Provision

I am not always impulsive. In fact, for the most part, I don't like spontaneity; and I prefer my life to be very planned out. I research things before making a big decision - and though I am not fearful, I am cautious about what I do - most of the time!

When we realized our air conditioner went out earlier this week, I knew if I didn't take action, it would probably not get fixed until --- oh --- July. My husband isn't neglectful, he is just very busy. Even though the weather has been pleasant here, we need the a/c for our upstairs. It is unbearably hot up there by the end of the day - and in order for the kids to sleep comfortably, it helps to run the a/c for a while in the evenings even now. Well, the horrible burning/smoke smell alerted us to the fact that something was WRONG somewhere in the house ... and finally we realized it was that no air was blowing from our a/c vents. CONCLUSION - something in our 21 year old furnace (or 10 year old heat pump) was terribly wrong.

Now, for most people, this isn't a major crisis. For us, who have absolutely NO CLUE about home maintenance and have to learn everything now as first-time home owners - usually the "hard way," it was a BIG DEAL. Plus, we just don't have much money these days for costly home repairs.

Normally, I would have called the company that we use for our a/c and heating needs at the church because I know they are safe and reliable ... however, very unlike me, I chose to call a company whose ad I saw while reading the local newspaper. I didn't even discuss it with my husband first or really even think about it, I just called and made an appointment. At times like that, I am sure glad that GOD tends to just take over for me because the situation could have gone terribly wrong.

In this case, however, it was wonderfully RIGHT. The man who came to repair our a/c drove up in a truck with the "Christian fish" emblem on the side, entwined into his company logo. Of course, just because a person claims to be "Christian" doesn't guarantee they are good and honest and kind - but in this case, the man was! He replaced our furnace's blower that had burned out and made a few other minor repairs that we would have otherwise had no clue needed to be taken care of. Our furnace is directly under our house - right in the middle of our wet, muddy crawl space. It is a HORRIBLE place to have to work, and I really felt kind of sorry for the guy having to work in those conditions. But he was super nice about, said it wasn't unusual, and didn't charge me extra like I told him he should for being so inconvenienced by the location.

In the end, the bill wasn't nearly as high as I figured it could be - in fact, I was able to pay in cash instead of add another bill to our credit card. That's a big deal these days. And I had a wonderful conversation with the man about the ministry! He asked where my husband worked - and then later asked how I found out about him (apparently he's just starting his business), so I was able to tell him about our church and its Christian school and about how maybe GOD led me to pick him to fix our a/c even though I really didn't seek any counsel at all! I think it encouraged him - and I know I was hugely relieved that God yet again provided for our need! Not that I should be shocked or surprised by God's provision - and again, I was reminded that we so often worry and fret about things that God is not scared by or can't handle! We can trust God in everything!! even dishwashers and furnaces!