Every month was an adventure with our family budget. We had to get creative if we wanted to pay the bills and support me, my husband, our three sons and my father-in-law. We found ways to cut corners or make things last. If we weren’t using something ourselves anymore we tried to sell it. There was never a penny left over for extras.
“I wish we could go on that family church retreat,” I told my husband, Morris, one Sunday. “The kids would love it—and I think Carl would get a lot out of it.”
My father-in-law had never been one for church. But lately, to our surprise, he’d begun to show interest in learning about our faith. He’d talked to our minister, attended some services. A few days surrounded by nature, enjoying evenings by the fire, would show him the kind of fellowship to be found with God.
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“It’s not that expensive . . .” Morris said.
“But too expensive for us,” I finished for him.
“We should ask God to help us go,” one of our sons said.
“I don’t know,” I said. “God provides so much for us already. I hate to ask for anything more.” But the other boys chimed in. We prayed together at dinner that night.
The following Saturday the phone rang. “I’m calling about your ad in the paper,” a young man said.
“What ad?” I asked Morris, handing him the phone.
When Morris hung up he looked happily stunned. “That was an engineering student who wanted to buy my drafting tools,” he said.
“We placed that ad a month ago,” I said. “When nobody answered I forgot all about it. How did he even see it?”
“He was just sitting on a park bench,” Morris said. “He saw a scrap of newspaper on the ground, picked it up and read the ad. He was sure the tools would be gone. Here’s the kicker—it’s just enough to cover the retreat!”
It was on that retreat that my father-in-law made the decision to become a Christian. And I decided that there’s nothing I can’t ask God for.
