Sometimes, God Speaks in Landscape Pavers
... or some other small thing we want but don't need. It's His way of showing us He cares about the little details of our lives. Here's a story to illustrate.
It had been nearly a year since my husband’s heart attack and subsequent brain injury, and finances were tight. Long term disability insurance was covering most of our necessities, thank God, but the reality was we’d taken a massive income cut with Ray no longer able to work. Busy overseeing his care as well as that of our five children, I was in no position to rejoin the workforce to help in a meaningful way.
One Saturday morning following a heavy rain, I gazed wistfully into the backyard after letting the dog out. The two and a half acres of the property were what had attracted us to this little rental house two years before. We could live with 1,800 square feet for a family of seven if it meant having all that yard to play in. Ray had spent hours cleaning it up prior to his illness, but we’d never gotten around to doing anything with the area immediately outside the backdoor. It remained nothing but an expanse of dirt—all of which turned into a mud pit following a spit of rain. The trek through the quagmire prevented us from fully utilizing the otherwise wonderful area, since we had to cross the muck to get to the play set, the trampoline, or the climbing tree.
If only we had some landscape pavers, I thought that morning as I gazed at the squishy terrain. Just enough to create a path through the mess so we could get to the grass, and from there to all the fun.
But, money.
I shrugged, my thoughts turning to a prayer. It’s okay, God. Just keep food on the table. We don’t need landscape pavers.
Forgetting about the backyard, I went about my daily tasks, hours later leaving to grab what few groceries our checkbook would allow. Milk, bananas, ground beef, I listed nervously as I drove, doing the math in my head. Bread and lunch meat.
We had twelve dollars and change in our bank account. There was no way it would stretch to meet these most basic of needs.
My hands had tightened on the steering wheel, but I took a deep breath, consciously loosening my grip. Lord, you promised to provide, I prayed. I believed You then and I believe You now.
I thought of the random check from the IRS that had arrived in our mailbox one day following a similar desperate situation. $400 because they’d made a mistake on our taxes. When does that ever happen? I thought of Ray’s time at rehab, and countless other ways God had shown up for us in the months since the brain injury.
I trust in You. You’ve got this.
I proceeded to the store, mentally conceding a few things we could live without. Items were on sale, however, allowing me to add a few small extras to the cart. Remarkably, the most expensive item—the ground beef—wouldn’t ring up, and the cashier gave it to me for free.
The twelve dollars in our bank account were more than enough. We would eat for another few days—and eat well—until the next long term disability insurance check landed in the account.
But God was about to do me one better.
Returning home, I carried the groceries into the house and set them on the counter, glancing at my phone when it dinged.
Free landscape pavers, declared the notification from the Nextdoor app.
The morning’s whimsy leapt to my mind and goosebumps rose on my flesh. Opening to the posting, my breath stuck in my throat. The photo showed exactly the type of pavers I’d envisioned, and they were less than a mile away.
I messaged the poster. The pavers were still available.
I called my dad and (I kid you not) said, “I need to borrow your truck. God’s got some landscape pavers He wants me to have.”
My dad’s not really one to think God answers our prayers in such a manner, so I’m pretty sure he thought I’d finally lost it. The proof was in the mud-pit pudding, however. The pavers were exactly enough to create a path through the mud to the grass. Not only that, there were additional stones to circle the fire pit.
I wanted pavers, but we needed groceries. God gave us both, with a bonus, because He cares about even the smallest details of our lives.
Let’s be real, though. It’s not always that easy.
No. No, it’s not. I wish it were.
Sometimes, God lets us struggle. We walk through the dark valley, fumbling and feeble, and wonder when we’ll ever get relief. Those times are hard. The worst.
But those are also the times that allow us to rise again, to be reborn, to gather a strength we didn’t know we had from a God who never leaves us, a God who cares enough to count the hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7, Matt 10:30), the freckles on our cheeks, the age spots on our hands. A God who will allow us to be pushed to our very limits, but will always come through in some remarkable and unexpected way just when we need it most.
Those are the times to which we return when things get hard again. God had me then, and He has me now.
They are the times that allow us to share: God had me then, and he has you now.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matt 6:25)
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Thank you!
Our God has a sense of humor and knows all that we need. Thank you for the encouragement that His answers can be glaringly obvious or seen only in hindsight.
Wow! Amazing! I admire your trust and God's provision.