We’d been in the market for an upright freezer. Our daughters were young, and I wanted to purchase food from a co-op and needed more space for frozen food. After checking out models at several appliance stores, we realized prices were not affordable. So we waited . . . and prayed.
A friend named Lori who was also the mother of young children lived in a nearby community. She had severe back problems which prohibited her from driving long distances. Lori’s mother lived in southern California and was in the hospital fighting an acute infection following an elective surgery. Lori was concerned her mother was dying, but she couldn’t make the roundtrip to go see her. I offered to drive her big station wagon so she could lay down in the back for the duration of the trip. We both arranged for friends to take care of our children and set off for Oceanside together. Lori was so relieved to see her mother face to face . . . it greatly lifted the spirits of both mother and daughter. Lori’s mother eventually made a full recovery. It was a trip well worth the time and effort.
The day after returning home, Jon and I set off with our girls for a bike ride. Jon was in the lead while I brought up the rear. As we rounded a corner, an unfamiliar man standing in his front yard shouted out distinctly, “Hey, could you use a freezer?” I called to Jon to stop and said, “Did you hear what that man back there just asked us? He wondered whether we could use a freezer.” We turned around and went right back. The man told us he had just moved his aging mother out of her home, just a few blocks from our home. There was a big upright freezer in her garage. If we could use it, he would give it to us, pay the rental fee for the dolly, and deliver it to our house in his truck! We cut our bike ride short and met the man at his mother’s house. The freezer was exactly what we’d been looking and praying for! Jon likes to call this a kiss from God.
But the story doesn’t end there. Soon after we had the freezer safely in our garage, the phone rang. It was Lori. She told me she was so grateful for me driving her to see her mother, she and her boys had just finished praying that God would bless us in some very special way. I said, “Well, listen to this!”
I’m sitting here smiling. I love reading about instances of God’s handiwork. Too often we miss the clues that take place in our own lives.
Hi Shirley! I can feel your smiles! For me, the best things have come when I’ve been patient to wait for God’s perfect provision.
I remember with love the time and participants in your story❣️ Thank you for sharing a God kiss. Those times and special memories always make me smile. Love you forever, friend❣️
Vicki, what amazes me is how fresh those vivid memories are after all these years. It’s good to recount all the special gifts from God and . . . THANK Him, too!
I agree, they are treasures, captured in time, we can lay before the LORD, his miraculous provision for us so evident. The Blessings He still has in store, we cannot even imagine. His gift to have planted me in Morro Bay, the summer before my senior year, I knew was a ‘personal kiss’ from God. The Class of 1968 started the beginning of my ‘closer walk‘ with Him❣️
What a wonderful account of a recovered mother, and a freezer! I dreamed of you and Jon cycling with the 3 girls, and the subsequent events. And that is the same freezer?! May it be freezing your food in a time of confinement that nobody foresaw. Blessings, Genevieve
Genevieve, I should have included—about five years ago, we upgraded to a frost-free, energy efficient model. The G.E. freezer served our family well for at least 30 years. A welcome and needful provision from the Giver of good and perfect gifts! (James 1:17)
What a great story, Leslie. We’ve had some ourselves, but this was so beautiful, and the timing unmistakable. We’ve been studying about God’s abundance with Jan Johnson and this fits perfectly with one of her assignments last week to take note of moments in the day or in our lives when we have noted God’s abundance. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Hi Jerry! Thanks so much for taking time to read. These faith-strengthening events in our lives never get old and serve to encourage our hearts.