Sometimes I feel like this is all manna.
Like if I try to plan for it or even save it for later, it will go bad like meat left out overnight. I’ve only been given enough for today and that’s it. If I try to work out what I will write for next week, it all falls flat on the page. So I have to wait for the today and use it up today. Manna.
So lately, I’ve been writing my blog posts in stolen minutes between dance classes and soccer practice, while water is boiling for pasta on the stove and at stop lights when I’m driving the girls to school in the morning. It would be so much more tidy if I could sit down on Saturday afternoon and write out five, perfectly edited article-length blog posts for the upcoming week and be done with it.
But it doesn’t work that way. At least for me anyway.
It’s like milk or eggs. If I could buy our perishables at the beginning of the month in one big shopping trip I would. But they’d go bad before our little family of four could consume them. So I go back to the little market each week and buy milk and another dozen eggs because it’s what I need for now.
And that’s all God seems to give me.
What I need for today.
I can’t bear to think about my daughters’ teenage years (sooner than later) but I’m sure the strength will come at the right time.
Or in the nick of time, maybe.
I don’t know how I will survive my parents’ deaths someday, but I will. And God will give me courage then for that time.
And when I become a widow (because statistics say that most of us will be) how will I walk through that valley? I don’t know.
But I will. Manna.
And so for today, here, this post is the manna I’ve been given for you. For us. For today only.
Because I don’t know what I will write tomorrow.
And know that this manna is fresh, raw even, because its what God gave me for my today.
And I have to trust that He’ll show up again tomorrow.
What is your manna today? Do you try to save it up or plan out your worry for tomorrow?
I feel blessed to have run across your blog, you speak directly to my heart and it’s amazing how much your words have encouraged me to reflect on my faith and relationship with God. Thank you.
Manna has been the theme of my life for awhile now. The cashier at ALDI (discount grocery store) just told me the other day, “You’re in here more than I am!” That’s because I have just $8 today. Then I might have $12 more dollars tomorrow. Then $4 the day after that.
But God always provides what we need. In the nick o’ time. Sometimes I tell him I’m ready to be done with this way of life. Other times I realize that it just makes the blessings stick out so much more.
Love your blog, Sarah. Can’t wait to read your book. Let me know if you ever have any writing questions. I’ve had four books published and am working on my first memoir now.
On second thought, I probably won’t know any of the answers. But I’d enjoy chatting anyway.
Yeah, that is how I am too. Some days I have a million ideas or things I think I want to write about but then when I finally have time to write there is nothing and I chalk it up to not the right time or not the right readers so whatever. Some days – it just comes and I have to know that it is the perfect timing and the perfect words. Lately Daniel and I have been on this kick of “the right tool for the right job” and I have been trying to align everything in my life under that banner. My blog – has to serve it’s purpose and sometimes when I’m feeling sad or lonely I want it to make me feel whatever about myself and then I know it isn’t the right tool for the right job and then again I have to go looking for the Cross. Sad…dang it. So yeah. Manna. Good, good – you made sense of this today. Yay you.
im a lot like that also! i cant let myself worry today about what will happen two years from now!
my mind can get so freaked out about the future and what it will hold that i miss out on today. i miss out on playing with my boys because i am stressed about something that has not even happened or may not ever happen.
for me i have to focus on the day today. i like the manna idea. its enough for today!
I am learning to survive, to take it one day at a time right now, which is very unlike me or my preferences, but I have found when it feels like everything has been taken away anyway, or at least hidden from you, one day at a time is really all you can bear. As usual, Sarah, you have spoken directly to my heart and I am so grateful.
love,
mandie
Sarah,
Daily manna, so vital to our lives. When we gather too much, it rots and stinks. When we try to run ahead and gather the thoughts for tomorrow we feel it in our being… Worry, doubt, anxiety, the what if’s haunt us. I remember the day I heard God say to me, “Why are you in tomorrow?” “I’m still in today.” “Stay in today with me.”
I have lived through the death of a parent. I still grieve my daddy who met Jesus face to face in February of this year… God carries you through…. you cry, you grieve, you mourn… while He carries you.
My 2nd born will marry in 9 days. I sat and looked through the pictures as I prepared the slide show for the rehearsal dinner… The years have flown by.. I can see that now. I wept as I saw the photos of my sweet girl playing dress up. My heart is prepared… though I know I will weep tears of joy and sadness as we embark on a new path.
