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I don’t remember much of what was said at my grandmother’s funeral except for these words spoken by my cousin, “They didn’t have much, but they always had enough.” It was such a simple statement but contained so much truth. What my grandparents lacked in way of material possessions they made up for with an abundance of love for their family and in the end that was all that truly mattered. Little did I know my cousin’s words would mean even more to me just a few years later.
When we moved to California a little over nine years ago, we knew we were taking a risk. We were leaving our family, friends and everything we had ever known in Oklahoma behind. We were optimistic about the move, believing that we were following God’s will for our lives. Our faith was strong and we moved with confidence that everything would be okay.
Except there were times when it wasn’t okay. My husband’s starting salary at his new job wasn’t much to live on. We struggled every month just to pay our bills and buy groceries. As we neared the end of our first year in California, we realized that we couldn’t go on like this much longer. It was looking like we might have to move back to Oklahoma and start all over again.
I didn’t understand what God was doing. Where was his provision? We had prayed and followed. We had listened and obeyed. We had hoped and believed. Yet when things started to get tough, I started to doubt. And when I did, I forced myself to pray always receiving the same answer, “Trust me. Be patient and trust me.” So we did. We continued to trust through the struggles and twelve months into our new life in California, God provided. My husband was promoted to his dream job which allowed us to breathe a huge emotional and financial sigh of relief.
When I look back on that time in our lives, I can hear my cousins words whispering a reminder. We didn’t have much, but we always had enough. Even when our bank account said otherwise, we had managed. Even though I had doubted, there was always enough. God had been with us the whole time. God provided for us each and every day, even on the days when we neglected to give Him thanks. His provision had always been there. We didn’t have everything we wanted during that time, but we certainly had everything we needed.