The Life We Live

Josh and I feel very strongly about teaching our children that all good things come from God. But we also feel very convicted to show our children that life isn't always easy and we want them to know that God's answers to our prayers aren't always the "yes" we're seeking. That God is good ALL the time, even when our circumstances aren't always the most pleasant.

This practice is one of the hardest things to live by. Especially for the emotionally-driven girl that I tend to be=) But alas, it is a necessary step in our spiritual walk, I believe.

With that said, I want to tell you a story of God's provision in our lives from this past week.

In our line of work, we don't get a consistent pay check. We strive for a salary but we never really know how much of it we'll actually get. It is a life of faith we have chosen to live by as we follow the Lord's direction for our family and ministry. We have NEVER been in need. He always provides for us and we don't doubt that, but sometimes we wonder just how in the world He is going to pull it off, you know?!

Well, it was time for us to cut our next paycheck and we were about $800 short of our alloted salary. We also had a youth retreat in Richmond, VA and we didn't know where we were going to get gas money to get there. We didn't even have our ministry credit card for backup because somebody stole our credit card number...AGAIN!!! The bills were piling up but I was mentally preparing to rejoice in all circumstances. I was trying to think of a creative way to show our kids that we were going to surrender our lives through this and live in expectancy of God's provision.

Then, I went out to our mailbox (one of the highlights of my day!)...

Inside was an envelope that said "Josh and Tasha Via for whatever" It had $60 in it. We were able to mail off our newsletter, put some gas in our car and go out on a date (don't worry, it was a FRUGAL date. We only spent $10 all night long and even racked up on some FREE groceries in the process;).

Then I opened up another envelope that was for almost $400 on a medical bill that we had overpaid! I have NO idea how that happened because I very carefully run every bill by our insurance explanation of benefits and call the company before paying the balance. I won't argue with them though!

I opened another envelope from some dear friends of ours. God had laid on their hearts to give us a $250 donation. Coincidence? I don't think so!

Then I opened yet another envelope for over $100 from Covenant Eyes. We partner with this organization to help promote internet accountability and we had so many people sign up under us that they PAID US!

God is SO good! I was prepared to rejoice with little, trusting that God knows what is BEST for us. I think that's it though, the willingness to rejoice in all things and living in the great expectation of God's ways!

You'll have to excuse me now, I have to go to the grocery store because we're out of milk, bread, cereal, tortillas...