What I meant in the title, by “Be Aware,” was basically that you should try to be aware of all the beautiful and precious things God may be doing for you on a daily basis. This may not be easy, if life is busy and you’re in a hurry often. But, over the last year, I have begun to really take notice of what God is doing. I want to say that you should not be searching for miracles or for God to do something, but when something falls into place so nicely that you just know it was Him, then praise him for it and never forget it. In the past, when I was really running the show in my life and not concerned about what God thought of what I was doing, I would not have noticed the subtle things He has done to really help me. I now try to depend on God, try to pray a lot before doing anything major, like moving to another state, for example. Many times in my weakness, I catch myself making a decision on a whim, which is my nature. Then I need to step back and realize I need to pray thoroughly and seek God. I mess up that process many times, but I am working on it.

--To Watch the Video Instead you Can Here -- OR, continue reading on below the video--

In Matthew 10:30, it says, “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” God knows every single detail of your physical, emotional, spiritual and mental state. He knows more about you than you know about yourself. God also knows the little details that mean the world to you and the pain deep inside that you try to cover up and hide from the world. He knows it all. For me, I have moved a lot in my life and now with each move I really seek God in prayer. It is very difficult for anyone to move -- but I am a single mom and working at home and have moved so much, I am very cautious about moving again. But, about six months ago I was living in Las Vegas. My lease on the place I was renting expired and felt the need to move back to Wisconsin, my home state. I thought it would be best for my son who is almost of school-age, and for both of us to be close to family. Las Vegas was an interesting place to live, and I loved the weather, but it was not a good place to raise a child. There were safety issues and other things that I wasn’t comfortable with. So I prayed and prayed and planned for our move several months before my lease expired.

When we returned to Wisconsin we were in limbo for a couple of weeks, living at my brother’s home with his wife, 4-year-old daughter and triplets (age two). It was purely chaotic and really getting to me mentally -- I couldn’t get work done and was desperate to find a place to rent nearby. I searched for a city close enough to my brother’s home to help them out and to visit whenever we wanted, but not too close because the schools and neighborhoods there were not so great. I searched a city 20 miles from there and found several places that were available to rent. I looked all around but for the first time in my life, didn’t do anything on a whim. For the first time, I took a step back and prayed and prayed. Normally I would “know” that I loved a place and just go for it immediately -- this time was different. I went to see a house on a small beautiful clear lake, nestled in the woods. The previous owners had passed away and no one was in the home for a while. The home had huge massive windows which overlooked the lake. There was a pooltable in the basement and skylights in the kitchen, bathroom and my bedroom. It wasn’t modern, but more homey than any home I had ever been in. The people who lived here before, truly loved each other and loved their home. But even after seeing it, I felt very unsure. I went home and waited several weeks (very unlike me) and prayed.

After praying for guidance, I’m not sure what happened but I felt almost as though I had an “ok” from God as I felt such peace about the home. Initially I didn’t have a good feeling and just decided to hold off. After so much prayer and waiting at my brother’s house, I really felt released from that and knew I wanted to live there.

Prior to moving in, when in Las Vegas, my son’s room there had all white walls and it was very plain. He told me he wanted to have a Pirate themed room and at that time, I bought him one single pirate plaque for the wall. It said something about how you had to pay 25 cents to enter the room! He loved it, but that was it -- one wall hanging in a huge white room -- not much of a pirate theme. When we moved into the home on the lake, I realized something amazing. I didn’t even take much notice of this the first time I saw the place -- but my son’s room had pirate ship wallpaper on the walls of his room. He thought it was the coolest thing ever -- and absolutely loves it! I don’t think it’s a coincidence, and the people who lived here were elderly and hadn’t had kids living in the home in many decades.

