CategoryMinistry Miracles

Miss Anna outgrew her bassinet, so we made a point to get our pack and play from Stephen’s mom’s house Friday night. We had left it there when Anna was born so that they’d have a place for Caleb to sleep, but hadn’t taken it back home yet.

Well, God provided another crib for us yesterday. It’s beautiful. It’s a white sleigh design. I love it. I was completely prepared to use the pack and play as her bed (we did that with Caleb too), but it’s nice to have a real crib to use for her. Now we can convert Caleb’s bed into a toddler bed, instead of moving him out of it completely just yet.

I just love how God provided for us. We were prepared to make do with what we had, but God provided more than we needed even before we asked. God is so good!

God has provided our first Bible College miracle today.

We’ve been trying to sell our old van for a long time now, and today I got a call. “Is the van still for sale?” After I said yes, they said that the buyer would be by our house in the next 10 minutes or so. Wow!

Less than three hours after that phone call, the buyer had paid us and was back here to pick up the van.

What gets me the most is how God provided. The amount the van sold for is almost exactly what we needed to pay Stephen’s first tuition payment. God is SO GOOD! We weren’t sure where the money would come from, though we knew from experience that God would provide it. God’s timing is perfect!

Oh wow – I am SO thankful right now!!!!

Almost a week ago, our heat and a/c unit quit working. I didn’t notice it right away – it wasn’t until it was almost 80 in the house on Wednesday that I realized that the air conditioning hadn’t been kicking on. I mentioned it to Stephen when he got home and decided to be thankful that it was going to be a cooler weekend.

Then the weekend came, and along with it, the cooler weather. When we got home from Stephen’s parents’ house Friday night, it was 57 in the house. I don’t mind it too much, but I was really worried about the boys being warm enough. That night, Stephen got up every hour to make sure the fire in the fireplace didn’t go out. I’m thankful for the fireplace – and for all the wood we have outside!

Mom and Dad loaned us a space heater the next day, and between that and keeping the fire going, we stayed warm enough. Saturday night and Sunday night Stephen repeated his get-up-every-hour routine. We stayed warm.

Sure, it was cooler in here than we would’ve liked. But it wasn’t freezing (we live in the Carolinas, after all), and we survived. Nothing a sweatshirt, and extra blanket, and a cup of hot coffee wouldn’t fix. ;O)

Today we called the repairman. It was an easy fix (it was just a blown fuse, Praise the Lord!), and didn’t cost much at all. We had both been praying that it wouldn’t cost much. Our furnace unit is old enough that we were concerned it would have to be replaced, but it didn’t.

I am so thankful! Thankful that it didn’t cost much to fix, and especially thankful for the wonderful husband I have that sacrificed his sleep for three nights so that the rest of us could stay warm. God is too good to me!

God answers prayers in the neatest ways sometimes.

Today the phone rang. “I have some clothes here that might fit Stephen. You can come look through them and see.”

We all hopped in the van and headed over there. It was so pretty today that the drive was a lot of fun in itself! While we were driving, I prayed for one thing – a white dress shirt in Stephen’s size. He’s been needing a new one for a while, but I hadn’t found one for him yet.

When we got there, there were far more clothes than I had expected. Stephen had come with us, so he headed to try some on that I wasn’t sure would fit him.

I am absolutely flabbergasted at the amount of clothes that came home with us! There were many button-down dress shirts, a lot of polos, some dress pants, a bunch of jeans and t-shirts, a sportcoat and even a suit. These aren’t cheap clothes either – it’s name brands like Van Huesen, Croft and Barrow, and Old Navy. Nice clothes. The box was so heavy I couldn’t lift it by myself.

The thing that really blessed me was that not only was there a long-sleeved white shirt in Stephen’s size, but there was a short-sleeved white shirt in there too. I hadn’t really been praying that God would send us new dress clothes for Stephen yet, because what he had was adequate. But it sure was fun tonight taking his older clothes out of the closet that were starting to look a bit worn. I’ve been replacing things a few at a time, but his part of the closet got a major overhaul today.

God answered my little prayer today, but met our needs in a big way. And to the one that gave us the clothes (you know who you are!), thank you for letting God use you to bless us today!

Today there was the neatest surprise in my mailbox.

There was a letter with no return address. Actually, it was a Christmas card.

Before I could open it, something fell out. It was a $100 Shell gas card. I just stood there in shock with my mouth hanging open.

The card wasn’t signed. There was no writing in the card at all.

The handwriting seems familiar, but I cannot place whose it is. It just looks familiar. But you know what? I don’t really want to know who sent it. It was a great surprise, and it’s more fun not knowing.

We’re driving to Michigan in 10 days to go visit my family for Christmas. This gas card is SUCH a blessing.

I don’t know who God impressed to send it, but it sure was a blessing to me today. I just wish I could tell them thank you!

Isn’t God GOOD???

I am so humbled by how God chooses to work in our lives. The ways He chooses to provide never cease to amaze me.

On Sunday, our thermostat quit working. Monday, we went to the store and bought a new one. Stephen installed it, and. . .nothing. We then discovered that we’d accidentally bought one that didn’t work with the system we have.

Stephen picked up a different one on his way home from work yesterday, and called a technician to come out here, just in case it wasn’t the thermostat that was broken.

Thankfully, it was just the thermostat. Now we have a brand new programmable thermostat, and the heat is working. I’m so thankful! We use our fireplace a lot in the winter, to offset our electric bill. We’ve had a way to keep warm, but it’s become pretty chilly in here at night when the fire has gone out. I’m thankful it hasn’t been colder outside.

I’ve heard over and over how a programmable thermostat can save you money, and we’ll see if it actually helps us. We didn’t buy it because it was programmable – we bought it because it was compatible with what we already have. It would be nice if it does help us save on our electricity!

Here’s what is a real blessing to me though. Yesterday I started a new piano student. The tuition money my student paid me came just in time for us to pay the technician to fix our heat.

God’s timing truly is perfect.

What a praise. Stephen drives 300 to 500 miles a week for work. As of today, he had already driven 400 miles. That was before he left for work this morning. He needed to get gas today.

I called Stephen on his cell a while after he left to let him know which account to use for gas. I had just gotten off the phone with him when his boss called. I told him Stephen had already left, but that he should be able to reach him on his cell.

Then Stephen called me back. His boss had called to tell him to stay home because of gas prices. Since he’d left two hours earlier though, he told him he’d meet him somewhere and fill his car up with gas.

I was floored.

Then – his boss ended up following him home so that he could gas up my van too. He would have – except every single gas station in our town is out of gas (I cannot wait for this gas shortage to be over with).

I’m not disappointed about not having gas in my van – I didn’t have plans for the next day or so anyway. I am extremely humbled that he would think to consider my van.

God is so good. I love seeing how He provides in ways I never expect!