Big Dipper Diamonds

[Tweet ""There is nothing like living hand to mouth when it is from God's hand to faith's mouth." - Charles Spurgeon"]

Around mid-morning, My Honey called me out of our Living Room, away from little boy ears. “Well,” he said, gently closing the bedroom door behind me, “I just got word the company’s laying off our entire division.” Standing in the quiet of our private space, windows open to the breeze, we simply stood facing one another. He smiled; I took a deep breath then tentatively grinned back.

Those first few inward pulls of oxygen were just what I needed to remind my lungs that we’re alive and blessed. Tentative smiles gave way to renewed faith in the span of 30 seconds. “I’m proud of you,” I said, and we kissed. “You’ve lead your sales team valiantly, they surpassed their quotas and brought great value to the industry, but even more than that, you took this position wanting to learn to be a servant leader, and you have, from first to last.” He nodded.

My comment jarred him back to the tasks at hand, “I’ve got calls to make now.”

He spent the rest of the day negotiating severance packages from the home office. I heard words here and there, slipped out from under closed doors, as he spoke to HR and members of his team. “Our division’s been severed…” The phrase caught my attention.

Severed: Cut off or divided, especially suddenly or forcibly.

I played a round of Go Fish with my middlest, stepped over hot wheels and the littlest, then listened to the oldest practice his guitar. Life was moving along, unaffected by our severed reality. Laundry didn't stop either. On my way past the office with a basket of little boys clothes to fold, I heard, "Each salesperson's severance package…" The rest of the sentence drifted one way as I moved the other, but the word severance now danced with its root.

Severance: Compensation from an employer to an employee who has been laid off. Severed.

Late one night, as the crescent moon waned and three unaware children slept, we sat together in the Jacuzzi. Cares fell from his shoulders after a burdensome couple of days. Everything had already been said, so we let the jets do their work. I leaned back against the slick grey tile and looked up to the black sky above our home.

Surprised by heaven, as my eyes adjusted to see God's pattern in the sky, I realized the great big dipper was perfectly framed above our roof. Upside down from my vantage point in the galaxy, I sensed God give me this celestial picture to strengthen my faith. That big dipper was dumping diamond stars down upon our home, set against the velvet blanket of Heaven.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows -James 1:17

Diamonds shaken out and poured down purposefully upon us. Tears fall upon keys, because I know we've been severed by the hand of a kind God, that we might learn He is our Severance.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:19

Diamonds dropping down.

It is my heart's desire, as I live and write out our journey, that your heart is quickened by the promise that God is kind, He is our provider and our provision, and there is nothing that can ever sever you from His love.

[Tweet "God is our provider and our provision, and there is nothing that can ever sever you from Him."]

 Diamonds dropping down.

There is nothing like living hand to mouth when it is from God's hand to faith's mouth. Daily bread promotes daily gratitude, and from God's hand hourly providence brings multiplied love tokens, and is a surer sign of remembrances than if we could have life's mercies all in a lump. -Charles Surgeon