ADDENDUM: A couple of quick (yeah, right) stories about God's blessings.

First, a freezer went down in the grocery store that my dad, his sister, and my grandfather own. This freezer had all the popsicles and ice cream bars and all sorts of other things in it, and by the time it was noticed, everything had melted. When Dad asked me to go with him to help clean things up, I really didn't want to go, but I did, because I knew that this was his first day off since they'd bought the store and that he didn't want to go either.

You have to understand something here. I'm the least patient person in the world, especially when it comes to doing work I don't much care for. I grumble, and complain, and basically just prove to be a horrible pain in the butt.

We arrived at the store and moved things over to other freezers (those things that weren't ruined. Then came the fun stuff. Every box of popsicles, ice cream bars and sandwiches, and quite a few pies, had to be thrown out. For write-off purposes, though, they needed to keep the boxes. So, one of the store's employees and I wheeled four carts full of these soggy, sticky, disgusting boxes out to the dumpster, ripped them open, and dumped their contents into the dumpster. It stank, it was sticky, and there were yellowjackets everywhere. (I loathe yellowjackets.)

Through it all, though, I was joyful. I mean, I wasn't happy that the freezer had gone down. I would've rather been here goofing off or even changing the oil and spark plugs in the vehicles, but I wasn't grumbling at all. Instead, I was singing inside. I knew it could be worse. I knew that, even in that disgusting, sticky mess, God was blessing me.

That joy wasn't me. I know me well enough to know that. The Holy Spirit blessed me today and gave me peace when I really needed it, and again, I have to say: Praise God!

Later, in church, while the first group was singing, God told me to sing. I knew the song He wanted me to sing, but because we'd had such wonderful singing tonight, and I didn't want to follow them, I didn't. (Always a mistake, ignoring what God tells you.)

So, as the second group was singing, after someone testified about doing what God tells you, He told me again to sing. Only this time, I didn't know the song that well. I was terrified when I stood to sing, but I got through the song, and without forgetting a single word. (I flubbed the tune a couple of times, but that's to be expected, since I'm not much of a singer. I sing mostly in hopes that people will enjoy the substance of the message, not the style of it.)

Wow, I said to myself on the way home, I didn't think I knew that song. I turned the radio down and started singing it to myself on the way home (As thrilled as I was after the service, there was no way I was riding home in silence). I couldn't get through the first verse without stumbling, and I couldn't even think of the second.

If you obey Him, God will provide. Even when all you need are the words to a song, God will provide. Praise Him!

Addendum 2: In addition to all of this, La Shawn Barber (who has been a blessing to me since I discovered her blog) writes a wonderful post containing "Random Thoughts On Christians, Public Figures And Bloggers". It's a good read, and provides a lot more subtance than my long, rambling post that can be summed up in two (admittedly very important) words that I've repeated time and again: PRAISE GOD!!!