The 24th of May marked the year and a half anniversary of being in our new home!
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Their was the time that we were unemployed and were getting down to our last bit of food in the house. We prayed and 2 days later a friend (who didn't know our food situation) showed up unannounced on our doorstep. She was in tears and told me that God had placed it on her heart that morning during her prayer time to clean out her refrigerator and pantry and bring it all over to us.
Their was the time that we were having vehicle issues and we were not in a position to purchase a new car. We prayed. A few weeks later we got a phone call from someone that had a car.....to GIVE us!
Their was that time during our year of unemployment that I wanted to take a meal to a friend who just had a baby. If I did so though...would we have enough food to get us through the month? I prayed. I went to the store convinced that God would provide for us the rest of the month. As I was gathering a few things to make dinner for our friends, I stumbled across a 20$ bill in the grocery isle. I took it to management. They told me no one had claimed it so I could kept it. God provided the money to make a meal for our friends.
And during that same unemployment period, their was the time that a bill came in that we didn't have the money to pay. We prayed. Later that week when I went out to get our mail I found cash in an envelope with no return address on it. It covered the bill we needed to pay.
Their was the time we were moving from Tennessee to North Carolina and we drove over to NC to find a house to live in. Housing in the area we wanted to live (near Bryan's work) was incredibly high priced. We prayed. On our 2nd day there God lead us to a home that we fell head over heals for....and it was in our price range and that exact area we wanted.
These are just a few instances. I am not saying God gives us every single thing we have always asked for. Their have been plenty of times through the years when we prayed for something and the answer was not what we had hoped....but looking back we can say that in the end it was always just what we needed or in some cases, didn't need. I am saying though that God provides. He is faithful to provide for our every need and I believe He finds joy in pouring out his blessings upon his children. I believe he cares about every detail of our lives.
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When Bryan and I bought our very first home, his mom blessed us by passing on a complete set of living room furniture to us. An Ethan Allen sectional sofa that they had originally paid really big bucks for. That was 15 years ago. That sofa survived 6 moves and served us well! It took a lot of wear and tear from our family of 8 with multiple pets. When we moved into our current home we bought a slip cover to put over it. That worked well this past year for us but then the poor thing finally caved in and began breaking apart. First a hole in the side and then a leg broke off which meant when you sat on one end of the sofa and someone sat down on the other end, you bounced into the air. LOL! It had become evident that it was time for a new sofa. I began looking around, determined to find something at a thrift or used store for a decent price. I also prayed. I really wanted a nice sofa but knew it wasn't in the budget this year. Then 2 weeks ago Bryan emailed from work and told me one of the guys he works with was moving and had a couch for sale. He was asking 250$. Bryan said he was going to offer him 100$ and see what he said. We all prayed. This past week Bryan emailed when he was out of town and said he had heard back and we were getting the sofa for 100$!
Then 2 weeks ago, my neighbor Maria came over to tell me their was an estate sale going on around the corner from us. She and I walked down to check it out. Ever since we moved into our new home I have been longing for a recliner to go with the sofa in our living room. Recliners are expensive. Especially the swivel ones that rock and recline. I could not see paying 500$ or more for one. I really couldn't see paying even half of that. I had been keeping my eyes out at thrift stores. So Maria and I walk into the estate sale and their sitting in the living room is a blue recliner. Blue and brown are my living room colors. It was priced at 50$! We sat in it and checked it all out and it was in perfect condition. Seemed almost new to us. Maria is great at bargaining prices and she offered the guy 30$ for me and to my surprise, he took it!
A new couch and a new recliner. Two recent answers to prayers! Thank you God! Thank you for hearing us and providing for us!
Check out my new living room furniture......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Their was the time that we were unemployed and were getting down to our last bit of food in the house. We prayed and 2 days later a friend (who didn't know our food situation) showed up unannounced on our doorstep. She was in tears and told me that God had placed it on her heart that morning during her prayer time to clean out her refrigerator and pantry and bring it all over to us.
