Just what we need.

Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
--Genesis 22:13-14


Yahweh-Yireh, or Jehovah Jireh, 'The Lord Provides'.  That's God's promise to every believer who waits on him, to every one of his children who trusts in him.  Many times in our walk with God our faith will be tested.  And when that happens, God wants to show us that he will provide.


I can't believe we're nearly half way through 2010 already. Time seems to fly faster every year, and this morning I started thinking about all of the things that have happened over the last months and how God has been right there providing us with what we need, at exactly the moment we need it. I'm thankful that throughout my life God has shown himself to me in that way over and over again, whether it was providing financial support at the last minute before a mission trip or providing my family with anything from groceries to Christmas presents when we didn't have the means to purchase them on our own. 


This year has been no exception. We were able to get our sweet little puppy Béla back in January, only to find out less than 24 hours later that we were pregnant.  :)  A month later I lost my job, leaving us with only Matt's salary to live off of. It was a little scary having our family income cut nearly in half, but I applied for unemployment and it went through quickly with no problems, providing us with exactly the money we needed to afford to keep our health insurance and pay the rest of our bills. (Very thankfully, we have no debt right now outside of our student loans.)


Then when it came time to file taxes, it looked as if we were going to have to pay anywhere from a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars to the government, due to some things that weren't done properly with Matt's job. It worked out that we did have to pay federal, but got a return from state so that it not only evened out, but we were left with enough money from the state return to pay our car taxes for the year and the COBRA payment for the month of June. Even our accountant said he was somewhat surprised that it worked out so well. 


Then a couple weeks ago the filtration system on Boogie's aquarium broke during the night and had been spilling water out onto our living room floor for several hours by the time I caught it the next morning. It damaged the wood laminate as well as the lady's living room ceiling below us. We didn't know what we were going to do, as getting it fixed will easily cost anywhere from a few hundred to possibly over $1000, depending on whether or not we can match the flooring or if we have to re-do the entire room. Somehow it came up when we were talking to some people at church, and within a week we got a call from another member of our church who is involved in a local ministry that does contracting type work for people who can't afford it. He came out to our apartment and looked at the damage, took a piece of the floor with him, and told us not to worry about anything, that everything would be taken care of. What a HUGE blessing!!! 


Those aren't the only ways that God has provided for us this year, but they are definitely some of the big ones. There have also been so many other things I didn't mention that we've been blessed with through our families, friends, and church. And now there is yet another situation where it seems like God may be providing our family with a truly enormous gift. I don't want to say too much "in public" until we know for sure what the outcome will be, but whichever way things happen I know that God is in control. If this particular thing doesn't work out, I know that He will continue to provide for us in some other way.  :)