My husband likes to joke with me that I have a direct line to God when I need or want something. I need only to say it out loud and through someone else’s generosity God provides. This has happened on more occasions than I can count. One example, a few months ago I said to my husband, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a picnic table for the backyard”. Before I had the chance to look for one on Craigslist or anywhere else, someone asked us if we could use a picnic table. With a sideways glance and a slight smile to my husband, I said “Yes, we would love one!” and inwardly I praised God for this gift. Many times a neighbor has brought over a bag of fresh fruit or veggies when we had just ran out. When we are most in need of clothing, a friend or family member shows up with bags of hand-me-downs. When money is short my husband<\/a> is offered a side job<\/a> and the amount he makes is how much we were short.<\/p>\n

God has always provided for our needs and he continues to teach me that I need to trust Him in all the details of our life. I do not believe that I have something special with Him or have figured out the formula to receive bountiful blessings. I believe He can do this for all of us. We only need to be able to recognize the hand of God and receive with open hands and willing and expectant hearts.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When it comes to our adoption I know it is going to cost much more than we have. When we were first researching international adoption I became discouraged when looking at the costs involved. It seemed so out of reach and near to impossible. I worked all the numbers and tried to figure out how much extra I would need to work to save enough. I had it all figured out in my logical and practical brain. Then, God made it very clear to me that this was not about me but about Him and His power in me, through me and for me . He also reminded me of the story of the loaves and fishes and how Jesus took the little amount of fish and bread and multiplied it to feed thousands. (Mark 6:37-44)<\/p>\n

God is our great provider. When he calls us to do something, He will provide in every way. He will take the little we can offer and multiply it. With eyes on Jesus, open hands and a willing and expectant heart, I will trust and obey.<\/p>\n

[Photo credits: Madame Furie & <\/a>Gayle Nicholson<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My husband likes to joke with me that I have a direct line to God when I need or want something. I need only to say it out loud and through someone else’s generosity God provides. This has happened on more occasions than I can count. One example, a few months ago I said to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/red_phone.jpg?fit=1024%2C767&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YMk4-2e","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":266,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions\/266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}