My daily devotional app sometimes gives me an assignment. Today, it suggested that I write in my journal about the times I observed the hand of the Lord in my life. There are many such occurrences in my life, but I have chosen to relate a chain of events that occurred in the early 1990s, that, to me, clearly showed the hand of the Lord was there.
At the time, I was divorced, my son was in elementary school and living with me, I was working full time, and I had just taken in a foster child, a boy who was two years younger than my son. I was renting a small three-bedroom house. The Division of Family Services was starting a career foster parenting program, and my social worker was strongly encouraging me to get on board as one of the charter participants. This new program required the participants to foster two teenagers, and participants were not allowed to work outside the home. The stipend was substantial, actually more than my current income, and it was tax-free. In order for me to become a part of the program, I needed to attend additional training. I also needed a bigger house, to accommodate five people.
My foster child was diagnosed with ADHD, but he did not qualify for medication, because he did not act out at school. I had a small TV/VCR combo in the boys' room, which proved helpful for my foster boy. The boys and I usually went out every Wednesday night. One Wednesday night, when we got home, the house had been burglarized. The burglars took two VCRs, a TV, and my violin. Interestingly, they only checked my room and the living room, so they did not take the TV from the boys' room, nor did they take my viola, which was in the spare room. None of the items were recovered, and the burglars were not found and prosecuted, although the police believed it was youth in the neighborhood who needed money for drugs. I had renter's insurance, so the TV and VCRs were replaced with newer models.
My mother had purchased my violin for $1500, before I went to college. She wanted me to have the best instrument she could afford. I went to college on a music scholarship. My major was music performance-violin. As part of my major, I was required to study a second instrument. I took on the viola and found that I enjoyed the viola more than the violin. After two years of college, I changed my major to Music Theory and Composition, and switched my instrument to viola. I kept my violin, because I continued to play it at church, weddings, and other events that preferred the violin to the viola. Sometimes, I even traded between them, at the same event.
My insurance agent asked that I have the violin appraised, if possible, so the amount of my claim could be determined. I still had the sales receipt with the pertinent information about the instrument (when it was built and who built it in what country), so I reached out to the man from whom my mother had purchased the violin. He remembered the violin and appraised it at $10,000. The insurance company agreed to replace the violin with a violin or viola, up to a value of $10,000, or give me $7,500 cash. I had found a 6-bedroom house to buy, and the $7,500 cash was just what I needed for the down payment.
I believe Heavenly Father can see my entire life, at once. He knows when bad things are going to happen, and he knows when I will turn away from him. He sees all the choices I will make, throughout my life. He knew that the violin my mother bought for $1500 would be stolen and appraised at $10,000, at a time when I needed the money. The burglary was a bad thing that set the stage for a good thing to happen. Heavenly Father knew it would happen, just the way it did. However, I did not. This was a great opportunity for me to observe the hand of the Lord working in my life. He knew that I could realize a dream, by looking for the rainbow after the rain. If my violin had not been stolen, I would have had a more difficult time coming up with money for a down payment on the house I wanted.
I encourage you to look more closely at the bad things in your life, and see if you can see the hand of the Lord in them. Look for signs that a good thing will come from this. Dwelling on the positive will help you to bear up under the negative. That's how my life has gone and continues to go.
Until next time, God bless, and remember that "his hand is stretched out still"!
Teah
