We may seem like slackers sometimes- grabbing every holiday we can as an excuse for a day off. But this one’s pretty special: a 4th of July that marks our country’s 250th anniversary?! We’ll take it. As in, The New Deli will take Friday, July 3rd off! (Close enough. It IS the official federal holiday.)
Kind of crazy though… Tom and I celebrated our 50th earlier this year, and it hit me: That’s one fifth the age of America! I felt WAY younger than the age of our country when I celebrated the bicentennial as a teen, back in 1976. But a lot of time’s gone by since then…
Speaking of young… And, of 4th of July- I ran across this picture of Tom and our oldest grandson at his first 4th of July (twenty-plus years ago). Can you tell- he was SO cold. But that’s typical of our Bay Area, right? And Tom, well, he was SO young, haha!
Old Pic of Jen’s 50th Birthday Cake- Just add a “2”, America!
As per usual with our deli posts, holidays are a good time to touch base on the website. I’ll try to avoid complaining about our latest challenges (spam, changing our email, forgetting passwords and how to do a new sign-in method, etc.). Just first-world problems!
But publishing a simple newsletter has been glitchy. You might’ve signed up, but still might not get this 4th-of-July post/newsletter ’till Thanksgiving break. Sorry- technological issues!
Tom & Jen- 50th Anniversary Celebrating
Speaking of Fiftieth (you know it was our 50th earlier this year, right?), I have to share this story. Just because, it goes beyond coincidence. I believe it’s God’s way of reaching down to let us know He’s orchestrating everything. Nothing’s by chance. He allows some things to happen, but also, “He makes all things good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” (I’m paraphrasing Romans 8:28.)
So, Tom and I have continued celebrating this 50th all year. So grateful for so many things. But, a few months back, well- this was nice. The director of an after-school program we’re involved with gave us a $50 grocery store gift certificate. Cool. I went to the store, hemmed and hawed about what I should get at this store (not my normal store, but a pricier one, so I had to contemplate). I figured it out, got rung up, and the cashier said, “Wow- exactly $50.” I said, “Well THAT’S wild, since I just happen to have this $50 gift certificate!” Indeed.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. A few weeks later, I had headed north to babysit my granddaughters as I often do on Thursdays. I walked to their school to pick them up on the last day of school, when a nice young man in a parked commercial truck called out a greeting. I stopped to say hi, and the man said, “I was just here in my truck praying, and felt like God was telling me you had something to tell me.”
I didn’t want to disappoint him, but had to tell him I really didn’t sense anything (except a few platitudes, “Jesus loves you and has a plan for your life” kind-of-thing). And I moved along. But after ten steps, I realized, “Wait! Maybe THIS is something?!” I ran back and told him the story of the $50 gift card, and how I believed nothing is an accident, and God just wants us to know He’s with us, orchestrating everything.
And this guy says, “No way. This IS wild.” And he showed me his phone, with a message time-stamped 1 minute ago, where he had just texted one of his clients, “Just wanted to send a $50 gift card your way, in appreciation of your business”. What?! Wild wild stuff, right?!
My daughter-in-law was pretty excited about the story, wondering what the biblical implications of 50 were. We looked it up. In the Bible, 50 symbolizes renewal and freedom, as the land rests and people are liberated (celebrated every 50 years in the Year of Jublilee). It also symbolizes divine empowerment, as when God poured out His Spirit on the believers, 50 days after Passover, during Pentacost.
Well, this certainly has seemed to be a Year of Jubilee for Tom and me. We’re seeing God work everywhere- even at The New Deli as we enter a new era. Ah, but that’ll have to be for another post. Hope you have a GREAT Fourth of July!
