A Living Testament of His Provision

It's raining here. Raining so hard that it's one of those Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice nights. The air is definitely cooler these days and fall is settling upon our little world once more. I went outside to listen to it falling on the tin and the roar of the pelting rain was so hard that it drowned out even the excited kids running around that should've been asleep hours ago. The cool windy rain is almost like sea spray as it is blown through the air. It is one of those rainy nights that you wish you could live a thousand of in a lifetime....curled up under warm covers with one of the most captivating books ever to be read while sweet slumbering children....lots of them....sleep content and warm down the old creaky wood hallway. Bunkbeds full of children fill one room while a chubby, rosy cheeked cherub baby sleeps in a crib and a soft, sweet smelling, perfect newborn sleeps peacefully beside me. And I realize that every need in life I have is met right here under the roof of my warm, cozy, inviting home. Everything else in the world pales in comparison to this tiny bit of heaven. I am blessed.

It's been almost a week now and I feel as though it's been forever since being able to sit down on here and organize my thoughts. We had a lightening storm over the weekend and the electricity went out and then screwed up the computer. Mother spent the weekend with us while Brad was in Ruidoso on a deer hunt so I ended up not having much extra time anyway.

But I will begin with our needs being met in an ever growing testimony of miraculous provisions for our family. And let me add that we have not always had provisions in such miraculous ways. We are learning more and more, especially as we work our way through The Blessed Life and as I focus my study on that, that as we purpose to live according to those principles our blessings have indeed increased in tremendous ways. And as we have given over our family size to the Lord we have seen His hand move in such mighty ways to meet the needs of our ever growing family. We have seen that children are indeed an incredible gift directly from Him and He does provide for each and every one of them in a variety of creative ways....but our needs are always met without fail. And as we have begun The Blessed Life journey we have seen even more so that when a need does arise it is met in a rather creative manner and far and above even what we had desired. Maybe it is because in part of this walk I am learning what it is to become truly content with what we have and making due with the present is not the drudgery it used to be. I know that our time in a Suburban is extremely limited now since our expanding family will never fit in one again. So, I have learned what it is to cherish the time we have left in driving something so fun. Because I know it is only a matter of time before we graduate up to a honker of a passenger van....and though I eagerly wait for the day to finally spread out the 5 carseats I love the time that is left in our Suburban.

The journey for a van began last fall when our need for one became evident to some of the people around here. We soon found out that TX law had come down on the public schools and all schools were having to get rid of their passenger vans. Through a series of events last fall God directed us to the superintendent of a nearby school district. I told him our story and why we had a need for a van. It became apparent that each of us were quite taken with the other. I fell in love with him and he was in love with our story. He too has twin boys that made #4 & 5 for their family and we spoke of the joy of twins, large families, the missing values in today's society and the love and mercy of God and how blessed we are by the gift of our children. The day I called they had just sold their 15 passenger school van for 1,500.00. He lamented it and said he wished so much he had known of our need sooner. He would've sold it to us had he known. My heart began to fall but I knew that the Lord was definitely in this and there is no such thing as a minute....or day.....too late when God is on the move. He did say the daycare has a 15 passenger van they had just bought brand new and it has hardly been used. He told me of its perfect interior, CD player, power doors and locks, and all of the added extras that made it quite the perfect van to own. He was of the opinion that it was only a matter of time before the law came down on them and they were forced to sell too. So, after an hour of incredible conversation with him last November I was told to call sometime over this past summer and check on the status of the law and if they would indeed be getting rid of it. So, months went by and over the summer Mother and I stopped by his office with the children so I could meet him in person, since I had loved talking to him so much. He was away for the week and I was given his email. I held onto his email for quite some time, feeling that it just wasn't the time to ask about it yet. Finally I emailed him at the end of August and he responded immediately back. The law had not affected the daycare but he said to contact a specific person to see if the daycare was interested in selling. So, a bit disheartened I knew the odds weren't looking too good. Why in the world would some woman just call up and ask if they want to sell their van???? And why in the world would they suddenly be willing to sell after having had this van for just one year? So, I waited still. I didn't feel in my heart like it was time to call this lady and I didn't really have it figured out just what exactly I needed to say.........."Ummmmm............Hello? Yes. Would you like to sell your van to me?" was about all I could come up with because of how absurd it felt to ask what seemed to be such an insane question. And I'll add, during these 10 months of waiting the children and I would often drive to the town where this van sat and we would sit beside it and pray over it asking the Lord for a miracle if He wanted to bless us this exact van. So, after being given the daycare lady's name I began to pray that the Lord would show us His perfect timing. And then Brad began to pray. I must admit that we do not do too well in the praying together category but we both knew our need and we both prayed. One night last week I was doped up on Benadryl and barely awake and he took my hand and began to pray with me for a van. I woke up trying to figure out if it had been a dream or if he really had prayed. And he had prayed with me. Within only a few days the school's superintendent, whom Mother had already met due to her county job, came walking through her door yet again and asked if I had ever called the daycare. She told him no. He then began to tell the story of how the daycare is going under. They have use of every school vehicle the ISD owns and have no need for a van and are wanting to get rid of this van that has been driven only a handful of times. They are now just driving it around the block to keep it running and it has only held a group of children twice since they've owned it. He told her to give us the word and to, by all means, call this lady. It became quite apparent that the time was now.

