God's Work Never Lacks God's Provision

With the announcement that our 4th child is on the way I have gotten several unusual comments . Most people have been genuinely happy for us , several people have been well meaning but come across as hurtful or in some cases rude ,  and others have just been down right mean and hateful .  Sometimes it really gets under my skin, other times not as much . One that we got from a well meaning family member was : " You must be have a really good job and  you better hope that nothing ever changes if your going to raise that family of yours". We as a family have been blessed with a great job for my husband, but things aren't exactly predictable .  As a wife of a man whose job demand changes from month to month I have learned that God provides in all circumstances . In years past there have times where my husband hasn't worked for as much as a month . Usually the slow time as an electrician is somewhere between October-Feburary . Sometimes that means shorter work days , and sometimes that means weeks with no work at all . In the past that has meant some really dark and scary days . In those time God has proven himself faithful time and time again .

In 2009 we had one child and one on the way, and it was also a very rough year for us . In October we hit our usual slow down and my husband went without work for almost a month . It was a dark and scary time there for about a week , we honestly didn't know what we were going to do .  We had savings, but we had been through several slow times that year so our savings was pretty much gone . We had a trip planned to visit family in another state , but I called to let them know we wouldn't be able to make it because we needed to save the money that we had set aside because I honestly didn't know when we would get another paycheck . Turns out that they needed some work done on there property , and were willing to pay for the trip and pay for my husband to do the work . So we made the trip and were there a week . When we left a week later they had paid my husband way more than we expected , and we left with boxes of home canned foods and a cooler full of meat.  That trip truly saved us financially and came at the most needed time . 

Several times God's provision has been unexpected phone calls from friends , and sometimes complete strangers that are friends of a friend , calling because they need electrical work done or work done  to there house . One of those calls usually comes after a unexpected expense has happened , or if work is slow . It always seems to happen without fail when we really need it to . 

We have also gotten several unexpected checks in the mail just at the right time . When my Dad passed away in mid August of 2009 we had the majority of his things that no one wanted sold at auction . We were told it would at least be a month , possibly two before the auction , and could be a least a couple of months after that before we recieved anything from it . We were told to expect it around mid December . In late October early November , work for my husband was slow , but there was a paycheck coming in every week . Still we were behind on bills , because not enough was coming in . I was however grateful that the lights were on , and there was food on the table , and clothes on our backs . One day at the beginning of November I went to the mailbox to find a check from the auction company for over 800.00 . It was over a month earlier than expected .  After the money was split between my brother and myself it was just enough to catch us up on bills , and to have a little extra . 

There have been a couple of occasions of trash bags of kids clothes and shoes being left on our front porch that were left by unknown people , and unexpected packages showing up on the front porch filled with clothes and shoes from friends . 

We've been blessed with food that was completely good that would have otherwise been thrown out. 

In the past couple of years  I have learned ways to be more frugal , to make each and every dollar stretch. I have done so by growing our garden, learning to can, using cloth diapers, buying used when possible, and learning to cook cheaply . God has provided for us so much through that. I cannot tell you how much  money I have saved just by being more watchful of what I spend and when I spend it .

Luke 11:9 ""And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you."

In early 2011 work slowed down for us, as it did for many people due to economic times . He was still working but it wouldn't always be a full week . So we cut back to just basic expenses and began to pray that God would provide . We as a family began to pray nightly for God to give Daddy lots of work to do . We continued to pray for about a month and slowly but surely business started to boom . Before we knew it the company that my husband works for had more work than they knew what to do with , they actually had to much work and had to hire a couple of people to be able to do it all . It came to the point where we stopped praying for work because we were overwhelmed. In a year that most people were out of work , and unemployment levels in many areas were sky high , my husband and his coworkers were overrun with work. As I said there is usually a slow time around October-Feburary . There just simply wasn't in 2011 . As of this month they have worked for almost 2 years straight with no slow periods at all. I can only credit God for that . 

2011 and 2012 have been such blessed years for our family . We have been blessed with more work than we can handle . We were blessed with two children , Andrew who was born in January 2011 , and this baby in my belly who is due December 21st 2012 . Our garden is booming , and we have been so blessed with more green beans , cucumbers , tomatoes , potatoes,  green peppers and corn than we can imagine and our sweet potatoes and carrots are doing very well . So far this year we have canned 172 jars worth fruits and veggies and it's only July . Our pantry is completely full with over 600 jars, and we are officially completely out of canning jars . Everyone is healthy, and we have been richly blessed. In the past couple years we have become a lot more financially stable as we have paid off debt and become smarter with our money . Still the truth is things do change , things around our house aren't always predictable . Regardless of weather we had 2 or 10 kids you can never predict the future, regardless it's always in God's hands. I've found that there is always enough of everything to go around . A good friend of mine told me that when she was pregnant with her 4th child , she was being criticized for having more because at the time they were struggling financially , her response was "God's work never lacks God's provision ." and that has  showed true for her family over and over again.  I have found that to be true in our lives, God's work never does lack God's provision". 

Matthew 6: 31-34

³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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