But that is not all. Like I said, I have moved many times. I have lost most of my belongings and normally it doesn’t bother me. But there are a few things that really hurt to lose. And I am not overly materialistic -- but I had leather tools from my time in the Army. My neighbor, a disabled veteran in a wheelchair, taught me this ancient art of leather tooling. The tools were very expensive, and I saved it all at my mom’s house during all the years of moving and traveling. When I settled into our home in Wisconsin, my mom wanted to give me my stuff back. I was so happy to see the stuff, but all the small detailed leather tools that were so expensive, were GONE. I couldn’t do the tooling if I had everything but the tools. I don’t know what happened to them, but they were never to be found again. Secretly, I was crushed by it but didn’t want to say that to my mom. God knew it. I also lost my mosaic art tools and pieces in Thailand after moving from there. Before moving into our new home on the lake, I prayed to get my art stuff back. I have never prayed for an actual item before  -- because it sounds a little crazy but with God all things are possible. I thought I should at least ask. You know how it says in the Bible, tell the mountain to move and it will -- have faith and believe. Well, this was my attempt at that -- in praying for something that I had lost. Honestly, I prayed to have my mosaic art stuff back -- as I lost a beautiful piece of art that I created and spent so many many hours on making it. But God had something else in mind, and He knows all.

So, after moving in here (I did not see this when I looked around the first time touring the home) -- I went into the basement into an old workroom that belonged to the owner. The owner had passed away in 2004. When I walked into the workroom I saw to the right, a wall full of nails, screws, bolts and other building materials. Then straight ahead of me I walked up to a work bench. Right in the very forefront of the workbench -- with everything else pushed aside -- were leather tools. The leather tools were all the same little detailed ones that I had lost forever. They were all there in a leather tool wooden holder, just like the one I have. They were just sitting there, perfectly in front on the table. I was in shock. Leather tooling is an ancient and dying, if not dead, art and very few people even know what it is or have ever done it. I felt immediately it was from God. I ended up asking the landlord, who is the son of the man who lived here -- about the leather tools. I told him I was amazed to see them there as it was something I had loved doing years back. The landlord replied to everything in my email that day, OTHER than addressing me specifically asking him about the leather tools. He never responded on that. My other neighbor is the granddaughter of the man who lived here, and I asked her if he did leather tooling and she said NO. That really intrigued me -- so lastly I asked the other son of the man who lived here (he is also a neighbor) and he told me that his father did leather tooling several decades ago.

Since the man passed away in 2004 (and his wife passed away about 6 months ago), I just found it to be amazing that those tools were sitting there so nicely after so many years. His sons had been in the toolroom many times since his passing, yet they remained in that perfect spot in the front of the table. I know it was God. For God to bless us so richly with these little gestures, meant so much to me. It shows that He is still here, even though I may not realize it at times. Sometimes in our daily lives we feel alone and we’re doing things on our own -- but God really deeply cares. I love it when He answers prayers from our hearts that we haven’t really even said out loud yet.

Below here is my last story from the awesomeness of God today.

After moving into our lake house, my son (age 5 now) really needed to get out and do some activities. I work at home but need him to go to someone’s house or preschool at least a few hours a few times a week. It helps immensely for me to get work done and for him to socialize and have fun. But after searching for hours on end one day, I nearly gave up. I could not find a preschool nearby (I live in the middle of nowhere) and could not find a reliable or trustworthy place for him. So that day we decided to go to the park that was about 9 miles from our home, in the town. I don’t normally go that far to get to a park, but we did that day. This was right after searching with no results for my son to have a daycare of preschool. So we arrived at the park and he was playing as a van pulled up and two very sweet kids jumped out. Their mother was in the van and the father was outside with the kids. The kids were way overly friendly and ran right up to Josh and kept talking to him and trying to hug him and say hello and they were very over-the-top and it made me smile. Their father and I briefly spoke and I asked him about their kids and if they were in school. He told me about this wonderful place and wonderful woman who was watching the kids, in her home in a home-school setting. He said it was the best place and he was so grateful to have found it. But, he said that unfortunately it was pretty far from the park. I asked him where, and he told me it was by my lake! It was just a mile or so away from me, right near my home on the lake! He gave me the lady’s phone number, but warned me that he thought she may not be taking in any more kids right now. But deep down, I was 100% positive that she would be taking in a child and his name would be Josh. I knew it 100% because I believed fully that the encounter was not even close to being a chance encounter, and that God had answered my prayer before I even prayed it. Sure enough, I called the lady and my son started going there and still does.

After going there for a few weeks, the lady invited me to church and told me she was a Sunday school teacher. That confirmed it even more, even though I didn’t not need confirmation. But the fact that she was a Christian and my son was in her loving care really reassured me as well. It couldn’t get much better than that. God is awesome! He knows your heart, your needs and takes care of you!