Baskets of Blessings

Today I watched something very interesting on Oprah. Three ladies expressed their thoughts on positive thinking. And that got me thinking about something that I've been doing for a little over a year now and I wanted to share it with you.

When I started Harvest Moon Designs, I knew that it was a gift from God. But I did not know how that gift was going to alter my life, nor did I realize how many others would be touched by God through my obedience.

I will never forget when I got the first order. I was so very excited. As the day and week went on I was in awe at how God had suddenly reappeared once again in my life. The orders began to come in maybe 2 or 3 at a time. And then 10 or 12. And then so many it took an hour to get out all the orders. What started as a means for me to deal with a major life change, suddenly was such a blessing. And then I recalled how I would end every order that I sent out... God Bless.

Now I am just beginning to understand the power of THOSE words.

The ladies that I spoke about earlier in this posting spoke about words that WE are to speak to or about OURSELVES. But being how I think about things, my thoughts turned right away from their way of thinking and towards how God thinks and to those 2 words that I end every letter, note, or order with... GOD Bless.

Then I started realizing how those words have returned to me 100 fold over this past year. The MORE I speak GOD Bless others, the MORE HE BLESSES ME!!! And in that BLESSING, I then BLESS OTHERS, and then GOD blesses me even more. Now, my mind is over whelmed at this concept.

Being a Christian since I was 9 (way over 40+ years), and growing up in a Christian home, I've known about the rule of tithing and the law of reciprocity. But I had not reached a point in my life that I had enough faith or trust to let go of our 'little pocketbook'. BUT with Harvest Moon, I told God "this is yours, so ALL I do will be focused on YOU". It only seemed 'right' then to start the tithing. I told Rick what I felt should be done with the money I got from the sales. He thought it was a great idea. So, I then had to pray and find the place that I felt God wanted HIS money to go to. I had watched the 700 Club over the years, but it wasn't until this experience that I decided that this was the place that God's money could be used most. And so, I went to their website and joined. I wanted to make sure that I signed up for the Pledge Express, which enables my pledge to come right out of our checking account. I knew that I had to do it this way so that 'emergencies' wouldn't take away from what Rick and I had agreed on. Then how was I suppose to decide on the amount to give? Each grouping of patterns that I posted brought different levels of sales. So, I prayed. God gave me an amount that He wanted me to give. So, I signed up for that amount.

I then had this idea about discounting the pattern groupings that I posted. I was really thinking about those ladies who so faithfully ordered EVERY pattern. I wanted to be able to bless them in some way. Since that first posting of Pattern Grouping 1, sales were more than twice what I thought would be expected. Then one day, Rick said... "why don't we give twice what we were giving" I was so excited and a little shocked. So, we went right away back to CBN and increased our giving double. And the sales continued to increase. Our money seemed to go further than before. We actually had money left over after paying our bills.

All during this adventure, God also laid on my heart that HE wanted to bless others through the patterns. So many times over this past year, I've been reading ladies blogs or postings on one of the KAL groups that right in the middle of reading God says to me "I want to bless them. Send them these patterns". And so I do. I don't know why he tells me to send which patterns to who, but in EVERY case those ladies have had some connection with the patterns that I sent. Especially with the names of the patterns. All I did was press the send button. I get chills when I read how GOD has touched them. Maybe someday I will put these stories together and share them. I've kept every one of them to remind me that God can use me any where HE puts me.

The journey continues now. In this past month Rick and I have decided to now tithe on the amount that we'd need in order to move back to Hawaii. This is a real test of our faith. And the interesting thing about this is... tithing is the only time that God says to "Test ME". We are expecting God to work a miracle in our lives and we will let you know how He does it.

I've thought a lot about posting this message about tithing for a long time, but I think now is the time to share this with you. If you're in a place where you feel you can't give, all I can say is just do it. God will bless and He will see the intentions you have in your heart. To give to get is not a 'right' motive to give. But to give because He says to give is a 'right' reason. Listen to what God tells you and then act believing God to bless. And see what kind of miracle God creates in YOUR life. :)