Slow and Steady

This is how Derick and I went to church together today.  He doesn't look very happy, but he was listening intently to the sermon, I promise!  

Today I payed bills for the month of March.  I am generally the person in charge of the finances in our household.  Especially while Derick is away.  Derick earns the money.  I spend the money.  

Well, maybe not exactly like that...

Anyway, I was going down the list of bills, paying them, checking them off one at a time.  And then I came to my monthly Samaritan share.  For those of you that are members, yes, I realize that it's past the 15th.  For those of you that are not members, Samaritan is what my family uses for healthcare instead of insurance.  Yes, even instead of TriCare insurance that we could get through the Navy.  

Every month I send my monthly share amount directly to another member.  Then that member uses my share, along with all the others that they receive to pay their own medical bills, no insurance necessary.  It truly is the body of Christ working together to take care of each other.  

There's a new show on Netflix called "Anne with an E".  It is a retelling of Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorites!  I have mixed feelings about this retelling.  But one episode is a perfect picture of what Samaritan members do for each other.  In this episode, Anne is awakened in the middle of the night because the Gilles' house is on fire.  She, along with Matthew and Marilla, arrive to find the house completely engulfed in flames.  Everyone in the community automatically got up out of bed and showed up to help put out the fire.  And when the fire was out, there was no question about the house getting rebuilt.  It was simply understood that the whole community would begin the next day, clearing the burned home and rebuilding.

It was just understood that the community would work together to meet the need in front of their friends.  And there was no question.  Everyone dropped what they were doing to help get the job done.  And they worked together until the need was met.

This month I sent my share to a family in California.  Their daughter has cancer.  And I cannot begin to imagine what that must be like!  But I can pray for them.  For her.

Along with my assigned share, each month there is a suggested donation.  It's generally for something that Samaritan isn't able to assign members to send to.  So they ask people to donate voluntarily.  Usually it's to a person that lives in my area.  We have been members for over 6 years.  And for most of those years, we've been pretty broke.  So we haven't really given anything extra voluntarily.  Because we just didn't have it to give.

Today, when I was paying all of our bills, I decided that I'd just look to see what the suggested donation is. 

And it's my friend.  Not just someone I know, but my friend.  

I have been texting this friend lately, trying to get together with him and his wife.  He mentioned something medical in passing but I brushed it off and didn't really respond.  

And I should have.

So many times, I have been so completely and totally consumed by what is going on in my own life and what I need, that I simply overlook what people around me are going through.  What my friends are going through.  

I was struck in that moment, with my need to open my eyes.  God has already promised that he will provide everything that I need.  Philippians 4:19 says, "My God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."  

I don't have to worry about me.  

But what if God wants to use me to fulfill that verse for someone else?  In this case the need is financial.  But a week ago, he mentioned something medical.  What if I had simply said, "Are you ok?"  Money is great!  Relationships are even better!

I remember what it was like to really be broke.  I remember what it was like to pray and ask the Lord, "how am I going to feed my family tonight?"  I have been so emotionally drained that my whole body ached!  I remember crying out to the Lord, saying "I need you because I have nothing else left."  I have known physical pain that affected every other area of my life.  And I remember letting that get the best of me mentally.

And the provisions very rarely came all at once.  It very rarely came in some miraculous way.  But the Lord answered my prayers through his people simply being obedient.  Slowly and steadily, one day at a time, the Lord provided.  

Dinner for my family.

A car.

Rest when I am most weary.

A friend to just listen.  

The slow and steady is what gets me.  Everyone wants to see miracles or be part of a miracle.  But am I just as willing to put myself out there and be available for the everyday provisions that the people around me every day need? 

This is my sister, Carrie and I tonight at dinner.  We hang out and sometimes we talk about missing our husbands.  For very different reasons, of course!  I admire her and how far she has come!