Provision

One of my favorite names for God found in the Bible is Jehovah Jireh.  It means God Provides, and I have never found Him to be otherwise than a magnificent provider. 

When we found out we were expecting another child, I realized that by this point, some baby things are needing replacement.  Mainly we were in need of two “big ticket” items: a highchair and a double stroller.  Since our budget is pretty tight, with every dollar assigned and not much to spare for big baby items, I was wondering how we were going to pull it off.  Silly me for worrying.  When has God ever brought us a blessing without providing the means for it?  Within a week, we were doubly blessed. First, our good friends K and D, offered us an almost-new highchair that their little one doesn’t use,  and then after the ultrasound confirmed that we were having a boy, they brought us scads of like-new baby boy clothes!Wow!  We were feeling totally blessed (thanks K and D!), and I felt the tension over providing for this new little one lessen.  Then at church on Sunday, no joke, a lady from our Ohana group offered me a double stroller that she no longer needed.  I couldn’t believe the way things had worked out.  God had really stepped in and provided when I didn’t see a way. 

And yet God wasn’t done working things out.  For a while now, DH and I have been longing for a leisurely, “child-less” morning where there is nothing to wake us but our own desire.  I mentioned this to my friend, V, in a “wouldn’t it be nice but I don’t think we can make it happen” sort of way, and she immediately offered to take the kids for a night.  V and her husband are the most willing babysitters of our children that I have ever met, and we could not have been more appreciative, but unfortunately, with all the trouble we’ve had with Bud going to sleep and having a one-year-old who has never slept anywhere but here, I didn’t think a night over at their house would work very well.  So, they offered to come to our house and let us stay at their place, but that, too, had some logistical problems.  So, we just put the idea out of our heads. 

Then, this past week, DH mentioned that the chaplain was hosting a marriage retreat down in Waikiki on Labor Day weekend. The hotel room, dinner, and registration are all free.  We fairly jumped at the chance, with DH getting a pass and me on the phone to V to see if they were still willing to stay overnight at our place.  Once again, God had worked out everything better than we ever could.

What a couple of weeks of unexpected blessings.  I am so glad that God works like He does, through the willing service of His children as they meet each other’s needs and bear one another’s burdens.  Life in the Family is good.  And God does indeed provide for not only our needs, but the desires of our hearts as well.