Their was the time that we were having vehicle issues and we were not in a position to purchase a new car. We prayed. A few weeks later we got a phone call from someone that had a car.....to GIVE us!
Their was that time during our year of unemployment that I wanted to take a meal to a friend who just had a baby. If I did so though...would we have enough food to get us through the month? I prayed. I went to the store convinced that God would provide for us the rest of the month. As I was gathering a few things to make dinner for our friends, I stumbled across a 20$ bill in the grocery isle. I took it to management. They told me no one had claimed it so I could kept it. God provided the money to make a meal for our friends.
And during that same unemployment period, their was the time that a bill came in that we didn't have the money to pay. We prayed. Later that week when I went out to get our mail I found cash in an envelope with no return address on it. It covered the bill we needed to pay.
Their was the time we were moving from Tennessee to North Carolina and we drove over to NC to find a house to live in. Housing in the area we wanted to live (near Bryan's work) was incredibly high priced. We prayed. On our 2nd day there God lead us to a home that we fell head over heals for....and it was in our price range and that exact area we wanted.
These are just a few instances. I am not saying God gives us every single thing we have always asked for. Their have been plenty of times through the years when we prayed for something and the answer was not what we had hoped....but looking back we can say that in the end it was always just what we needed or in some cases, didn't need. I am saying though that God provides. He is faithful to provide for our every need and I believe He finds joy in pouring out his blessings upon his children. I believe he cares about every detail of our lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Bryan and I bought our very first home, his mom blessed us by passing on a complete set of living room furniture to us. An Ethan Allen sectional sofa that they had originally paid really big bucks for. That was 15 years ago. That sofa survived 6 moves and served us well! It took a lot of wear and tear from our family of 8 with multiple pets. When we moved into our current home we bought a slip cover to put over it. That worked well this past year for us but then the poor thing finally caved in and began breaking apart. First a hole in the side and then a leg broke off which meant when you sat on one end of the sofa and someone sat down on the other end, you bounced into the air. LOL! It had become evident that it was time for a new sofa. I began looking around, determined to find something at a thrift or used store for a decent price. I also prayed. I really wanted a nice sofa but knew it wasn't in the budget this year. Then 2 weeks ago Bryan emailed from work and told me one of the guys he works with was moving and had a couch for sale. He was asking 250$. Bryan said he was going to offer him 100$ and see what he said. We all prayed. This past week Bryan emailed when he was out of town and said he had heard back and we were getting the sofa for 100$!
Then 2 weeks ago, my neighbor Maria came over to tell me their was an estate sale going on around the corner from us. She and I walked down to check it out. Ever since we moved into our new home I have been longing for a recliner to go with the sofa in our living room. Recliners are expensive. Especially the swivel ones that rock and recline. I could not see paying 500$ or more for one. I really couldn't see paying even half of that. I had been keeping my eyes out at thrift stores. So Maria and I walk into the estate sale and their sitting in the living room is a blue recliner. Blue and brown are my living room colors. It was priced at 50$! We sat in it and checked it all out and it was in perfect condition. Seemed almost new to us. Maria is great at bargaining prices and she offered the guy 30$ for me and to my surprise, he took it!
A new couch and a new recliner. Two recent answers to prayers! Thank you God! Thank you for hearing us and providing for us!
Check out my new living room furniture......
My 30$ rocker/recliner. It swivels all the way around and reclines. I have claimed it as "my" seat when we are all gathered in the living room watching movies.
Check out the small bakers rack that I found at the estate sale too.
I had been looking for one just like this to hold our small crock pot and pots and pans. The cheapest I had found was at Hobby Lobby and it was $60.00 on sale. I paid $10 for this one!
And the following, while not something I had prayed over, is just something I added recently to our front walkway. I found them both at Hobby Lobby on sale.
"And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him." 1John 5:14-15
