God's Favor in the Little Things

The last five years have been a financial struggle for my family. We have recently been blessed in two very big ways. First, we learned with absolute clarity God's plan for our lives in regards to strengthening the marriages of those around us through FamilyLife Ministries. Second, I began a full-time position with the Women's Shelter of South Texas as a Community Educator and the income from that position covers our needs. Those two things alone have been plenty to praise, but I am learning little by little each day how much more God has been with us, blessing us and building us up in the last five years.

I'm finding opportunity to praise God even when our car broke down a couple of weeks ago (fuel pump had to be replaced and a lot of electrical stuff stopped working), a tire on that same car exploded a couple days ago, and our truck's battery wasn't taking a charge. Our home's HVAC needs to be serviced now, one side of our fence was almost completely missing, and the expenses seem to be mounting. So, how can I find reason to praise God in all of this?

We had just saved enough money in our emergency fund to cover the cost of the fuel pump replacement, if that pump had gone out six months ago we would have become a 1-car family and that would have taken us out of the ministries we serve in. The mechanic fixing the car's electrical stuff said everything looked rusted out like the car had been sitting for years. I couldn't help but notice how it all worked for as long as it did until I was able to afford to fix it. The car tire, same thing. It should have blown a lot sooner by the looks of it now, and someone was nearby to help me change my tire quickly. The truck just needed a new battery and it was still under a prorated warranty so a $100 battery only cost us $40. The old battery was considered a miracle battery because it was still working two years past its expiration date. Our neighbors pieced together the fallen fence with planks and posts gathered from their family and we chipped in money for about 25 additional planks to complete the fence, so a $500 side of fence was replaced for $30 and my neighbor's elbow grease. God's favor is definitely in the little things all around my family.

As for the HVAC servicing, we have money leftover from the money saved from the car repairs and fence repair. Amen :)