"You have no idea what this means! We’ve both been out of work for months!” the pregnant woman said to me, as we hauled in the last sack of toys and box of food. Her living room was decorated for Christmas, but the spot under the tree was bare. So were her cupboards. It all began over a loaf of banana bread delivered by students at Kelso-Longview Adventist School for Thanksgiving. When a note arrived a few days later, our eyes filled with tears.
“To the students and staff who left such a sweet Thanksgiving treat and card: Tuesday afternoon when I put my 3-year-old little girl down for a nap, she said, ‘Mommy, I’m hungry.’ I truly had next to nothing in my cupboards and no way to purchase anything. I told her, “We’ll have something when you wake up...” and lay down with her. It broke my heart. When I woke up, I remembered having heard a knock while we were sleeping. I checked the front door to find a sweet card and a loaf of banana bread! What a timely blessing. Please know God used you today to bring my little one a snack. Thank you so much.”
The note was posted at school and church, and soon the office was filled with food and gifts including some gift cards to local food stores. When it got closer to Christmas, some students and I delivered the gifts.
Imagine my horror a few months later to find in my purse a food card that had been handed to me at church. Quickly, I drove over to their house and knocked on the door. I tried rehearsing several excuses, but when the father opened the door, the look on his face stopped me short. “Is that food card for us?” he asked.
“Yes...I’m so sorry...it was in the bottom of my purse...”
“Honey! You won’t believe this!” he whispered and tears formed in his eyes. Taking the card gingerly in his hands, he said, “We just were at the kitchen table. I looked at my wife and I said, ‘It’s tithe or it’s food. Which one?’ And she replied, ‘Of course it has to be tithe.’ We just wrote out the tithe check five minutes ago. This food card will get us through the month. Thank you so much.”
There was nothing more to say between us, except two sets of prayers, winged instantly to our Heavenly Father who answers before we ask.
