Today, I am thrilled to have Kathie from Courtship Connection in my corner sharing today! She has loads of wisdom in her corner all the time, so be sure you swing by and check it out! Thank You Kathie for sharing here today! 🙂
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I’m not proud of it, but yes, there was a time when I said that I couldn’t trust God! Being the loving God He is, He went on to prove to me that He COULD be trusted.
At the time, my husband and I lived in a too small house, with one bathroom, along with our eight children. We really needed to move, but had no money, and the house would require quite a bit of work before it could be sold. My husband kept praying and telling God that if He wanted us to move, He was going to have to do it for us.
That’s when God stepped in. My neighbor informed us that he had just heard the news that all our houses in that area were being bought out by the city, to expand the Jeep factory around the corner from us. So we were being forced to move, but were concerned about how this was going to work financially. People didn’t give us much hope as to what we’d get for the house. So we decided we should pay all we could on our mortgage, to be ahead for the new house. And the saving began….
Then it happened. My husband came home from a deacon’s meeting at church one evening. He said there was a need at the church, and he wanted to know what I thought about giving a rather large sum of money to help with the need. Rather large, meaning most of what we had managed to save, up to that time. I looked at him, and began to list the reasons we couldn’t do that – we needed to save for the move, downpayment on a new house, etc. He in turn asked me, “Do you think we can give this money, and trust God to provide?” I hedged, and protested, and he said very directly, “Kathie, I’m asking you – do you think we can trust God?” Being the spiritual person I am, I blurted out, “I can’t!”
The words hadn’t been out of my mouth for too long, before I began to feel convicted. I KNEW I could trust God. He had proven Himself over and over to us. Long story short, the next day, I told my husband that it was okay, and that we should give the money, and trust God.
Then the most exciting things started to happen! God began to prove Himself over and over again, and in BIG ways! Here are some of the things that happened:
1. Someone gave us boxes and boxes of cereal – about 3 months worth. (With 8 kids, that’s a LOT of cereal)
2. We were given enough frozen food to fill our full size freezer.
3. Someone gave my husband money for a new suit.
4. Someone gave us new bunk beds, and a dining room table for when we moved.
5. We were given a computer.
6. When the city came to us with their first offer on our house, it was better than we expected, but we were advised to hold off, and see if they’d come up with a better offer. When they came back with their second offer they appraised the house at $9,000 more than the first time, added on $5,400 more for relocation expenses than the first time, added another $450 to the moving expense. The final topper was when they said they would give us another $10,000 because of having to relocate my home business. All totalled, this came to $24,850 more than the first offer. This along with the original offer, came to quite a bit more than we had even paid for the house, AND we didn’t have to put thousands of dollars into fixing it, like we would have had to in order to put it on the market. We didn’t have to deal with the stress of showings, and there was no real estate agent’s fees. Since they were destroying the house, we also got to take anything from it for salvage, and keep any money from that. So it ended up that we got way more than we ever could have sold the house for, and were able to get a much nicer, bigger house than we ever would have been able to afford. (and we went from ONE bathroom for 10 people, to FOUR bathrooms!)
7. While waiting to settle with the city, we looked at a lot of houses. There was one that we looked at right near the beginning, that we liked, but weren’t sure of, so we kept looking. We came back to look at it a month later, decided that was the one we really wanted, and were very happy to find the price of it had been reduced by $5,000 from what it was the first time we looked at it.
8. The city paid all closing costs on both homes, inspection on our new home, the lawyers fees, and points.
God tells us to prove Him, and trust Him. When we did that, He proved himself beyond doubt. Our income level wasn’t real high, we had eight children, and the house we lived in was not in a very good neighborhood. (Someone went in our garage in broad daylight one day & walked off with some of our tools; someone broke in one night when we were at church ; there was a drug bust right across the street from us another day) Because of being willing to give when there was a need, and trust God, we were blessed with a beautiful house in a smaller city, in a subdivision, where we feel safe walking, riding bikes, etc. The yard is really big, fully fenced, and had a beautiful swingset for the kids. God blessed with even the small things that were important to us. And to think that I doubted Him!!