God meets us in the daily… and unbeknownst to us, in the midst, prepares us for the future. Loved this post today!
Julie
julie – your COMMENTS are rich enough to be posts. thank you for always leaving such amazing wisdom. =)
This is some good stuff Sarah! Thanks for sharing. I feel the same way!
It’s funny how just one word changes my perspective. Yes, you will get (fill in the blank) just in time for your daughters’ teenage years. Trust me – LOTS of manna is needed. But it will be there. I’ve come to rely on God’s provision coming in the nick of time, and not a day before. I just never thought of it as manna – but I need to. Thank you.
Lots to digest – just for today.
Mine has been learning to trust God for his provision. We just sent our oldest to college and coming up with his tuition payments has been on my mind. A lot. I try to plan ahead, where can I get this amount? Then that? And God says, “Just wait. It will come. Do what you are supposed to do. I will take care of that for you.”
This blog post touched me today because I’ve been in a place of learning lately and God just revealed to me yesterday, that these lessons are all about trust. I TOTALLY trust Him, but gosh, I haven’t been acting like it much lately. In my times of stress, I haven’t been trusting. In my times of anxiety, I haven’t been trusting. In my fear that I’ll never find the relationship that I deeply desire, I haven’t been trusting. Today, your topic on manna just cements my need to lean in and trust Him even more. So, thanks! ~JJ
Nice!
Doing what I can with what I have where I am – is a motto I live my life by. Think I will add “today” to the end of that now.
Thanks!
Grace for today, mercy for today, a word for today, direction for today, hope for today, God is so faithful……..
Thanks Sarah! I just love your blog. And feel blessed that I found it. I always look forward to reading your next blog. Thanks!
Wow Sarah – thank you
Your post today is indeed mana..
God never gives us anything we cant handle.
For the last week my husband has raged and hated me. He has decided he cant stand my presence, my voice or my touch. We will live together as husband and wife for the kids, but when they arent around – we are distant room mates. He even suggested he will fullfill his “needs” outside of the marriage. But we are not to let the children know. This is so hard. I fight constantly my desire to touch him and love him. I hurt from his words. Each day – your words are mana – bring a bit of calm to my storm. Thank you.
oh and – be thankful you have two girls.
Three gallons of milk and two dozen eggs are gone before the end of each week. Not to mention two gallons of OJ, Tree of Lemonaide…meat, cheese. we go through 25 apples, 10 oranges and a bunch of bananas a week. And my three boys arent event teenagers!
I used to attempt to save the “manna” God provided daily in my life, only to have it spoil or not be enough. However, I have discovered over the years that God does indeed provide exactly what I need for each day. My own girls are now teenager. What I didn’t have within me to deal with young ladies when they were little girls God has grown in me. Thank you for sharing a great post.
Hi Sarah,
I love your writing! I don’t remember if I’ve commented before but anyway…I needed to hear this today. So thanks! My dad died when I was 13 and ever since I have been wondering how I will ever survive the death of anyone else. I worry about this all the time. And today, my mom is driving herself across the country for fun. I let her go and tried not to worry but I am so afraid of experiencing loss like that again. And you just reminded me that I don’t have to KNOW how I would get through it. God will not leave me.
I love your writing. It is so often what is on my mind. I have tried unsuccessfully tried to store up. It doesn’t work and in a way it encourages me not to trust Him. I watch the world rushing around trying to store up what they can. And I think I may look like a simpleton to not join them. Thanks for what you do.Peace.
Hi Sarah.
I have always been one to wake up hopeful for the manna God has for me each day. He is so good and He provides every minute, every hour, every day. I don’t worry about day to day living, God has always brought us through.
Thank You for sharing your manna with us.
Bless You!
I like to write on the same day I post as well. Although right now I am writing about my medical history right now so some of my posts are written the night before I post.
But I agree about the manna for the day. I may think about something the night before but when I wake up, something totally different ends up on my blog.
smooches,
Larie
Wonderful post. I *so* agree about the milk. It drives me nuts! We use three different kinds here, and we are always needing some.
That is a great analogy about the manna. I worry about how I will deal with things in the future. I worry about my parents’ death in the future. I just can’t IMAGINE how I could ever be okay with that. But I know God is faithful and He will give me what I need.
I worry about my kids. Especially my Benjamin. So many, many worries and concerns about the future. But for now, I will deal with today.
Manna.