Mom's Blog - He is faithful!!

Dear Judy,
Here is section three–Some of God’s Answers to My Prayers.

When I was a teen I needed a white blouse and a pair of black shoes for something I was in–maybe a program or something. I had $10.00 from babysitting. I prayed and asked the Lord to help me. I told Him exactly what I needed and some of the details that were just preferences. First I went to the Salvation Army thrift store. I found a white blouse that would have been perfect but it had perspiration stains under the arms. I took it to the cashier and asked if she knew how to remove the stains. She said she would take it home that night and see. The next day when I came back she had gotten the stains out and the blouse was like new! I paid $2.00 for the blouse. That left me with $8.00. I told the LORD that I would really like it if the black dress shoes could be leather and have a low heel. I went to the mall and checked the clearance rack at a nice shoe store. There were the black leather dress shoes with a low heel and a cute bow on top and including tax the cost was within the $8.00 I had! This was in the early 1980’s. Even then this was an amazing bargain! From that point until this I have asked God to supply my needs and it’s a daily/weekly occurrence.

When we were expecting Rachel we moved to PA for my husband to pastor a church that was near closing. We had five children and this church could offer us no salary. My husband tried working nights for 1 week but found that he was no good for the work at the church and couldn’t sleep during the days. He quit the night job. He told the church that since it is the church’s responsibility to take care of the pastor he would require them to give him one dollar each week as a reminder that when they were able they needed to pay their pastor because the scriptures teach that the laborer is worthy of his hire and we are not to muzzle the ox that treads out the corn. During the time we were there the church grew and we had two more children. God sent food and clothing from people we didn’t know and from people on whose hearts God laid a burden to care for us. At Christmas strangers arrived with a Christmas tree and wrapped gifts for each person–perfectly chosen by God. We did not yet understand that we were to owe no man anything, thus we had van payments to make. Someone paid off our van. By the time we left 2 1/2 years later and handed the church over to a man we believed the LORD had prepared to pastor the church, it was now paying us $400 a month. This was in the early 1990’s. God took awesome care of us! When we left this church and moved to pastor another church that took good care of us, one of the children said they liked it better when God sent the food! =)

While we were at that same church I asked the LORD for a pair of burgundy leather dress shoes with low heels, size 7 1/2. In one week someone brought a pair to me. They said a friend of theirs brought them to them and said she had bought them but never worn them and wondered if this lady knew anyone who might want them. They were exactly what I had asked for!

Once I asked God for a Strong’s Concordance of the Bible. Within a week I had unexpectedly earned the money for the book and been taken to a little store near a place I wasn’t usually near and they had one for the money I had!

I have never in my life worked outside our home on a regular basis. I have provided occasional services for people when they needed it, like child care or cleaning services or music instruction, and sometimes I have been paid; but I have never had a lot of money. God has always supplied! I believe He expects us to work and not be lazy. As a keeper at home I believe my work is to be with my husband, for my family and for my church family and others; but my home is my focus. God has always made up the difference. We have learned how to economize in many areas and don’t have the same expectations as some who are accustomed to two incomes; but we believe this is what God wants and He has always provided when we have obeyed.

When Rebekah was little she found my iron tablets on the counter. I had put them in a container in my plain view so I would remember to take them. She climbed and found and ate about 14 of them on Friday night. On Saturday she was having trouble holding her bowels and the stool was very black. I thought this was unusual but still didn’t know she had taken the pills. On Sunday morning I remembered to take my iron and found that they were gone. Instantly I knew what had happened! We took Rebekah to the hospital. They sent her to the children’s hospital. They did an iron test. We were told that the iron level in her body was so high that it was off the top of the scale. They told us that at this point there would likely be organ damage at least, and it could be fatal. They said they would try chelation therapy. After some time they told us it hadn’t worked. On Sunday afternoon we called friends and family for prayer. At 6 and 7 that evening people began to pray around altars in churches. At around 8 that evening the doctors chose to test the iron level again. This time the same doctor came back in, and told us that her iron level was now below normal and they wanted to know if we were sure she had taken the pills! That’s our awesome God!

In 1985 we lost a little girl due to a still birth at 7 months. I went into the hospital and they induced labor. We had no insurance, no doctor and no money and the brakes needed replaced in our car. The LORD caused the doctor to cancel our bill after we paid the first $50. The funeral home donated the little casket and their services. Two churches took up an offering for us and that paid the hospital bill and for the new brakes. Someone bought a tomb stone and we were given a cemetery lot. Once again, God is awesome!

When Rachel was born at home with a midwife, the midwife adjusted her fees down to $500–the amount the LORD had provided. This was while we were at the church that couldn’t pay a salary. (On a side note, the reason the church was unable to pay their pastor was because there was sin in the church’s dealings with the community and the LORD had sent us there to straighten that situation out. God did the straightening–he just used us–another long story of God’s amazing ways!)

Every month we do not have enough money to cover our expenses. But every month God has done some one-time thing that has covered them. He has sent the amount needed from a variety of unexpected sources. He likes us to trust him and that comes easier for some people than others–even in the same family! He usually sends the money at the last minute–like, do you trust Me yet? Have you learned?

Has God ever said no? Yes! But I have learned that if He doesn’t supply something I ask for, unimaginable as it may be, there is a reason. Maybe someone else needed to see me have a need so they wouldn’t feel out of place–whatever! I have learned to trust Him.

We once asked God for a van for our family. We were saving money for one but didn’t have enough to pay for it yet. We really wanted to go to a home educator’s conference in Knoxville but we didn’t have the necessary van. We didn’t go. Someone came up to me and asked why we didn’t go to our conference. I told her that we had asked the LORD to provide transportation for us if He wanted us to go. He didn’t. We were fine with that. We did have a car but it didn’t hold all 9 of us. We couldn’t go anywhere together. I had totaled our previous van. The lady wrote a check for $5,000 and told me that God told her to give it to me. With the five thousand dollars and what we had saved we asked a reputable dealer to watch for a nice van at the auction he frequented. He found a really nice one that had some damage on the side. He bought it and we were able with God’s provision to pay cash for it. A friend taught auto body work at the local high school and for a reduced rate we were able to have the side of the van repaired. At that point the body was like new and the van had very low mileage. God is so awesome!

One day we were burning trash in a barrel in our back yard in Mississippi–it was legal there. The wind picked up and lifted something from the burn barrel and the grass nearby caught fire. We began to attempt to stomp it out. It continued to spread. I yelled to one child, go get the hose! To another I yelled, soak a blanket and bring it here! To another, go to the church (which was next door) and get your Daddy! By this time the fire was out of control and covered a rather large area. It would soon burn the shed (which the previous pastor had already burned down once.) It was dry summertime. We were surrounded by woods and fields, and our neighbor’s homes. I envisioned burning down the entire area! I turned to run up the hill to get my husband. As I began I yelled, “Jesus! Help us!” At that moment I turned to look back and I watched all of the fire go out immediately! You can see why I trust Him. Steve came. I laughed and cried. Steve taught all of us more fire safety, and we rejoiced in the miracle.

Seriously, God does these things for us on a daily to weekly basis and I could give you a seemingly never ending account of answered prayer. Let me know if you need more.

much love,
Mrs. Corbett