Abundance

September 3, 2018

There are many favorite moments from this project especially your touching notes after receiving these sweet gifts but this story miiight be my favorite. 

An old friend died suddenly leaving behind a young family.  My boys wanted to find clovers for his boys.  The day we looked for them I kept saying their names over and over again. "Lord bless them!" I cried.  Song lyrics flowed in and out of my heart as I prayed for them.  I have been on my own grief journey since losing a close friend, which of course can't compare to the intimacy of a spouse, but I feel connected to this family. I so wanted to bring them some joy. Couldn't we all use some joy?

Take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He's in the waiting
He's in the waiting
Hold onto your hope
As your triumph unfoldsHe's never failingHe's never failing
"Take Courage" by Kristene DiMarco

I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing
Letting go and trusting when I cannot see
I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing
Surely every season you are good to me

"Good To Me" by Rend Collective

I found one! One of the leaflets was cut in half but it had four. There's another one! And another!  I continued to say each name over and over and prayed blessings over their family and their grief.  "Steadfast" and "Abundance" were the words that kept coming to mind. We are never alone. Even when we can't feel peace or love, God is with us and our grief is known to Him. I encourage you to seek refuge in God's love. 

We kept hunting; we needed seven.  One of my guys found two five-leaf clovers too.  Within a few minutes of finding the first broken clover we found twenty-seven. 27!  What? This has never happened to us before.  Who finds that many clovers?  To me, this is only God saying how abundantly blessed this family will be.  Beauty WILL grow from their pain.  

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Deuteronomy 31:6

For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, "Do not fear; I will help you".  Isaiah 41:13

Let you heart take courage as you wait on God. Not only do I see you but I abundantly bless you. Psalm 27:14

This is what a bouquet of four-leaf clovers looks like.  This is special. We immediately concocted an art project with their 27 clovers.  One of my boys wanted to make and S out of them for their last name. One wanted to include all of their first names. One wanted to put it all in a frame so the mama could hang it on the wall forever (sorry Melissa ahahah). We did all of those things but this S isn't a picture of 27 clovers. I gave one to his wife-the broken one-so she could tuck it into her bible. 


After this S was laminated, I found five clovers accidentally left in the book I pressed them in. In the end, each one in their family received a laminated clover to remind them how much we love them and how many people are praying for them. We circled the S with all of their first names and titled it "Abundance".

Peace,
Nicole Astra
PS: We have looked in this exact spot two more times and haven't found even one. Supernatural....

Comments

  1. Peace Baby5 August 2019 at 17:29

    thank goodness for the supernatural times that help us find love for ourselves and others

    ReplyDelete

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