Don't Get Mad At Your Donkey!

If that makes no sense at all then read:

In Numbers 22 of the Bible, there is a story about a man named Balaam trying to do something that displeased the Lord so the Lord sent an angel to block his path....

-------------------

21 Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab. 22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.


24 Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against it. So he beat her again.

26 Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. 28 Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"


29 Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."


30 The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?"


"No," he said.


31 Then the LORD opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.


32 The angel of the LORD asked him, "Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. [c] 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared her."

---------------

I live in Georgia and my niece, Ashley, lives in Louisiana. In 1999, she was having her third child.  I had not been able to be with her for the birth of her other two girls so I really wanted to try and be there for the third.  She was having it induced so we knew exactly when Savannah would be born.  I made my plans, but, there were things wrong with my car... air conditioner didn't work and something else just wasn't right so I took it in early that week for repairs.  When they called with a quote of over $5000 I told them to put it back together I was coming to get it...I couldn't afford that.  They told me "OK, but don't take a long trip in that car."   They didn't tell me what that meant, just that it wasn't safe to drive.  So, I didn't go to Louisiana that week.  I could have stood being without the AC but something else was making it unsafe ... ???... I didn't know what that was.


Early the next week I took my car to an independent mechanic a friend had suggested.  He plugged a hole in the AC for around $200 and replaced a 75 cent belt.  The $5000+ repair bill became $200+!!!  And, that 75 cent belt was the thing that had kept me from being where I wanted to be, when I wanted to be there!!!  ARGH!!


Friday of that week I got a call from my brother telling me that Tori, Ashley's oldest daughter, then 10 years old, was in the hospital and they didn't know what was wrong, but she could die!!!  I told him I would be there as soon as possible, dropped everything, and made the 8 hour trip to La, praying all the way.  By the time I got there they had diagnosed that she had ITP, a disease where the things in the blood that are suppose to kill off the bad things were also killing the good.  But, the good news was, Tori's blood count had gotten better so they released her from the hospital that night.  PRAISE GOD!


During that night Tori had a severe headache and threw up all night long.  The next morning, I drove Tori and Ashley to the doctor to see what was wrong.  Remember, Ashley had just had Savannah the week before and couldn't drive.  The doctor was very concerned and sent us to the hospital immediately to run tests ... It could be bleeding on her brain, a potential problem with ITP,  or, it could be meningitis.  The tests showed meningitis...in addition to the ITP!   Tori would need to stay in the hospital several more days and Ashley would have to leave her week old baby, Savannah, at home with her mom.


God is so good.  He had one grandmother taking care of Alex, the second daughter, another taking care of Savannah and I was there to drive Ashley back and forth to the hospital.  I was there when I needed to be there.  If I had gone the week before I couldn't have stayed another week because of work.  God had used a 75cent belt (my donkey) to have me exactly where I needed to be, when I needed to be there.


Life Lesson:

• Don't get mad at your donkey!  Whatever that little annoying thing is that is keeping you from being where you want to be, when you want to be there...there is a reason.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."  Proverbs 16:9

Tori and Savannah this past Christmas...

Tori and Ashley (the mom) this year 

(Tori will graduate from LSU Nursing School this December!  God is Good!)

LOVE MY GIRLIES!!!

To Sell:

A Sterling Silver Donkey Charm!  I gave devotionals at my last job and I bought a lot of charms to sell to help folks remember what I taught.  (I had made myself a necklace with about 20 different charms...like a charm bracelet... so they wanted one too...With all the charms together it makes a GREAT conversation piece! )

I even have some for past drawings so I have added several..  Tell you what, the first person to find all of them and let me know I will give you a charm of your choice....Call it a Scavenger Hunt.

SS Donkey Charm: $7.50 ( S/H incl. USA only )

SCAVENGER HUNT FREEBIE!

Click HERE for another FREEBIE