Before We Ask

Like ambassadors of kindness, the Keller Williams teams poured out of their cars and onto my yard. Wearing red T-shirts that sported their motto, “Give Where You Live,” they quickly transported tools and plants to the back yard, carried ladders to the front porch and popped paint rollers together. Under the leadership of construction foreman, Kenny, teams took control of cleaning out flower beds, sawing new lumber and painting faded wood.

Somehow, through the kindness of a friend and the grace of God, I had been chosen as the recipient for the annual Keller Williams “Red” Day. On May 12th, these realtors honor the birthday of one of their founders by doing a service project – a good deed that helps the entire community and also blesses some lucky people.

This year, my son and I were the lucky ones. Throughout the long and tedious day, these realtors climbed up and down ladders, perched on my roof, redesigned my fireplace, replaced rotted wood and painted my house the beautiful new colors I had chosen. They also provided lunch, refurbished the landscaping, added mulch to all the flower beds and encouraged Caleb and me with friendly conversation. Working for 10 hours, these folks gave of their time, their muscles and their energy to make our house so much safer and absolutely beautiful.

The odd thing is that I hadn’t even prayed specifically for any of this. I knew the house needed to be painted, but I wasn’t sure how or when that would happen. In the deepest recesses of my soul, I wanted my flower beds to glorify the Creator and be a place of beauty where I could pray and rest and journal my thoughts. But I hadn’t asked God to provide new plants or mulch or paint or lumber. He just knew.

Like a loving Husband and Maker, holy God put together the circumstances of this blessing. Before I could even ask Him, He made sure that one of my friends told a realtor about the need. Before I could imagine how wonderful May 12th would be, God rearranged the cloud cover so there would be no threatening storms. Before the wood rot and the hidden ants’ nest destroyed the fireplace, my Heavenly Father made sure that several men would find the problem and fix it. Before I asked, God did it.

The morning after, I woke up to so much joy and praised God over and over for all the goodness of the day before. When I drove up to my house after work, I thanked God for all the good people who truly gave where they lived, who put up with sore muscles and paint under their fingernails and cuts on their hands so that Caleb and I could enjoy this blessing.

We didn’t ask for this, but it happened. Grace upon joy upon blessing from the heart of a loving God and people who wanted to do a good thing – even before we asked.