This is a God Story.
Earlier this year, I experienced what I can only call “nesting 2.0”—a season in my life during which I decided to purchase all the items my baby would ever need from birth until 18 months. One of the items on that list was organic goat milk formula from Germany. I calculated her daily intake and then bought more than she might ever need. When she fully weaned last month, I was left with 32 extra boxes.
It’s hard to return something you bought from another country, especially one with an expiration date. So I decided to sell them on Facebook, but I felt in my spirit that I was supposed to give them away, instead. I found some women on a Facebook group who were interested and headed to the shipping store to get the boxes sent to them.
I was not well-prepared for the operation and one of the workers in the store approached me to offer help. He pointed out where I could buy tape, markers, boxes, and stuffing. But after a little while, he said to me, “Ma’am, I’m going to help you because it looks like you’re trying to help others with these boxes. What is in them?” I told him they were baby formula from Europe for babies with cow milk allergies. “Why would you give away something like this,” he asked. “Because it’s been a hard year for everyone and it will only get better when we start helping each other,” I replied.
He was moved by the generosity of God’s command and it infected him, too. He hooked me up with free tape, free packaging, and free boxes. (I learned he was the store owner’s husband so he had the authority to do so.) “We all can be more human,” he said.
At the end of our transaction, I offered him prayer as a thank you and he said, “I am Hindu but I sometimes go to my Christian friend’s church. Yes, you can pray for me.” He led me to the back office to pray in private.
I invited the Holy Spirit to come upon him and prophesied that God would give him ideas in his imagination for the next big technological invention, as world-changing as the internet (for he was actually an IT guy and only worked at the store when one of their employees was out.) I also prayed healing for his emotions, his indigestion, and his wife—all by listening to God, for he did not tell me about any of these things.
When I was done, he was so moved by the prayer that he offered me sweets from his country that he had in his lunch bag (for he was an immigrant). I gladly accepted them as yet another gesture of the generous spirit that was upon us. As I was leaving his store, he told me when his wife usually works and that I should come by to hang out with her, some time.
Wow. What a beautiful moment! That’s enough of a God Story, right? Well, it gets better.
After I sent out the boxes, I wrote the women from Facebook to let them know what I sent them for some had asked for a specific number of boxes but some had asked for anything I was willing to give. To one, God said to send only 4 boxes and to another, 16 boxes. When I told the latter woman how many I had sent her, she was floored.
Me: You were certainly the favored one in this equation. I don’t know if you’ve been asking God for provision but if so, it worked! 😉
Her: I have been praying just this week about several things that have come up in our family, including cost of formula for our baby. I asked the Lord to just provide as He saw fit, that He knew our needs and that He would let me just trust. Thank you for being a vessel!!!
Double-wow. Not only did an unbeliever feel the generous love of his Heavenly Father, whom he will soon know, but a fellow believer is learning to trust the generous provision of hers.
A double-portion of blessing for one single act of generosity. Now, that’s my kind of return!
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