God's Free Wheelin'

An e-mail from a friend:

Caron, I have a "God" story for you.

Last month, 2 days before my birthday, my son was driving my car when a lady pointed to the front of my car. He thought he had a flat and pulled over to check. When he opened the door, flames were shooting out of the wheel well. He jumped back in the car, turned the key to "off" and popped the hood.

Well, when he opened the hood the engine was completely on fire. Flames licking everywhere. A lady in a nearby house got a water hose over the fence and the fire was out before the fire department arrived, but the car was totaled. It was a '99 vehicle, not worth a lot, but my only transportation.

The couple of months leading up to this grand event had been tough, financially, and I had let my auto insurance lapse, thinking I would get caught up and get my insurance re-instated . . . I know, not very wise thinking. Here's where God comes shining through.

A friend I only see once or twice a year, but have known for years, called to wish me Happy Birthday. As we talked, I filled her in on my latest saga. She said "Well, what are you going to do?" I told her I had thought of calling her brother, who is a used car dealer, to see what he had on his lot. She said, "You call him, make a plan and call me back. I want to help you do this." I told her I would and we hung up.

I had hardly gotten the phone hung up when her brother called. He said he had a 2005 Dodge Caravan on the lot and asked if I thought that would work. He said it had 40,000 miles on it (my old car had 140,000), tilt, cruise, power windows & locks. I asked what the price was, knowing that was way more car than I could afford. He told me his sister had called and said if that would work for me, he was to call her back with all the details and he couldn't tell me the price.

Then she called back, said she had talked to her husband, and he agreed that they wanted to give me this gift. I told her that was too much, that I was completely overwhelmed ... all this through my tears. She said, "We go way back, I have the means to do this, you have the need, and it's the right thing to do. So, don’t be overwhelmed! It's done!"

Well, the next thing I know, I'm driving this vehicle ... fully paid for! Plus, she put 4 brand new tires on it, new brakes on the front, a one year service warranty and paid my insurance for a year!

I can hardly believe how good God has been to me through them! God has always provided for me, but this was over the top!

Great is our God and greatly to be praised!

God's "Cool" Breeze

Heather Roberts wrote: Okay, I have a cool GOD story for you. Can I just tell you—God is amazing! Three significant things came out of a recent trial my family experienced.
Gary and I were put on the church prayer chain at Grace Community Church because our air conditioner went out in the house. We all were pretty sweaty and stinky! With four boys you can probably imagine! It was looking at costing us $4,400 to fix it...that alone would make you sweat right?
# 1~NO doubt the prayer chain was a huge blessing! A contractor friend (no names will be mentioned to protect the innocent) from church sent his AC guy over to our house and this stranger took my husband step by step through the process of fixing this unit. God gave us a better gift than just fixing it, He gave Gary the knowledge to do it himself and it only cost us $35 for the replacement part! The stranger, however, would take nothing!
# 2~After months of prayer and petition the Lord told us very clearly just recently “Without delay!” for Gary to undergo a vasectomy reversal. To make a long story short (‘cause this is another sermon altogether): We stepped out in faith and obeyed. In November, Gary will have this surgery. For the last three months we have been saving up money for the procedure. Had we needed to pay for the AC it would have drained our savings.
# 3~The first air conditioner company Gary called to get the $4400 estimate was a company he really just randomly picked from the phonebook. Come to find out the guy who answered the call was my old best friend’s younger brother. He gave me her phone # and she and I have been playing phone tag after years of no communication! Her brother told me he never works on this side of town! He thought it was pretty weird that he ended up being the one to come to our house. She had actually been on my mind for the last couple of weeks! WILD HUH? It was just a God thing.
The message: So often God wants to bless us but we just don’t have the patience to receive it or the faith to believe it. I learned that YES we will need to go through some HOT STINKY days... but, boy, is the reward all worth it in the end. God tripled the blessings in our life and He showed Himself in 3 special ways!
# 1~God the Father who is our provider!
# 2~God the Holy Spirit who leads us!
# 3~God the Son who heals the broken hearted!

When It's Right

"Whose car is in the driveway?"

"Oh, a family friend from San Antonio dropped in. You remember, I told you about the man who lost his wife."

"If you have company, I'd better leave."

"Stay and meet him." Gayle's eyes lit up: matchmaking began.

And so the story goes: Caron and Lee Wise set eyes on each other and never looked away. Caron claims rose-tinted glasses blinded her from understanding Lee actually had five children! The two lovebirds blended their families and added one. Eight kiddos! The grocer had to have adored that clan.

On October 13th, thirty-five years ago, Caron and Lee married and began a life journey of ups and downs, crests and valleys. Partnering with Jesus Christ, they've endured hardships and loved extravagantly. They are a blessing to many.

Congratulations to my bestest friends in the whole wide world!!! Happy anniversary, I love you. E

Let It Be So

www.gracesanantonio.com *The photo depicts Grace Houston.*

Our church's official GRAND opening happened this morning. Wow, what can be said? The Spirit showed up and we were blessed. It was GRAND!

Cameron and Desi Hall, pastors of Grace San Antonio, stepped out in faith and arrived in Bexar County a little over a year ago knowing no one. With the help of friends from Grace Houston, and total reliance on God, they rented a KC hall and services began. That location served as our home for a year. Lovers of Jesus began to filter in and form a core group: a family!

One year later--we've moved: the 8600 block of Huebner Road, San Antonio, TX. Come and join us. Jesus will be there, waiting.