100 lbs of Rice

Dear Church Family:

 

When I was a young boy growing up in Houston Texas, my dad worked at the Goodyear Tire Store.  He was the manager.  And because I was his son, I got special privileges around closing time.  We would go pick dad up at the store, and get to run up and down the tire racks.  (nobody could tell us to stop, cause after all, I was the manager’s son)  After many years of working at the tire store, and after getting a little bored with running the racks, my dad was offered a promotion that would cause him to travel all over Texas.  He was offered a significant raise in pay, but it meant long weeks away from his family.  So, my dad quit that job.  He was confident that he could find other work, and for a while he attempted to re-route his career to being a stock broker.  He went to stock broker school, and we waited for dad to “go back to work”.  Finally, he started being a stock broker, and then the stock market bottomed out, and that job became a bust.  By that time, we were counting change in the seat cushions.  Things were tough.

 

One day, my dad was out looking for a job, and at the end of the day, when he arrived home, he didn’t have a job, but he did have an unusual package.  My dad hauled a 100 lb sack of rice into the house.  (100 pounds is a lot of rice).  He told the story, that he was driving down the road, when a rice delivery truck in front of him, hit a pothole, and this sack of rice fell off the truck.  My dad, being a good dad, stopped to get the bag of rice and bring it back to the driver.

 

Well, by the time he hauled that 100 pound sack of rice into his Rambler Car, the truck driver was gone.  Soooo, my dad brought the rice home.  (you remember that story of the manna from heaven?)  Well, we had our manna, and mom proceeded to serve rice at every meal.  We ate rice with everything, and that rice sustained us for a lot of meals, while dad continued to look for work.  God provided for our need!!!

 

When God provides:

  1.  He reminds us that he cares
  2. He sometimes uses circumstances
  3. He intends to always use others to help
  4. We are able to understand the heart of God in a more tangible way

Thanks for serving ,

Dr. j