Poorly Rich, or Richly Poor?

God has a great way of smacking me upside the head when I stop focusing on Him.

The past few months have been rough. I've been griping (both internally and externally) about all the issues we've been having and trying to find a way to fix everything. I know God was with me, but I never consulted Him except to ask to get us out of this mess- Not asking if there was a reason behind the mess in the first place.

Instead of my eyes seeing what was in front of me, I kept worrying for the future. Let's just say I was looking at a full fridge and wondering what I was going to eat next week. 

We didn't seem to have a lot, and that always makes me sad. I have a fear of not having enough for my husband and kids. And I hate having nothing to offer people in need.

Then my husband received two phone calls yesterday.

The first call was a family friend that had no place to sleep for the next few days. We had the perfect sleeping couch ever made; all that we needed was a few pillows and a blanket make it sleep-worthy. We had that.

The second call was a man and his wife who hadn't eaten in three days. They had gas to cook with, but no food to eat. All of a sudden my fridge seemed pretty full- full enough to share.

We invited them over for dinner. I made a huge pot of chicken noodle soup and we sat them down with as much as they could eat, with plenty of bread and butter. And all they did was talk about how good God was. It was awesome.

They didn't have electricity but they did have a cooler with ice, so I was able to give them the entire pot of soup along with several loaves of bread, a pound of butter (gotta have bread and butter with the soup after all), and a few other things they could have at room temperature or wouldn't spoil in an ice-filled cooler. They left our home with enough food for a few days. They left me with a new perspective.

God provides for the sparrows each day. He provides for the squirrels, the deer, and even the stray cats that visit my yard each day. So why wouldn't He provide for me, my family and our friends and neighbors? And why didn't I see the full fridge before those phone calls?

I was poorly rich. After yesterday I can now say that I'm richly poor- and yes, my fridge is full- no matter how much food is or isn't in there- because God provides and helps me provide for others. 

God is awesome!