When God calls, God provides

The toothbrush holder pictures the coziness of our home during 25 days of ten people.

When He placed four extra children in our home quite unexpectedly, sources of provision also came unexpectedly. Gift cards, buying groceries from my list, a babysitter or two, socks & underwear, extra meat, hands to prepare extra meals. Lots and lots of prayer.

When God calls, He provides.

Yet, how can one be prepared to do something that they are woefully inadequate to do? On the one hand, it seemed that everything that I had ever done in my life prepared me for such a time as this. This time of having eight children in our home; our number of children doubled in one evening.

Every skill that I had ever had was called on.

The days of Three Under Three that taught me triage skills: upset tummy, potty training issues, and a baby in need of nursing. What do you deal with first when They. All. Really. Need. Something. Now? This skill comes in handy when one has a hurt wrist, dinner is on the stove, there's a headache, and two boys are tumbling in an angry fight.

The days of Just Hubby & I where I learned to get up off the couch, make a meal, and load the washing machine. The days of Two Under Two where I learned how to just do it: follow the instructions in the Once-a-Month Cookbook. I followed the recipes, the directions, and in the process I learned how to stock a pantry, cook in bulk, and feed my family.

Each child listed by name & birth order (hidden here for privacy).

The days of Sales Rep Administrator taught me how to set-up files and organize, and be excellent at the mundane tasks no one else wanted to do. I needed to set-up files for girls who had papers from school and appointments with doctors and counselors. I needed a list for the shower so that we could get ten people through one shower.

When God calls, He provides.

He even provided a clean house and a short to-do list. The week before the extras came I had thought to myself, 'I feel caught up.' When have I ever thought that? One daughter had vacuumed the van, a rare occurrence that happened just before we drove 45 minutes to get the extra kids. This year in school we were further along academically than we ever have been in the calendar year. It allowed me to focus on the needs at hand while knowing we were able learn about serving others and reading on our own. I haven't been stressed about where we are in our books, we still have time to finish up.

When God calls, He provides.

This includes inspirational encouragement! Friends had gone before me, I knew I could follow their paths: I have a friend who also took in four children for a long obedient season. Another who homeschools two and takes two to public school (which we would do for 25 days).  I have a friend who is the guardian of her niece. I have a friend who has eight children, sometimes nine. And there are others but these are the folks I texted on our way to pick up the children. The ones who knew what I was walking into better than I did at that moment.

And there was a dinner -- planned before the children came but eaten after they came. Each person at the table had fostered children in some fashion. The five of us had never before been just the five of us. Yet there they were sitting at a table -- not just to encourage me -- but man, oh man, it sure seemed like it. God is so amazing to give us what we need when we need it.

When God calls, He provides.

He prepared me to need Him fully,  so greatly. To utterly fall on my face. To do these tasks imperfectly. To see the need. To see the tears and the heartache. To be unable to fix the problem, to be at the end of myself with nothing, absolutely nothing left of me to give. And it was in those moments, that I saw God's hand most convincinly -- beyond what I could do. At the end of me, He shows up. Isn't that just what II Corinthians 12:8-9 says? My grace is sufficient for you. My power is perfected in weakness.

He didn't call because I was capable but because we were willing. Willing to be undone when a friend calls to ask what can I do for you and I can't speak because I want to break down sobbing. I want to weep because someone sees that I have a need. He sent a friend at just the right time.
 
So why do I worry? Why do I get overwhelmed when my daughter comes in all muddy from her mid-day school break and needs a shower? Why does that make me weep in these days of 'only five'?

Does not my soul remember that when God calls, He provides?

When He calls, He provides through His people, through His grace, through the power in the inner being, through the strength given to those who wait on the Lord (Isaiah 40:31). Even to those who cry the tears of the overwhelmed and the tears of those who try harder still fall short. He provides His sufficient grace for me and for all who call on the name of the Lord.

He called, He provided. He is still calling and still providing.

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Linking up with Jen at SDG and Emily at Imperfect Prose.