Snyder Snippets: Are You Missing The Miracles? (Warning kind of a long post today!)

I don't mean the "Oh I haven't walked in forty years and this man in a white suit with a Jimmy Neutron hairstyle slapped my forehead and now I can really cut a rug!" Noooo not that kind of miracle! (even though, if someone were around that could really do that it would be pretty fascinating but maybe creepy? Dunno.) Recently our co-pastor's son Stephen Russ preached a sermon about missing the miracles God puts in our lives. He used the story in Scripture that follows the feeding of the 5000. Jesus sends the disciples ahead while he sends the people away. He spends the night in prayer and all the while the disciples are on the boat out on the sea and a storm rolls in. Of course the disciples were probably scared out of their wits but even after just spending the day with Jesus and watching him feed so many people with such a small amount of food (ahhh the envy of all us cooks out there with sparse pantries ;) ) they failed to fully appreciate the miracle of Jesus walking on the water. They assumed it was a spirit / ghost. They become MORE frightened and completely forgot about what had happened that day. They missed the miracle. Bro. Stephen mentioned missing a few things but at the top of his list was missing the miracle of our salvation. Wow! How quickly we lose that excitement! Remember that miracle every day!!! We had this story (Jesus walking on the water) in my Sunday School class just that morning and so I was still pondering this during the day. Jesus walked out to the disciples on the boat and Peter (channelling his inner Doubting Thomas) says to Jesus "If its really you bid me to come to you! (please forgive my paraphrasing!) Once Peter fully knows that it is Jesus Christ out there on the water he climbs out of the boat and starts off. While Peter kept his eyes on Jesus he was fine but once he started worrying and fretting about the rough seas around him and the wind and the rain, well, he started to sink. Then when he was in trouble he remembered "Oh yeah hey Jesus is here. He can help me." Isn't that how we are? While we were in the midst of the miracles and the good times and the blessings we sit back and revel in all the good things that are happening. We forget the One who is DOING those good things. Then, so quickly, when the good times are over for a while and trials and troubles and testings are coming our way we begin to look around and fear and fret over what can and will be. We so quickly forget Who just performed some wonderous things in our life and what those things were. I think that reciting those good times and blessings in your life over and over again is a good way to keep those things before you. I have many. I could make a pretty long list about some of the blessings and miracles performed in my life. I'll just give you a few examples, well, actually its one giant blessing in two short stories. :) Most of you might remember the big accident I had in January of 2009. There's a post with pictures of it on the blog somewhere. Anyway, it was a fluke thing. I hit a patch of plowed ice and snow and being the inexperienced test dummy, I kept my foot on the gas instead of hitting the break. I was leaving an onramp and coming on to one of the busiest stretches of road here in Evansville on a Saturday morning after the whole tri-state area had been iced in for days. It was warming up and the roads were clearing. I had kissed my hubby and kids goodbye and after pondering taking one or two of the kids with me I decided against it. So here my mom and I were out of control in the 2003 Ford Expedition. God MUST have had His hands around that vehicle. We never rolled but came close. The whole front end was wrecked but only UNDER the hood. No glass broke and all the airbags deployed but causing no harm. We walked away from that accident. After getting out of the truck I noticed something very disturbing - my Bible was ACROSS the median on the westbound side in the middle of three lanes. It never got ran over. It flew out of the window where Daniel would have been sitting had he come with us. That could have been Daniel in the middle of that road. This is a six lane expressway - three going east and three going west. Its horribly busy as this particular section is right off of HWY 41. No cars were anywhere near us. Not a soul. It wasn't until we came to a complete stop that traffic started coming over the hill and the first people that came over stopped and helped us - one being an off-duty sherriff from a neighboring county and the other being off-duty national guardsmen. All people who could provide competent help in this situation. We were sore for a few days but otherwise fine. Something about that vehicle - we were upside down on it. It was an impulse buy (never EVER a good idea!) and apparently when I wasn't with him, Steve put GAP insurance on it when we signed the papers. The loss of that vehicle didn't cost us a dime. We started looking for something else to drive as we were now down to one vehicle and we did NOT want to make the same mistake on price again. I insisted on another Expedition. Those things literally are like TANKS I believe. :) I don't see how a vehicle could take all that beating and us not be seriously hurt. Anyway, while looking on the internet (what seemed like ALL THE TIME) we were doing a carfax report on another vehicle in Arizona when this one popped up as a freebie on the side. I clicked and low and behold is in nearby Boonville. Can I interject a few things here? I had a few requirements and then a few "wants" so to speak. I felt that having leather was important because of the kids. A third seat in the middle was a must. My wants were not necessary but would be appreciated. :) I always wanted a blue vehicle. A sun roof would be nice. Heated and cooled seats? Deffinitely! LOL! Maybe Steve would put in a remote starter for me. (yes I'm spoiled!) You know what? That truck had it all. It wasn't till we signed the paper work and I asked where the keys were that the man said "Well, he's trying to figure out how the remote works." Remote? You mean the keyless entry right? "no the remote start." Inside I was doing the mother of all happy dances. God GAVE us this vehicle in our price range and pretty much He had "I love you, Amanda!" written all over that truck. Our payments were lower and the vehicle was two years newer than our last one. Every time I think about this particular story I get a good case of goosebumps and a whole lot of happy. :) My salvation? Well, that was a miracle of God. I was 20 years old and God did some awesome things in my life. He gave me a best friend who didn't think twice about getting me to the altar that night. She practically drug me. ;) Greatest day of my life!!! My marriage? Oh yeah that was a good one too. I was about to go home from college and quit. Just quit. I was done. I stood at my dorm window and told God He had best show me why I was still there at school and why He didn't let me leave because I couldn't see one good reason to stay. Two weeks later Steve and I started talking. Within a year we were married. My children? Four little miracles all their own. Each day I wake up alive? What gifts from God! A fresh start every day. What wonderful things God has done for me! There have been down times. Frustrating times. Times when I didn't feel much like living a Christian life. But at the worst times - remember the best ones. REMEMBER what God has done for you. What are your miracles? No matter how insignificant they may seem each miracle is a HUGE deal! Jesus did some big miracles and maybe some not so big ones the greatest being when He died for us. Don't take these miracles in your life for granted. All of us have some stories to tell. What has God done for you? Are you saved? Have you asked Jesus into your heart? Don't forget to thank Him every day. Will you share some of your stories? If not with me with someone else? Maybe it will help them to hear you recount some of the great things God has done for you! Look for the MIRACLES!