God ALWAYS Provides!

Today started out as a great day. Sydney and I went to church at the Spring Hill campus of TPC (Todd had to work), and the sermon was great. William Guice spoke, and I always like hearing him speak. William spoke about Abraham and Isaac and about trusting God (there was more to the sermon than that, but that's my Cliffs Notes version). He talked about how God will test us to see if we REALLY believe He will provide for us. Abraham was willing to offer his only son, Isaac, as a living sacrifice to God because God told him to, BUT in doing so he also BELIEVED that God would allow Isaac to live (or at least be raised from the dead after Abraham sacrificed him). Just as Abraham was about to kill his only son as a sacrifice to God, God stepped in and provided a ram in the thicket to take the place of Isaac as the sacrifice. What amazing faith Abraham had!! God will often test our faith as well to see if we will trust that He will provide a ram in the thicket for us. In listening to William, little did I know that my faith in God's provision would be tested shortly afterward.

My day continued to go smoothly after church as Sydney and I were on our way to Publix to get a roast to fix for dinner (I was actually going to cook for a change!). On the way, as we drove through "downtown Spring Hill" (all 3 traffic lights), I saw some signs for a farmer's market that was taking place. At the farmer's market they were having a petting zoo, and I knew I had to find that petting zoo for little Miss Sydney!! I found it on a side street in town, and Syd and I got out of the car and visited with some goats, a baby calf (sooooooo sweet BTW that I wanted to take him home for a pet!!), a huge pig (and I mean HUGE!!), ducks, hens, bunnies, and a llama. It was so much fun! Sydney didn't quite know what to think about the animals because they were very different from our dogs and cats at home, but she didn't cry any (she is so brave!). I, being the animal lover that I am, was in hog heaven with the animals at the petting zoo (no pun intended toward the HUGE pig!). It was sooooo much fun!! After leaving the petting zoo, we headed toward Publix. That's when I got a call from Todd........

It appears that Todd's car decided to break down today. His car is not old ('06 Altima), so this came as a bit of a shock to me. Apparently, Todd had been running a few errands before going to work, and when he came out of one of the stores and got in his car, it would not start. Dead. Nothing. He got a friend to come and try to jump it off, and that did not help. So, it was obviously not the battery. Soooooo, Todd had to call Nissan and had to get a tow truck to come and take the car to the dealership. All this happened in Murfreesboro, about 35-40 minutes away from Spring Hill. So, I had to go pick up Todd and take him to work. Then, I called my parents and asked if they would mind bringing one of their vehicles to M'boro so Todd could drive it for a day or two (hopefully not longer!). Mom and Dad have 3 vehicles, so luckily they always have a "spare" for times such as these. They gladly said they would come down (afterall, they would get to see Miss Sydney!), so they did, and Todd now has a car to drive until the Altima gets fixed.

Needless to say, the newest saga for us with the car breaking down reminded me of William's sermon and how God ALWAYS PROVIDES for us. If you read my last blog, I griped quite a bit about several monetary hassles Todd and I have had this past month (I forgot to mention our computer breaking too and us having to spend $600 on a new one- Todd's parents graciously paid for that, though!). This past month has been one where over and over and over we have had to shell out extra money on things when we don't really have extra money to shell out. HOWEVER, through it all God HAS PROVIDED for our needs. Our bills are all paid, we have a roof over our heads and food in our tummies, gas in our tanks (that's a big one these days!), and our beautiful daughter. All in all, we have EVERYTHING that we NEED. It might not be all that we WANT, but it's everything that we NEED. God is ALWAYS FAITHFUL, and I know this car trouble is just His way of testing us again to see if we REALLY BELIEVE that He will provide for us.

As we wait to hear what is wrong with our car, I am confident that God will provide a ram in the thicket for us. Luckily, Todd has an extended warranty on his car, so hopefully that will cover the cost of our repairs. For me, as long as I have my family, friends, food, and a home, I am a happy woman.