this is something andrew wrote about a week after he lost the job...since then we have had more blessings from more unexpected places than we could ever imagine...but this is how it started. we will post more soon!
June 2009
I don't have anything to say about the events of the last few days. There's a lot there, but it involves a lot of people and frankly it's none of your business, but I will speak to this....
...After realizing that I no longer have any work, and that our prospects looked bleak. I hugged Sarah and just prayed to God to make some sense out of this. That night my mother-in-law came over. She came through the door with a loaf of bread and a small bag of bananas. "Look, God is providing already!" I smiled, thanked her for the gift, and continued being lost in grief. Then she said "Andrew, come her with your wife and let us pray over these loaves, and fish...Okay,... bananas, and pray that God multiplies this blessing. We prayed. "Dear heavenly Father, she said. "Please bless this food, may you make it multiply Lord, as you have provided for us so many times. You are our Jehovah Jireh, our provider, and we ask and we know that You can do these things. In Jesus name, Amen." It wasn't that I was skeptical that God could change things. I've seen God move before. But I was despondent, and hurt and really, all I wanted to do was grieve and move on.
I woke up today like I had woken up yesterday. At first calm, but after about ten seconds those demons, which for those of you unfamiliar with the beliefs of the Christian tradition, you can take figuratively, but for those of you who are, I mean very literally "demons", began turning my stomach in knots about my present situation and the doom that will soon follow. I prayed, and after some moments, those feelings went away, replaced with a calming sense of peace, even a little hope.
That evening Sarah went with her Mom to return some things to Target, as we could get store credit, and use it to buy diapers. There wasn't much. A pair of jeans Sarah had bought on sale for the ridiculous price of $5.34. They came back home that night triumphant. "Look at this!" Sarah shoved the receipt in my face. "What?" I said as I quickly scanned the receipt for anything worthy of her response. "They gave me back $12.84." "Okay," I said. "Andrew, these jeans only cost $5.34. See, God's multiplying our blessings already." "Wow." I said, underwhelmed. "You should be freaking out." she said. "No, I am. That's cool." feigning excitement, still a little confused. My response didn't deter her joy, as she stashed the receipt and moved along.
The food I mentioned earlier that Sarah's Mother-in-law had brought to us had come from Ginger Creek. They provide lunch for their pre-school "Ginger Care" and sometimes if their numbers are low they have leftovers that they either throw away or my Mother-in-law takes to give to whomever may need it. It usually isn't much, but are grateful when it comes. The woman preparing the food was substituting for the regular staffer who typically does it, and had just been slicing oranges. On her left a pile of unsliced oranges. On her right the pile of oranges she had been slicing. Logically, one pile will get smaller as the other pile gets bigger. Logically, that pile being the pile on the left getting smaller, as the pile on the right gets bigger. There were a dozen or so oranges, just like their had been countless other days, because that is the amount of oranges they order daily from their catering company. After this woman had sliced the last serving of oranges she glanced back over at the pile on the left, which by this point shouldn't be there. She went to deliver the snack to the classrooms but stopped by the office to mention the strange occurrence in the kitchen to some of the teachers and staff. "It's the strangest thing," she said, "It seems as if no matter how many slices i cut, the number of oranges stayed the same, it's so weird!" I don't know what was said at this point, but this is where I imagine my mother-in-law joyfully shout, "Multiplying!", grabbing the oranges and scurrying off. Predictably the oranges are now sitting in a bag on my kitchen counter, ready for smoothies in the morning.
This afternoon I was sitting with Eilidh in my lap when the doorbell rang. We weren't expecting anyone, so we were surprised to see a friend we had met recently through church. She had a bouquet of bright yellow flowers in her hand and she askes us to come out to her van. She opened the back hatch and pulled out three large Rubbermaid containers full of food. We are not talking Aldi. We're talking Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, artisian breads, fancy cheeses, Gluten free items, frozen flatbread pizzas, fresh produce. "Will you guys eat any of this?" she asked. I immediately welled up. It was if God had slapped me in the face with His grace. It that moment The Word came alive. He had "multiplied" our blessings, and specifically too. Our 2 oldest children have autism...God has brought them so very far in the last few years, but alot of their progress relies on a modified diet plan that we have found to be essential. When we go off the diet, they both have regression issues. Needless to say, this is one of our biggest concerns since sticking with those needs is not cheap! When we looked closer we realized that she had brought foods to meet our children's strict dietary needs exactlty. The clincher was the giant sack of bananas. It looked exactly like the small bag we had prayed over just two nights ago, only much bigger. I had to use two hands to carry into the house. Our friend has blessed us like she will never know, and like all humble servants told us "This didn't come from me. This is God's food He just told me to bring it here."
Again, this evening my mother-in-law came over. She brought a friend she had told of our situation. He was raised Catholic, like her, but unlike her had only somewhat recently began looking beyond himself. They brought for us a simple, yet delicious meal of spinach salad and fresh bread with Olive oil and crushed pepper, played with the kids for a few moments and then they were on their way. I didn't notice it immediately, but on our kitchen counter was an envelope. I looked at Sarah. Sarah looked at me. It said:
for Sarah and Andrew, a gift. "You open it," I said. She opened it. I don't want to go into details, but it took a few moments to count all the twenties...."Multiplying"
My family has a verse. It came in a vision from my mother-in-law when Niamh was born. We didn't really understand the significance at the time, but as the years pass the meaning grows clearer and we have always claimed it as a life verse for our growing family.
"..See if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room for it... "
Malachi 3:10b
I like this verse because it's ballsy. It's as if someone challenged God's provision to His face, and He answers: "Oh yeah? I've been blessing people since before you were born. You're gonna get so much blessing that you're not gonna know what to do. You're gonna be like "Help! Help! I'm drowning in milk, honey, and iPhones, my non-believing booty is lost in my gold mansion. I need to hire someone to prune my money tree. I have an easy button for my easy button.”….Okay, that was a little extreme, but you get my point, right? Again, sorry to my traditionalist Christian friends, but this note is for everyone. God loves everybody, no exceptions. God also has a sense of humor..."Mulitplying"
