Proverbs 20:13 “Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.”
Our first summer was a major learning curve. In November, a new flow of blessings seemed to start coming our way as if the cooler temperatures brought not only a break from all the sweat and toil of the summer but also ease in our farming. We purchased a new guard dog because we lost some more goats to coyotes, and we knew we needed two dogs since we kept the male goats separated from the female goats. We called our new Pyrenees, Guardian, so we now had Guardian and Angel, a play on the term guardian angel. I felt it suited them because it was their job to be ‘guardian angels’ for our goats.
I was getting very excited since I was now working through the trials instead of letting them overwhelm me. I focused on the fact that eventually if we were doing what the Father wanted us to do; He would bless us for it. I was trying to learn patience and to see what I could learn in every situation. I am sure the cooler temperatures helped with my attitude also.
We had set out on this adventure, and we had already made it half a year through it. The struggles with the heat, moving, gardening, fencing for chickens, etc… were over since you don’t garden much in the late fall and early winter. I finally was getting a break, and I was enjoying it. It was so nice to walk to the goat pen and watch the goats, and just dream of when we would have a nice herd. The children loved gathering eggs with me every day, and since the night came earlier we were all in the house early spending time as a family instead of working outside till 9 pm.
I noticed that the children were watching Josh and me. They wanted to learn how to farm, and they were also getting the desire to learn new things. Jazmyn began to work hard at trying to read, even though she was only 3 ½. She wanted to be able to help me learn how to become a good gardener, and she knew that it was from reading that I learned these things. Asher also wanted to learn since he is not one to be left behind.
In the midst of all these great green pastures, the pastures actually got greener for a while. Interestingly it started during a trial. Jazmyn suffered from croup a lot as a baby and toddler, and one night she woke us up with barely the ability to breathe. We had never seen her so bad. I rushed her to the hospital, and we were admitted overnight.
The sad thing is when you are struggling financially, and something like this happens, one of the first thoughts after you find out that your child will be okay, is how are we going to pay for this? I know why “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (I Tim 6:10). If you don’t have it, you may stress about bills distracting you from having faith in God. This stress may cause you to pursue it with determination, rather than pursuing God. However, if you do have it, you may put your trust in it rather than trusting God. It is a nice tool that Satan uses to keep us from looking toward God. Not that having money is evil, it is our focus on money that is evil. Thankfully, though, I stopped my thoughts immediately and prayed for strength and faith. I became so at peace with everything, that I just knew something good was about to happen.
That good started with a phone call that I had missed. When we bought the land we were told that we were also going to get 7 acres of mineral rights, but no one knew for sure if the previous owner owned the mineral rights or not. The next day while Jazmyn was in the hospital, Josh came to sit with us, and then Asher got sick. I left to take care of Asher. Josh stayed with Jazmyn waiting for discharge papers. It was when I left and went to Josh’s mom’s house, who was watching Asher, that I checked my messages at home. To my great surprise, a man left a message stating that he had just finished researching our property, and he wanted to get in touch with us to sign a gas lease.
I called him immediately and found out that we owned not just 7 acres of mineral rights but the full 23.8 acres. This is a huge thing because, in the state of Texas, hardly anyone owns their land’s mineral rights. Mineral rights are passed down through families, and the owner of the mineral rights does not have to be the owner of the land. They can keep the mineral rights of a property they do not own forever. It is sad because a landowner has no say if their property goes under a lease that allows an oil company or gas company to go out onto their property to drill.
Needless to say, being told that we owned the minerals on our land was a huge unexpected blessing. We were going to get a sizable sign-on bonus that would help us get things fixed and done on the property, and I definitely would have the money to pay for the hospital stay.
It is nice to look back and remember that moment. The sign-on bonus was a financial blessing. Thankfully, the drilling didn’t happen on our property. Unfortunately, though, they weren’t able to find anything worth continuing with the lease. We have what they call sour gas in the ground, but this moment years ago helped us a lot. Plus, it is really neat to know that we own our mineral rights.
Surprise Blessings
“May the Lord add blessings upon you: upon you, and upon your children” (Psa 115:14).
Every day is a blessing. I know I said that in my last blog, but it is an important statement to remember. My ability to write is a blessing especially the ability to write on a computer instead of having to do it by hand or on a typewriter. It is by far easier to edit on a computer.
I know that I do not notice a lot of blessings that I have every day, but it is definitely easier to notice a surprise blessing, one of those moments that your dreams get answered in a split second, that makes all the time you spent getting there disappear. Or little miracles that instantly give you immeasurable joy, relief, bliss, etc…
I am confident to say that all of us have had a few surprise blessings in our lives. The reason they are so special is because they are precious and rare like diamonds in the ruff. It is their rarity that makes them invaluable. Yet on this note, we need to look around us and pay attention to all the blessings we receive.
God gives us special blessings to boost our spirits, but we need to also notice all the little ones around us because they add up to a larger blessing. For instance, getting old is a blessing. You have had a chance to live for many years, and had many experiences that you can share with others. You have wisdom from experiences and most likely don’t worry about the small stuff. Maybe you also experienced a loss that has allowed you to encourage someone else who is going through that trial right now.
The main point is, hardly anyone likes to get old, but to be honest, if God allows you to get old that is a blessing. Every day is a blessing. It is one more day to serve the creator and show love to others. Big surprise blessings are awesome but don’t overlook the many smaller blessings around you.