Testimony Tuesday

My husband and I have seen God provide for us time and time again. I am not sure why we still never let us down.
sometimes worry and fret because He has

I want to share with you a recent example of His provision.

We did were not expecting to purchase a vehicle anytime soon as all of our vehicles were running and we have been striving to get out of debt so we were just planning on making due with what we had. Our oldest daughter already had a car and even our second oldest found a car and has it running and she doesn't even have a license yet.

Anyway, my husband called me just over a week ago and told me he had purchased a vehicle! To say I was shocked is an understatement! When I asked why, he told me, "The price was right and I had the cash to pay for it." He even admitted he wasn't sure why God would provide this vehicle and such a great price, but He did. The vehicle needed some work, but we figured with just a few hundred dollars, it would be running and we had a few ideas of who might use it.

Well, come to find out, the fix was MUCH easier and MUCH cheaper than even he suspected. He had it up and running over the weekend. We plated it and insured it and figured it would save him money to drive that back and forth to work and it would leave me with the vehicle he had been driving for my errands so I didn't have to drive our bus (which doesn't has very good fuel economy). Well, God then showed us the reason for his provision! The vehicle that I was now driving broke down. Had he still been driving that back and forth to work, he would have been without a vehicle and would have had to drive the bus every day.

Granted, he can fix the vehicle, but while we are waiting for the parts to arrive and the time to fix it, he still has something to drive to work and I am just back to driving the bus.

I think that sometimes people don't think about things like this being a provision because it was provided before the need arose, but that is exactly what it is!

Has God provided for a need for you? I would love for you to share your provision testimony; it would be an encouragement to others to see God's great love for His children.

Fish and Loaves Experiences

John 6:9-13 

There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

Have you ever had a fish and loaves experience? I have multiple time.

A recent experience happened just last week. A friend brought a meal for my family to help out after my baby was born. She had asked about how many chicken roasters my family would need. I told her that I usually cook a 5-6 lb whole chicken for us. She was amazed as her family of 5 (with 3 small children) eat a 3 lb roaster. Well, she cooked two, 3 lb roasters for us and it fed everyone and we had leftovers.

I guess I had never thought about how little a 6 lb chicken seems to be able to feed a large family, but God has always made it enough for us.

I would love to hear your "fish and loaves" experiences! Share below in the comments!

Balance Between Giving and Saving

Philippians 4:19 

Our wood stockpile

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

We recently discussed in our Wednesday night study about the balance between giving and providing for family (savings, health insurance, etc.).

I tend to have a different attitude on this subject than most people. I feel that if it is in our power to help/give now, that we should and God will provide for us later. I think the different mindset comes from seeing a difference between a need and a want. I might want a large savings or a stock pile for the "what if", but it isn't a need.

Paul tells us in this verse that God will reward giving by supplying "all you need." While I know that the world will say it is wise to prepare for the future (and I do agree to some extent), I believe it is wise to help where God is calling as well and I tend to live by 2 Corinthians 5:7--"(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)"

I think that since I have seen God provide in many ways, I tend to have the faith that He will continue to do so. I'll share a few examples.

I was given some canning jars that I figured we would need to put up items for the winter. Well, our apple trees didn't produce very well that year and we didn't get much venison so I ended up not using all our jars. I had a friend who had a banner year in her garden and she was out of jars. I told her she could have a few dozen of mine. She didn't want to take them because she knew I would need them the next year. I finally talked her into taking them by telling her that if I needed them, God would provide more later. Well, not even 24 hours after she picked them up, I received a call from an older relative who was getting out of canning and asked if I could use more jars! I ended up with 6 more boxes full of jars! I have never run out of jars (I've used all the empties we had, but never needed more than those).

Another time, I had a friend whose husband didn't get any venison that year. She had two small children and was trying to feed them on a tight budget. We had a good year that year as far as venison goes so I gave her some of our venison. That spring, just as we were running out of our venison, God provided more meat through another friend who was cleaning out a freezer. I didn't need to store that venison to provide for my family--God did it for me!

We have been blessed with the opportunity to store a lot of firewood to heat the house in the winter. Unfortunately, a lot of it is pine because with an outdoor wood stove, we are able to burn pine, but we do also get hardwood often as well. We have had a few times where we've had friends who needed wood to heat their homes in the winter or they would have gone cold. We have been able to provide them with what they needed to get them through to a payday or until they had a chance to cut more themselves. God has always provided more wood for us whenever we have shared.