start to finish.

I’m one of the people who get to my part of the school building first. I can park in spot #1. I’m friends with someone who is always first in. We often pause to chat. And the chat usually turns to something about Jesus. Praises, exultations, wisdom (from her!). It’s really refreshing.

I went about my day and heard laughter from children (the best sound!) and collegiality among everyone wherever I went. My school is full of kind staff and wonderful children. I even received a compliment from a colleague.

I got ready to go home. Since I’m first in to my section of the school, my car is parked next the passageway between the two buildings. One of the staff came to me and said he noticed my rear tire was extremely low. The school has some basic car helps like jumper cables and tire-pump up thingie (hey, I’m a a girl, I don’t know what it’s called.) He said he’d pump it up for me. I said thanks for noticing. He said “God did.”

When it was pumped I drove the .05 miles to the Tire Place in town and Tire Guy pumped up the remaining tires for $3.

It was macaron day! The local coffee shop receives baked goods from a small-batch bakery and one of their selections is macarons. They don’t last long, they are highly popular. Since they are made with almond flour, I can eat that snack! I ordered a fancy coffee and 3 macarons for a Friday weekend opener treat. Picked those up and headed home.

When I got home my Kroger delivery was waiting for me at the door. She must have just left. The tire pumping delayed me just a few minutes. The order was correct. Bonus!

I opened my computer and there was a Jacquie Lawson e-card from a friend in Texas. Lawson ecards are animated with classical background music. It begins with a blank canvas and it as if we see the artist paint the picture in front of your eyes. The moose walks out from the fotest, the water under its hooves ripples. Leaves fall. At the end, the light turned on in the cabin, revealing a family. The sunset deepens. Like that. The sender’s message appears at the end after the animation completes. Here is a still shot of the finished scene:

Here is what she wrote:

While watching each stroke of the artist’s brush lay down his creation of autumn beauty, my thoughts were, so as our Father God laid the foundations of His creation, each word He spoke were as brush strokes upon His canvas to bring into existence this beautiful earth!

And though in decline, its majestic beauty continues to testify that our God is the I AM WHO I AM, the merciful and gracious Saviour-God who will speak into existence a new earth whose everlasting beauty
will reflect the beauty of our thrice Holy God!

Her Godly sentiment refreshed me after a good, but tiring day. How thoughtful! I keep her e-cards and go back to them from time to time. I love them.

After checking my email and viewing the e-card, I went to Facebook and see that the mid-century table I’ve been trying to sell for 3 months on Facebook Marketplace has a buyer, and she is one of the staff at school! She will pay me on Monday! How convenient! I had worried about strangers coming to see the table. I really didn’t want a stranger to come inside my house. I was nervous about how the sale was going to work for me as far as safety and also financially, with all the warnings about Facebook money scams out there.

Every single thing I listed above was a providence of God. The kind staff with whom I work, many of whom know and love Jesus; the providential spotting of the low tire; the close location of the tire place; the inexpensive snack I love popping up just in time for a Friday treat; grocery delivery (something as I age, I am appreciating more and more); the beautiful e-card, the $ale of the table just when I need the money, and it’s a female staff member, so I’m safe when I open the door to a friend not a stranger.

The Lord looked after me on Friday in all those visible ways. He looked after me in all the invisible ways too, ways I don’t even know about. And that was just one day out of 365. His mercies are expansive. His love is boundless. Everything had worked out for me and was a delight to my soul.

And even if the day had gone ‘wrong’ or negative occurrences happened in ways that didn’t delight me, I am reminded that the Lord still providentially takes care of us in every way. He is still good and everything He does is for my good.

But I was grateful that yesterday was a day where He chose to show me His providences in ways that eased my day from start to finish.

Psalm 121, A Song of Ascents.

1I will raise my eyes to the mountains;
From where will my help come?
2My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
3He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who watches over you will not slumber.
4Behold, He who watches over Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.

5The LORD is your protector;
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6The sun will not beat down on you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7The LORD will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time and forever.