Manna from Heaven

There have been a few tough months recently for our household. It is difficult for me to accept help in these situations. I have had to deal with this because the Lord has blessed us in unexpected ways.

Free bread came to us several times already. Our mobile home community has a community room and suddenly a neighbor was bringing us grocery bags of day-old bread and baked goods. No one ever goes hungry if there is a loaf of bread in the home. I was so happy to receive this. At times, there was more than we could use sensibly before it would spoil, and I was able to share the bounty with some others in similar straits.

Free canned goods and boxed goods came several times, also. We had given some surplus goods a while back to one neighbor. Suddenly, he began, about once a month, to clear out his pantry, rotate his goods. We ended up with soups and stews, boxed potatoes, canned veggies, and more. A real blessing.

These treats were easier to accept than the latest surprise. These earlier blessings came to us in a way that we were able to also share with others, and it wasn’t because the people thought we were up-against it. They just wanted to be sure the items found a welcome home.

The latest, however, was free meat. This was a total surprise. It came a few days ago from a friend who we had given some things to as we were de-cluttering and so on. The donor explained that she knew we were having trouble paying some bills, and said that she knew from experience that if a household did not have to worry about food for a short while, then that money could go to a bill or two. We ended up with 2five-pound chubs of ground beef, 2 four-pound bags of the biggest chicken drumsticks I have ever seen, and 2 small packs of pork chops (4 to a pack). Even with 3 adults in the household, this is going quite a way.

I had to force myself to accept the latest. The donor is not in good financial shape. Still, this was one thing she wanted to do for us, to thank us for our past help. Being a gracious and grateful receiver is something I had to pray about.

Father, thank you for our benefactors and for the grace you sent that we were able to accept with dignity that which you used to answer our prayers; bless me, please, with the ability to remember to do likewise as our own bounty increases.