How did I get here?

Posted by admin in Blog (Weekly), Blogs

Aug
24

I am so blessed and grateful to be retired for almost 13 years and living on Maui for 10 ½ years. I still ponder, “How did I get here?” My son, Tim, reminds me that I said I wanted to live on the water for as long as he can remember. I never dreamed it would be in beautiful Maui. God had a plan that was bigger and better than I could have ever imagined.

I have been writing my weekly blog for the last 13 years after “Simply a Woman of Faith” was published. It is truly a joy for me to share and inspire all of you who have followed my amazing journey. Thank you for reading the blogs and commenting on them when they resonate with you.

I didn’t remember that at the bottom of the blogs there is a DONATE button. Most people have probably never seen it as it has never been used.

I received an email this week from a former client and friend commenting on last week’s blog. She wrote, “WOW I loved the blog, and did you know your donate button is not working?”

I wrote back and thanked her for her response and said, “No, I didn’t know it wasn’t working and if she or anyone else wanted to donate they could go to my PayPal page at Pat@simplyawomanoffaith.com.

I didn’t expect anything and was shocked the next day when I opened my emails and received $500 from her through PayPal. I felt so loved and provided for as the tears rolled down my cheeks.

We had been having problems with the starter of our car and hoped it was a just a small thing. I was waiting for the car to be serviced when I saw the email and received the money from PayPal.

I was still in kind of a “daze” when the serviceman approached me with the bill 10 minutes after receiving $500 in PayPal. He said, “Mrs. Burns the starter for your car is going and you will need a new starter.” I couldn’t believe it when I saw that the bill was a little over $500.

WOW, God’s timing is always perfect. My former client whom I haven’t seen or talked to in a few years had no idea that we would need money to pay for the starter, but God knew. I have no idea what prompted her at this time, other than listening to the voice of Spirit to donate at this particular time.

This reminded me of something that happened to me about 40 years ago when I listened to the small, still voice of God within. Some of you have already heard the blouse story, but it’s worth retelling.

My ex-husband had been unemployed for a year, and we had 4 children under the age of 10. I had to swallow my pride when I applied for food stamps and welfare.

I had some time to kill as I waited to pick up the children from school. I decided to go to the local boutique to browse, even though I didn’t have any money to buy anything.

I spotted the clearance sale sign at the back of the store and walked over to the clothing rack. The BLOUSE jumped out at me and I fell in love with it. As I was reluctantly placing it back on the rack, I heard the small, still voice of God say, “Buy it and I will provide.”

The blouse was $10 and I had $10 in my wallet that was for milk and bread on my way home. Could I trust this was the voice of Spirit and not just my imagination? Miracles happened when I listened to God in the past. I bought the blouse and didn’t buy milk and bread on my way home.

I grabbed the mail when I returned home. There was a letter in the mailbox with no return address. Inside was a crisp $10 bill tucked inside a note card that read:

TO PAT, FROM THE SON OF A CARPENTER

To this day, I have no idea who sent the money. It was from someone who heard the voice of Spirit and listened. God is faithful and provides. We are all connected and ONE.