Our Blessing

I have to share this great story. I am not telling this for personal praise or any other reason than to give 100% of the glory to God. Hopefully, it will be an encouragement as well.

Graciously our new employers gave us $16,500 (purpose for actual numbers comes later) for moving expenses. No way would Ian and I use this much (our altruistic thinking). I mean after all, we have been trying to be minimalists since we got married.

We stocked up on TONS of food (probably 1000 #'s I imagine), only packed small amount of books/clothes, kitchen stuff, etc. Our biggest items were our Honda Forman (our new mode of transportation) and my treadmill (I cannot possibly borrow anymore of my pregnant sister-in-laws clothes...thanks Bri!)

Then it got interesting. When the movers packed up our house, they ran out of  boxes because we had so much stuff.  They estimated that our total was around 4300 lbs. Our initial quote was $10,000 for 2000 lbs...or about $5000/1000lbs...so doing the math we could potentially owe an extra $5000! When Ian and I heard this our hearts and mouths dropped. 

Usually in situations such as these I tend to get very stressed and "snowball" as Ian likes to put it. Thankfully, Ian has been a great example in my life and has shown me the better way of continual prayer. So, I really pressed forward and sought God's will. I gave this road block to him knowing that he is so much bigger than money problems.

Fast forward to the next day....I am driving home from running errands and my mind starts to take me to the well known "worry zone." Where are we going to get this money? How could this have happened, etc?  I feel my heart racing and mind spinning....then to my right I spot a homeless gentleman pushing his grocery cart in the middle of winter without any gloves. My spirit immediately stirs. How can I even feel upset over my situation. I mean after all, I may have spent too much on over packing food! I should be grateful that I even had enough material possessions to pack, let alone the chance to move to Alaska with a fabulous job!

 So, feeling overwhelmed with gratefulness I pulled my car over. I took all the money out of my wallet and along with my gloves gave them to this man. I kept thinking that out of my "lack" I am going to give even more.

I drove home worshiping like I never had worshiped before. I just knew that if I continued to trust God, He really was going to provide, even if we owed $10,000. My peace continued through our move and I really felt good about the situation. I know the Lord that I serve.

Then, last night (2 wks later) I spoke with Ian and he informed me that our moving total came in at $16,300!!!!! We made it! Glory to God!

I truly belive that that homeless man was an angel. Not that God wouldn't have provided if I hadn't pulled over, but I believe that He wanted to give me the choice to serve Him or money. In life you often have to battle your pride, godships, and dependency, but if you choose God first, there is always a blessing.

I hope this serves to bless you as it did me. It is such a great example of how God will provide. For us it wasn't just monetarily, it was spiritually. Thank you Lord for the chance to serve you and for this amazing blessing!