I wish I could come up with titles that are *actually* cool. Oh well.
A few days ago, a good friend of mine and her husband offered me their old computer. Everything on it worked, they just got a new one. Of course I said yes, please! and thank you so much! =)
It works great and in fact is what I am typing on right now. It’s going to be SO much more convenient for me to use this one during school and other times, also, than the one in the bedroom!
Samson has taken to climbing up on the desk when I’m sitting here and snuggling. He climbed up just a minute ago and is now laying on arm as I type. LOL
So there’s the first alive blessing. It’s an alive computer, vs. my dead computer. LOL
The second blessing is also alive, but in a different sense. This blessing doesn’t cost as much as a computer, nor is it as big. However, it does eat, poop, and sleep!
It is a sweet little brown and white lop-eared bunny! =) This blessing is why I have this post listed under “God’s Guiding Hand”…
See, with Matthew homeschooling again, I was wanting to get him involved in something outside of the house and also outside of the church school. I know he can go up for P.E., and I think it’d be wonderful if we could go up for chapel, as well. The two of us could/can even go along on the field trips for school events, too. The things like mini-golf, tennis, music festival, etc. Only problem is, he can’t compete. Last year he took 1st place in a lot of the singing events, as well as bible memory verses, woodworking, and I think tennis, too!
So for this year I was looking at getting involved with one of the local homeschool groups or the co-op or something. Granted they all cost an arm and a leg, but still… I wanted him to be IN something, and he is definitely NOT a sports kid. (The medical problems make it pretty rough on him that way. I mean, he’s still the size of a 6yo for one thing.) Boy scouts was also a given NO! They’ve changed the way they do things so much in the last 2 or 3 decades, and not for the good if you ask me.
Today I got a phone call from a woman at church. Her granddaughter stayed with her last year (and was one of Meg’s good friends) and they had put her in 4-H and bought her a rabbit. The granddaughter had to move back to her mother’s this summer, and the mom said no to the rabbit. Well, the grandmother kept the bunny for awhile (for the other, much younger, grandchildren), but decided that it was just a little much for her, and also not so good for the bunny as she wasn’t getting the attention and play she needed. She said she’d tried to offer it to some of the elementary teachers for a class pet, but no one was interested.
Then she thought of Meagan. She and her husband decided that they would really like to give it to Meagan (and Matt, too) and so she called me. At first I was going to politely decline, but as she told me the story of this rabbit and how they came to have her, I became convinced that not only did I want to take the bunny (I knew the kids would want to, of course), but that I SHOULD take the bunny. As she talked more and more about 4-H and this bunny (registered, ready to breed, they had a cage and had just bought a 6mo supply of food for her, and it was all coming with Miss Rachel) I became more and more convinced that this was of the Lord.
I just kept thinking about what all the kids do in 4-H and how PERFECT it was for Matt – the great animal lover. I thought to myself “WHY didn’t I think of this myself?” Of course the answer to that is simple… I did, years and years ago back when Matthew was way to young to join. As he grew older and it became apparent how painfully shy… paralyzed with anxiety, actually… I knew there would be no sports, no scouts, no clubs, no co-op or summer classes, no anything. I never gave any of those a second thought for him. For Meagan, yes. We tried girl scouts and got a lousy troop, and as it was the only one she could join, we quit. I started to have her be a Juliette and do the scouting ourselves, but she didn’t want that, she wanted PEOPLE! LOL
Anyway. I really got the impression that this phone call, this suggestion, this offer was from God. So I said yes and we made arrangements for the bunny to be brought over this evening. After I hung up the phone, I called Matthew in to the computer and we looked up the 4-H online and I tried to explain to him a little of what they do. At first he kept telling me he was not interested, no thanks, etc. – even though he totally loves animals, and had already asked me if we could study/do woodworking and electronics (which 4-H also offers) this year in school. I kept talking, though, and once he realized that #1 it is not just for homeschoolers, #2 ALL the kids (incl. the teens) do not get together for a meeting, they’re broken up into groups, and #3 that if he raised, showed, and SOLD an animal, he would get to keep the $$…. he immediately changed his tune. LOL
He said, “I’m in. Sign me up. I wanna raise a calf!” and when I told him no, we couldn’t do that. At least not this year, since we live in the city and can’t keep one here, he asked, “Well can we move to the country then?” HAHA
Then I had to go through all the explanations and so-forth again, because Meagan wanted to know so she could see if she also wanted to join. The selling point for her was being in a parade. LOL
So both kids decided they wanted to join. I’d already decided it was something we should do; as I said the timing and ‘perfectness’ of the phone call and idea was very clearly the work of God’s guiding hand.
Next thing I did was to call the local 4-H office (actually our local Ag Extension office, but I didn’t realize that at first) to get info on the program… how to sign up, what it costs, etc. The woman I spoke to, there, was SO kind and helpful. She knew exactly what I needed to know and she guided me through to find the online registration form, and gave me phone #s of the women who run 2 of the clubs, as well as date and time and location of the first meeting for each. The only other thing I needed to know was cost, not that I was worried, because by this point I was sure that this was something God wanted for the kids, so I knew He would provide, but I still needed to know so I would know how much to bring to the first meeting.
Well, before I could even ask, the woman on the other end of the phone said something like, “And everything is free, there’s no charge for any of the meetings, so you can go to as many meetings and clubs as you want…”
I was so shocked! I had no idea 4-H was FREE! I mean, I realize there is cost involved if you’re raising an animal or doing a project or need to bring supplies, but that is the same with ANY club, organization, etc. This is GREAT!! Absolutely perfect! Not only is the club geared more towards things my two are interested in than any other, but it’s also cheaper than the other things I was considering.
I wasn’t just completely settled or sure about the other options. I knew they would work, but none of them really said THIS IS IT! to me, if you know what I mean. 4-H, however, does. It did even before I knew what it would cost, that’s like a big ol’ bonus to me. =)
Thank You, Father, for answering my prayers. I’d prayed that You would help me to know what to do with this school year and that if there was something You wanted for Matthew (or Meagan, too!) to have for this school year that I didn’t know about, that You would show me and then provide a way for them to have it, and You did just exactly that. I had not even thought of another computer, much less joining 4-H and having another animal, but You had. You wanted this for the kids, and You showed me and provided a way. Thank You, Father, for this wonderful gift You’ve given the children (and myself)!
