Our Provider

I am just amazed at how good God is. He is the perfect Father. He takes such good care of us. He knows just what we can handle- allowing us to walk through rough waters to strengthen us and teach us, and then He gives us sweet seasons of peace and rest. He takes care of our every need. He sustains us. Oh, don't you just love him?! He's so worthy of praise, so worthy of our adoration- of us to bow face down before Him and cast our crowns at His nail pierced feet.

There have been lots of different examples in our married life of God guiding us through rough terrain. Just like a parent would hold their little baby's hand, keeping him sturdy as he learns to walk, He has done for us. Most recently one of the hurdles we've been trying to conquer is our finances- being good stewards of our money, living within our means, and just trying to keep up with the never ending bills. As I'm sure it is with so many other families, there is always something, some new bill or issue that needs to be taken care of.

We've always just scrapped by; and although there are low moments when it can be really frustrating to not even be able to buy the cute shoes that are on clearance, the good thing about making every dollar stretch is it keeps us dependant on God. It keeps our perspective in check with what is really important. Right after Jonny graduated from grad school, we were going to spend the summer living on what little savings we had, and my very tiny income from the childcare I did. Basically, we were in a desperate situation. But God provided- through someone else giving us a very generous gift, we were able to survive and pay all our bills until Jonny got his first paycheck. So many things like that have happened over the years. When a rough month closes in on us and we think, how are we going to make it, the Lord provides. Last month we were in that boat, and right as the month came to a close and we were down to the wire, God provided. We were literally checking the car, the junk drawer, the bottom of my purse for any loose change or extra cash to help us make it, when- SURPRISE! A very large automatic payment was deposited in our checking account. (Money we had overpaid on our home owners insurance was reimbursed to us at the absolute perfect time!) Then, this month we were thinking its going to be tight again, we've got to live as simply as we can, and SURPRISE! We received a generous Christmas gift in the mail. I just love it when that happens!

He just keeps us right where we're supposed to be- trusting Him.