Abundance

With the shelves nearly stripped of food items, you would have thought there’d have been a raid on sale items at a grocery store. But this was no grocery market—these shelves lined one wall in our kitchen pantry. 

The only people who raided this pantry? Us. Not usually in a greedy way, unless searching for a snack led to impatience, or if I was late getting dinner ready and my family insisted they were "starving to death."
  
This story took place years ago, before credit cards, computers, and cell phones, when moms often stayed at home to raise children. I was fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom, and we were lucky to qualify for a government subsidy program to obtain our first home. 

We were excited to have a place of our own, but we didn't realize how expensive it could be to maintain. My husband made decent wages, but when appliances broke, the A/C quit cooling, the roof needed repair, or we were faced with other expenses that came out of the blue, we struggled to make ends meet.  

During one particularly lean week, there wasn't much left in the pantry and we'd have to wait a couple of days until Richard got paid, to buy anything.    
  
I scanned the nearly empty shelves, searching for something to use for dinner. What can you do when these are the only items left on the shelves:

One can of yams. One mostly used box of Cheerios. One opened package of elbow macaroni (which I had to throw out due to mealy bugs). One partial bag of stale tortilla chips, and one can of mushroom soup. That was it. We were out of eggs and bread, too. Payday couldn’t come soon enough!

Feeling desperate, I prayed. “Lord, please help me find a way to make a meal."
    
Tending to chores, I put a load of laundry into the washer and hoped God heard my prayer. I washed and dried dishes from lunch. Then, as I put the silverware away, I noticed the casserole cookbook my mother-in-law had given me. It was sitting on top of the telephone stand next to the counter. 

I picked up the cookbook, not expecting to find a recipe—but I found one with the following ingredients: yams and mushroom soup. I was stunned.

I followed the recipe, mixing the yams with the mushroom soup, adding cheese, onion powder and spices, then baked per the directions.   
 
My husband was amazed I'd found a recipe for the ingredients we had in the pantry, and I told him about the prayer. The girls weren't crazy about the casserole, but they ate it. They were happy to indulge in the leftover cornbread I'd made the day before, slathering it with peanut butter.    
    
I’ll always remember the day God answered that prayer. There were other times we humbly asked God for help during those early years. Sometimes we had to wait for answers; other times not. Sometimes what he provided was not what we wanted, but what we needed. His provision was always something good, often better than what we would have chosen for ourselves.   

God provides. You can always count on the blessing of His abundance!
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“Ask and you it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-8

Photo courtesy of Vecteezy.com

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