So, I hung up with Mother, prayed that the Lord would give me the words to say....since, as most know, I have forever been inept with spoken words......and began to dial. The very lady answered the phone and I explained who I was. To my surprise, she already knew of our family, who I was and our entire story and interest in the van. And then she began to tell the daycare's story. It is going under and doing everything within its power to stay up and running. The van is of no use to them but they cannot sell it due to having received it by a grant. They are only allowed to donate it or trade it in, which trading it in serves no purpose for them at this point. She went on to say that they would love to donate it to our family but it must go before the school board and be approved by them before they are at liberty to do so. Our interest in it and story had been discussed at the Oct meeting and was set to be discussed again at the Nov meeting. She was excited she had finally been able to talk with me and asked that I find out what I could as far as the donation of it goes and if our family would meet the criteria in which they have to adhere to due to the grant restrictions. I emailed and made some phone calls over the next 2 days and was able to work everything out. I emailed the superintendent with the info I had been able to get and it will be brought before the school board in Nov. So, our journey continues and is not over just yet.

"Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the Lord." Ps. 27:14

But, in this, I am overwhelmed by the perfection, love and mercy of God. I am overwhelmed by being so blessed. Whether it works out or not at this point is not really even an issue since I have seen what it is to wait on His timing and to see what it is He does when we wait on Him. I think I have been so impatient and tried so many times to cram stuff together for so long that I am learning what it is to wait on Him. And when I am completely content with what it is He has already given us He just pours forth more and pours forth even greater gifts. Since we committed to staying out of debt we have been so extremely blessed by those principles. Specifically blessed in the vehicle area of our life. I found out I was pregnant with Garrett and He gave us a Suburban....as in GAVE.....we didn't pay a dime. And now here we are with the Suburban maxed out with these children He has given us and now He is giving us something bigger to fit them all in. The very details are what is so amazing to me. If He does indeed have this very van planned for us there would not even be money involved in it being turned over. We would truly have a van donated to our family. It doesn't get much freer than that. I love to watch God work in our finances. I think it is so dear to my heart since I have personally struggled with this area for so long. What joy there is in turning this area completely over to the Lord and how incredible it is to see Him physically meet our needs in tangible ways. I am just overwhelmed. We will see what comes of the van...but whether it eventually sits in our driveway for our use or we are given one later on down the road by a different means I know more than anything that the Lord is aware of every one of our needs and He truly is meeting them in His time. Anything is possible.