We scrimp, we jerry-rig, we do without to make ends meet. The driver’s window in my truck has been broken for two years… purposely in the down position so that it can pass inspection. The rain pours in on the seat and floor and cups in the door pocket, then it dries out again… the door handle has started to rust tight. My wheelbarrow is a 55 gallon barrel that I scavenged, cut in half, and bolted to a lawn mower chassis. I buy my clothes from Goodwill, keep my shoes till the insoles wear through to the pavement, and cut my own hair.
I piece together my income from various sources. 8 months out of the year I work part time at a college library and try to make up the summer months with cutting lawns. I also work at Home Depot part time year round. I tried also working as a substitute custodian in the Lynchburg school system, but I rarely could make it fit between the hours of my other two job schedules. Kimberly is usually working as well in a low-pay job. We have somehow managed over the last 6 years, occasionally dipping into our meager savings.
Since we have not been able to find better jobs here, we decided to try our luck in Asheville, NC where Kimberly has wanted to move for years. We put our house up for sale in April, hoping to sell it this summer. Since I was busy fixing the house in preparation, I had to cancel my mowing jobs for the summer. Kimberly also left her job, partly in anticipation of moving. Now it has been three months without an offer on our house, and we have exhausted our savings on getting the house ready, our only income being my part time job at Home Depot. My first paycheck from the library is still two months away.
We put Kimberly’s student loan payment on hiatus, postponed eye doctor visits, and cut our food budget in half. Then we started brainstorming about how to make it through two more months of bills. I had some vacation time from the library I could collect in wages (I usually use it to cover the Thanksgiving break gap in pay). We could take a cash advance on our credit card (with a hefty interest rate). I could take a loan from my retirement fund. But borrowing from the future only works if you have some prospect of improvement–neither of us have jobs lined up in Asheville. Kimberly had added up our average monthly bills, and even with my vacation pay, we weren’t going to make it through.
Over the weekend we started smelling a strange stench all through the house. On monday I discovered that it was our hot water heater which had rusted through.
That same day we received an envelope from my dad’s widow with a check from my father’s estate, enough to get us through the summer and restore some of the savings we had spent on fixing up the house, including a new hot water heater. Isn’t that just like God?
Janathan Grace Reflections 
God is faithful. We too have experienced those moments of His provision, always just in time. I think our children are better people for having learned we don’t have to have what others deem so important and have learned to trust the Lord themselves, as well as be compassionate towards others who have less. I’ll never forget when all the kids at school were collecting baseball cards and one little boy couldn’t afford any. Our younger daughter took the money her grandparents had sent her to get herself a birthday present and gave it to him to get some cards. His father, who had been very unfairly critical of me came to me to humbly express his deep gratitude. God was honored! Praying the Lord continues to meet your needs!
Sorry. I didn’t mean that to be anonymous!
Thanks for sharing your story! It is good to remind one another of God’s special interventions. Many times he doesn’t intervene, so our theology must be big enough to accommodate a God who cannot be predicted, to believe in his goodness despite our experiences. I think being honest about the struggles in my life makes sharing the positives more authentic, grounded, real. May we all find a way to go forward in our journeys through thick and thin.
I love stories like this! God is ALWAYS faithful! Thanks! Back in 1993, I felt a very specific urging from the Lord to “stock up”. Well, that’s nice. We didn’t have any extra money to pay for something to stock up on, nothing to do it with (canning equipment, freezer, etc), and no place to put it if we should get something to “stock up”. The only thing we had going for us was willingness! Did I mention that there was no knowledge either? God worked miracle after miracle that summer and we ended it with a freezer (Won it!) full of food and shelves groaning with canned goods in a room given to us for the purpose! I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been grateful to have that room full of food! It’s seen us through so many lean times and enabled us to give when it would otherwise be impossible. God has His Ways. . and they are all wonderful!! Hope your house sells quickly and you can move to your heart’s desire!
Thanks for sharing! Life is so full of ups and downs and it seems our calling is to make the most of it, to bring our true selves to the experience of each day and find some way to move forward in our journey of growing more into the beautiful creatures God has called us to be. It is the stories of provision that sometimes help us make it through the lean years with hope.
Oh! I didn’t mean to be anonymous either. Not used to leaving comments!
So glad to read the positive ending. Love you two. Nicole T