Kathie Morrissey, the mother of 8 children, is a committed homeschooling mom of 27 years. Kathie is the founder of the Character Corner/Courtship Connection, as well as a popular speaker at homeschool conventions and support groups, family seminars, and mother/daughter banquets. Her seven oldest have graduated from their homeschool, and she continues to teach the one youngest. Kathie has written articles for Christian women’s magazines, and also authored two ebooks. Her heart’s desire is to help and encourage parents in raising Godly children with strong Christian character.
16 comments
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What Jean Likes
December 20, 2012 at 8:27 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
God is good all the time. We have to put our full trust and faith in Him and let Him show us His glory. Nothing is too big or small and I love that He blessed you (Kathie) even though you doubted. He is amazing isn’t He?
I hope you’re having a great week my dear!
Thank you so much for linking up to last week’s Aloha Friday Blog Hop!! I’m following you.
If you have time, we’d love to have you come and link up to the Aloha Friday Blog Hop if you haven’t already! We are hosting a great giveaway too which is a wonderful opportunity to give some extra exposure to you lovely blog. Come and link up, enter the giveaway and celebrate the coming weekend with us!
Aloha,
Jean {What Jean Likes}
simplyhelpinghim
December 21, 2012 at 12:15 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Amen! That He is! Thank you for stoppin by! Blessings!
Joyce
December 16, 2012 at 8:01 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Stopping by from Company Girl Coffee
What an amazing story. I am reminded again and again that I don’t just need to trust in Him, but to trust in His timing as well.
simplyhelpinghim
December 16, 2012 at 11:18 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Trusting in God’s timing is not always easy, but it’s so very worth it! Thank you for stopping by! Blessings!
Rachel Anne
December 16, 2012 at 6:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Very inspiring!! I love to hear stories that encourage me to step out and faith and believe God. Thanks for sharing Kathie with us!
simplyhelpinghim
December 16, 2012 at 11:19 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Being encouraged by another’s story and God’s work in their lives is such a blessing! Thank you for sharing and stopping by! Blessings!
Lori Hatcher
December 14, 2012 at 11:57 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Kathie,
My family has experienced similar amazing provision from God when we have responded in obedience to give when it didn’t make good sense. One year we had managed to save a very small amount of money (about 10%) toward my daughter’s braces. At the same time, our church went into a capital funds campaign to build a new sanctuary. We were challenged to step out in faith and give, and the Lord spoke directly to me and my husband about giving that very small braces fund. We obeyed after a wrestling match similar to yours. Three years later, God not only had supplied ALL the money for our daughter’s braces, but had also sent my husband an anonymous donor who volunteered to pay for him to go back to school and complete his degree (approximately $17,000). A favorite pastor once said, “You can never outgive God.” I believe it. Thanks for sharing your story.
simplyhelpinghim
December 16, 2012 at 11:20 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wow! That is truly amazing! What an awesome God we serve! Thank you for sharing and stoppin by! Blessings!
Becca
December 14, 2012 at 2:51 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wow, what an amazing story of God’s provision. Thanks for the reminder that He can ALWAYS be trusted!!
ahumblebumble.blogspot.com
simplyhelpinghim
December 16, 2012 at 11:20 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Amen! He alone can ALWAYS be trusted! Thank you for stoppin by! Blessings!
Katharine Barrett
December 14, 2012 at 2:51 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
What a beautiful story… how faithful and trustworthy is our God! Stopping by from Company Girls Coffee!
simplyhelpinghim
December 16, 2012 at 11:20 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Yes, He is! Thank you for stoppin by! Blessings!
Anna Marie
December 14, 2012 at 1:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
WOW! What an encouraging testimony to the Faithfulness of God and what some trust in Him can accomplish. Thanks for sharing. I “came over” from Rachel Anne Ridge’s Home Sanctuary blog.
simplyhelpinghim
December 16, 2012 at 11:22 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
In Him we find the greatest accomplishments! What a wonderful God we serve! Thank you for stoppin by! Blessings!
Ronda
December 14, 2012 at 8:47 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thank you for “Boasting” about the faithfulness of our God! It reminds me of the hymn, “Jesus, Jesus, How I trust Him. How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er.” God bless ~
simplyhelpinghim
December 16, 2012 at 11:23 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Oh yes, what a wonderful hymn! 🙂 Thank you for sharing and for stoppin by! Blessings!