~~ About five years ago Tony was working for a company that he felt was in financial trouble, so he decided to work on a spec house with our brother-in-law and leave the other company before things got worse. (The place closed their doors later that year.) The first week on the construction job, Tony slipped in the mud and seriously hurt his knee. He ended up having surgery to repair torn ligaments, going to physical therapy and spending months on crutches. He was unable to work during all this, but he hadn’t yet filled out paperwork with his brother-in-law and so wasn’t considered an “official” employee by the state. Therefore he didn’t qualify for any kind of worker's compensation. He was without an income, and I was only working part-time. (Still homeschooling those kids!)

How did God provide? Our rent was covered more than once by fellow believers. Someone gave us a large check in a Christmas card that year. I hit black ice on the interstate coming home from working out of town, spun around a few times, slid off the road and softly landed in the ditch, up against a reflector post. (The lady behind me rolled her vehicle and someone else ended up in the river that ran alongside the interstate.) The damage to my car was a little dent on the back panel, but the estimate for repairs came to over a $1000. After verifying with the insurance company that we didn’t have to use the money for repairs, we used the check to live on. (My car had a bajillion miles on it and wasn’t worth repairing, although the body had been in good shape. This was my first accident since a fender bender in high school!) Another check came from a car accident. I was at a stoplight, and there was a large truck behind me. We were waiting for the light to turn green when the truck bumped into me hard enough to make my car “hop” forward. (The driver said his foot slipped off the clutch and it made the truck lurch and hit mine.) The company he worked for wrote us a check to cover repairs so they wouldn’t have to report the accident to their insurance. This time we did use part of the money to fix the trunk, but used the rest to live on. All those years of driving with no accidents, and then two in such a short time frame, and no injuries from either one!

~~ I love giving to others, but there was a time when God told me to write a check to someone when we flat didn’t have any extra money. It wasn’t a big sum, only $150, but that was literally about all we had to our name. That was our grocery and bill-paying money until payday, and while I could see us sacrificing the groceries, I was having a hard time believing that God would have us get behind on bills. Why didn’t He ask someone else? And yet, I felt so strongly that this was Him talking to me…

Finally I wrote the check and stuck it in the mailbox and told Him something really spiritual like: “Fine. There it is. Are You happy now?” When I got the mail that day, there was an envelope from the bank where we had our car loan. We had just paid it off, so I assumed it was some kind of final paperwork. Inside was a check. Apparently, they had miscalculated our payoff and were refunding us the overpayment. How much was it? $151.48!

~~ When we moved to Montana, we remained jobless for five months. Nothing even remotely worthwhile was opening up for either one of us. We went through our remaining savings and were at the end of Tony’s available unemployment compensation, (which brought in considerably more than the fast food or retail jobs that seemed to be the only things available). It was the first of the month and the rent was due, but we didn’t have all the money. We had never been behind on paying the rent, but we didn’t know what we were going to do this time.

A friend was the caretaker at someone’s summer home, and the owner was looking to have cement poured for a floor in the garage. But first, the gravel that was there had to be dug down and leveled out. Normally, this would be done by using a backhoe or Bobcat, but our friend said we could do it and earn the money the owner had provided for the job. The house was located in a small town about an hour away. Tony and I, the kids and the dog headed over there first thing in the morning. We packed a lunch, brought all our shovels, rakes, picks, the wheelbarrow and the dog’s water dish.

For most of the day, the kids played in the big yard and by the little creek while Tony and I shoveled and moved the dirt and gravel. At their own insistence, they did “help” for a little while, but soon grew weary of it. It was hard, dirty work and blisters were on my hands by lunchtime, even though I wore thick, leather work gloves. Animals had used the doorless garage as a shelter, so there were feces mixed in with the dirt. The dust that was kicked up brought on an asthma attack and when I blew my nose it was black.

It was dark outside by the time we finished. The kids were beyond bored, the youngest one was sleeping in the car with the dog, and we all were more than ready to go home. It had been a backbreaking day of physical labor, but the rent was going to be paid on time.

Oh, Lord, You always provide! You have provided us with food when we were hungry, money when we needed it, and work when we needed to earn money. You promise to meet all our needs, and You are always faithful to fulfill Your promises. All thanksgiving, praise and glory goes to You for Your provision to Your children!