He'll Do It Again

I grew up in what would be described today as abject poverty. Yes, my father had his own business, but it never made a whole lot of money, and every single year our family faced the terrible Sheriff's Sale. Every year, Mom would call us together and say, "God listens to the prayers of children, so I know He'll listen to you before He listens to me; you MUST pray that our house doesn't get taken away from us."

Pretty serious stuff for a child who wasn't even near the age of ten. But, every year, I prayed so fervently that our house would be saved. And you know, every single year it was saved from being sold out from under us. I personally believe that God saved our house from being sold not for my mother's sake, but to train up a little girl in HIS way, to teach her to rely on Him before all others, and to remember those times when He answered her prayers so that when times got rough when she got older, she would KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt who her Source truly was. It says in Isaiah, "the LORD shall teach your children, and great shall be the peace of your children."

I have been having a very strange peace, lately, during all of this latest hullabaloo over the economy, as well as our church. Don't get me wrong, I've worried alot in the past several months about things that, in the grand scheme of things, don't even matter. I have truly sweated the small stuff and have serious panic attacks over the littlest things. But in His Word it says, "I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging for bread." And, "My peace I shall leave you,,, not as the world gives..." He's helping me to remember His Word is truth -- yesterday, today and forever.

I have personally known one who committed suicide over fixable problems. I see people hurting others and themselves over what? MONEY?! The love of money is the root of all evil -- now I know what that means, really.

In the midst of thinking about this, I have to mention Dolly Parton. I love that lady, and I don't even know why. She's so real, in spite of having had enough plastic surgery to keep Dupont or Rubbermaid in business. How is she real, you may ask? She's so transparent in her way of talking about things regarding herself and others. This week, as I was switching channels, I noticed her on Larry King. He asked her what she would do if she lost everything. She replied that she had been born dirt poor, and remembered doing things to get by with her family. She also said that even though she may not like it, she could go back to living a simple life as she did growing up.

And then it hit me -- I KNOW what it's like to be poor. What it's like to have NOTHING. To watch your father chop every other step in your cellar to get wood to burn to try to heat up one little room in your house. To sleep with a coat on and seeing your breath in the night air, whilst in your bedroom. To save milk jugs so that you can fill them with water from a local spring near a state park. To heat water on a hot plate and use a basin full of water to take your whole bath. And you know, it sure didn't kill me to be poor, so what's there to fear?

I've heard people complaining about little things; my own son will "throw shadows" at me (meaning, sulk) because I tell him I think x-box live is unsafe; he's unhappy with just enjoying his x-box and the multitude of games he gets to play on it. But tonight, he will be sleeping in a warm house in clean sheets. He will experience hot and cold running water out of a faucet. He will be able to brush his teeth with toothpaste, instead of salt on a toothbrush. He enjoyed a healthy portion of a good hot meal tonight, cooked on a working stove; and he'll be able to eat leftovers out of an honest-to-goodness working refrigerator. In our strong desire to make things easier for our children, have we made things ultimately harder for them?

Would I be happy if we lost our house and way of life to which I've readily grown accustomed and live the way I used to? No. But I know that if I needed to survive again, I could. Because my Lord will NOT leave me forsaken, nor leave my children begging for bread. He will keep me in His perfect peace. As it stands, I have a beautiful home, a wonderful and supportive husband, gorgeous children, and loyal friends, and best of all, a loving Father. And for that, I say, "Thank You, Father, for answering the prayers of a little girl so long ago and loving me, through it all, and giving me no reason to fear what lies ahead, because You are there, waiting to help all who call upon Your name."