There was a time our family was without money.  We saw the money dwindling, dwindling, kept waiting for money to come from somewhere, but nothing came.

I hesitate to explain that we lived overseas at the time for fear you think our story doesn’t apply to yourself. We served the Lord among the Roma and had for years. But a year earlier we had left our missions agency, told our churches and supporters to send their money to orphans instead of to us, gave away the balance of our bank account to the same and jumped out of the boat and onto the water. We had decided to live by faith.

My husband had no work at the time, but he planned to tutor some students in English. We were about to move into the ghetto and were going to be living at the same economic level as our neighbors. We lived in a small two-room basement apartment in a crowded part of town. At first a handful of people contacted us and asked if they could support us still, saying they felt the Lord leading them to give to us. We accepted. The money was sent right to our bank account. Only one person gave a little each month. The rest was “random” to any outside observer. My husband also got a few students. That income fluctuated each month and never paid more than half of a month’s needs.

More than a year later we were getting close to the end of our money, I went to buy bread for breakfast and was planning on buying less than usual. On the way my daughter found a couple of coins so that we were able to buy the normal amount and then the store owner threw in some extra, just because. We had a feast.

But the money kept going away. I made homemade bread for breakfast because we didn’t have the money for bread from the store. I already had in the house everything needed. Everyone wished I did that more often. Who doesn’t love fresh, homemade bread?

We finally had left just enough for one more container of milk. We have four children [at the time] so milk is quickly consumed in our home. It would be needed in the morning. With that purchase the money would be gone, completely.

Students had been cancelling lessons, no one from church slipped us money as they sometimes did, and no one sent a gift to our bank account. We would know when someone did send a gift to our account because we’d get a notification of it as “pending.”  After that we’d wait three or four days for it to make it into “available balance.” There was nothing even pending.

We told no one of our need. We didn’t make any prayer requests for our finances, support or needs. We didn’t take out a cash advance on our credit card. We waited on the Lord to see His salvation.

We expected the Lord to provide. He had to provide. He meets the needs of His children. We had given and His Word says He’ll give back. He was a good Father who took care of His children. We knew we were following His will and obeying His Word as best we knew how. We knew this time He had to provide by miracle. It was too late for any of the “normal” ways to get money. Rent and other bills were due the next day.

Before bed my husband checked the bank account online one more time as he had done frequently those last days. And there it was. Our miracle. One thousand dollars in “available balance.” It was a “direct deposit” according to the bank. It wasn’t through Paypal or by check like every other gift we received. We did check with the few people in the world who had our bank info and could have deposited something, but no one knew anything about it. It was a gift from God, and it was enough to cover rent, bills, and food for the next month.

There are many other times the Lord provided through people. People we have never met have sent us money. People at church have slipped us cash. A few faithful continue to support us even though they get no tax receipt for it.

God has sent Roma (Gypsies) to our door with food, clothing, shoes, blankets, rugs. We have never lacked a thing. God provides for His children. Now you might say, “A worker is worthy of his wages,” so we were due provision where “normal” people aren’t. But if you are following Jesus and obeying His word and have a need, then your Father is going to take care of you. He will provide.

And may I also add, we don’t live in a continual state of broke. This was a test we had to go through, and knew we would go through, when we told the Lord we were going to trust Him all the way with our finances. The money is always there. We always have all we need, and the Lord doesn’t repeatedly make us wait until the last second to provide. He’s a good Father.