"Resting" in the Lord

"My soul finds rest in God along, my salvation comes from Him" - Psalm 62:1

This verse plays through my head because of the upbeat rendition called "Never Be Shaken" by Seeds Family Worship (we listen to "Seeds" regularly).

And towards the end of June, we got to experience the "resting" in God in a way that still brings a soft smile to my face and a bubble of joy inside.

To make our big move down here, we really simplified what we owned. We had several garage sales, sold items online, gave things away to friends, donated items, etc... In the case of our queen size 13 yr. old mattress, we simply put it out for the garbage men to collect. It was sadly sagging in the middle and we had been saving up to purchase a new one this year. My parents had a full bed in the guest room, so why take up truck space bringing an old mattress with us, or haul a new one 1,300 miles? We added "queen size mattress" to our prayer list for God to provide in the future.

So our first month living in Texas went by, and we learned a full size bed is not-so-fun when a couple is 6'2" and 5'7". It works for a short time, but not my favorite thing long-term. Memorial Day supposedly has the best mattress deals of the year, so we started researching and looking at our budget for buying a mattress.

The weekend came, and we started looking at the sales, and for some reason just didn't feel a peace that we should buy a mattress at that time. I was really disappointed, because I couldn't wait to stretch out in a queen bed once again! But I also knew that Nathan and I have learned over the last several years to not push past hesitations when making a purchase (of any size!).

At the end of June, we were having "family time" outside, clearing & burning brush on my parents 5 acres. I went inside for a quick drink break, and my mom told me that a friend of hers in the neighborhood had just called, and wanted to know if we would be interested in a a queen size mattress set. So I automatically said sure, could we get more info (age, price, type, etc...). Mom replied that the mattress was less than two years old, had only been slept on for a month or two, then made into the guest bed because the couple bought a king instead. To top it off, they wanted to just give it to us.

Stunned, I walked outside and shared the news with Nathan. He stopped what he was doing and just about cried.

Within an hour, we were returning home with a *new* mattress, and that night, slept on a queen size bed once again.

When we arrived at this lady's house, she told us they had bought a top-of-the-line mattress to help with their back/joint issues. But quickly decided to upgrade to a king size for more room. And it's been sitting unused since. She apologized for not being able to give us a frame or sheets, she needed to keep those. And when I tried (through tears) to tell her what a blessing she was, she said WE were a blessing to HER.

Definitely confused, I asked "how?" And she replied that she felt the Spirit telling her for several days to call us about the mattress, instead of listing it for sale online. Our having an exact need for that mattress was confirmation to her that she had been listening to the Lord. What an incredible perspective. She had only heard through my mom that we had moved down here and were looking for a ministry position, and we had not previously met her. Yet here was God providing one of our biggest needs through an almost stranger.

During our journey of following the Lord right now, this was such an encouragement. Not only did God show us in a huge way that He is providing for us, He is going above & beyond our "need" (we couldn't have EVER afforded this mattress). He blessed us with an item that has been a daily reminder that He is taking care of us, and we can "rest" in Him.

And in the last six weeks, Nathan and I have noticed our chronic lower back pain (Nate) and hip pain (me) completely go away.

So we continue to seek Him. And continue to find our rest in Him.