$20,000

I laughed out loud when I opened the card we got in the mail today.  In it was a banker's check for $500.  The return address was our address, so that we wouldn't know who sent it to us.  The note read, "Blessings to you and your family.  We are in His care - Praises to our Heavenly Father!  Psalm 115:1."

I would say I'm surprised but I'm not.  I am amazed and humbled but not surprised.  Would you believe me if I told you that, in the past year alone, Tim and I have received over $20,000 in gifts - most of them anonymous?  It is the truth.  

Two weeks ago Tim and I received an unbelievable gift from a friend.  Tim's college loan was paid off in full in one day - $13,500.  In an instant this burden we have carried together was lifted.  The friend said that God has blessed him in his business and he felt like he was being called to bless others, namely us.  After we wept together in thankfulness for this tremendous gift we got to thinking of all the other ways we have seen God's provision in the past year.  It's impossible for me not to thank God...He is so faithful!

• $500 in cash left on Tim's desk in an envelope with our names on it.
• $5,000 banker's check left on Tim's desk in the same manner.
• $500 from a dear friend and her husband - the exact amount to make a mortgage payment last year when we were short.
• Gift cards enabling us to have a date night at various places in the Seacoast.
• Irving Gas Cards so that we could afford to make the trip to and from New York this summer.
• Student loan paid off in full - $13,500.
• $500 today which will pay for what's left from Stella's hospital bill when she had croup in May.
• Opportunities for me to work part-time in a way that helps our family pay the bills and still allows me to be at home with Stella (cleaning, home organizing, helping a friend on maternity leave, etc.).

The wonderful thing about this is that all of the money we've been given has given God more glory.  And each penny of every gift was used to meet a particular need at the time.  We haven't taken any fancy trips or spent it on expensive dining...but each of our needs has been covered completely.      

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness." Psalm 115:1