Mike and Michelle’s Giving Goal
Mike and I set a goal several months ago, for a targeted amount we wanted to give to further charitable Christian works. We decided on that amount because it was out of reach enough that we would have to trust God our Father to help us reach it but not so high that we would jeopardize our family’s financial situation. When it came time to write the check, we had the amount in two separate accounts, but it wasn’t enough to reach the goal. I was unsure what the total of the 2 accounts was but knew it wasn’t enough. However, I had faith that by the time we wrote the check, God would figure it out.
After a SPKB Board of Directors Meeting on a Friday evening, we hung around a little longer than others to talk. However, we couldn’t stay too late because our son had a soccer tournament the next day. When we left, we were walking out the car and one of the other board members followed us out to talk to us. They started by saying, “God told me to do something so I’m going to do it.” They handed us an envelope which felt like it contained money. Wide eyed, we started to ask why, and they said, “If you have questions, ask God the Father Almighty because He is the only one who knows why.”
On our drive home, Mike opened the envelope and kind of flipped through the stack of twenty- dollar bills. It was a lot of money! We talked and prayed asking God what He intended us to do with this money. We didn’t count it at that point. We got home and got the kids to bed and started getting ready for bed. We were still questioning what it was for. We both thought we needed to count it because it’s a specific amount for a specific reason and maybe that will help us realize what God’s plan is for that money. He counted it and as soon as he was done, he said, “Maybe this is Kingdom money.” My eyes got really big as I gasped! He was exactly right! I told him how much we had been able to save towards our goal and asked him to check the other account that I didn’t have the password to. He fumbled around for what felt like forever as I was holding my breath to hear the number. He found it and then fumbled around to open his calculator to add the 2 numbers together. Together it was 80% of our goal amount but when you add the money God told that board member to give us, it was the exact amount plus $3.85! One more twenty-dollar bill and it would’ve been too much, one less and it wouldn’t have matched our goal! Oh, the chills and excitement we felt personally experiencing that kind of miracle of how God provides!
We had to call Steve and Susan, our faith team, and share what we had just felt! We got through the story and Steve said, “I knew it!” We were like, what? The board member had told Steve what God told them to do and asked Steve to give it to us. Steve told them no because God told them to give it to us, not Steve. They agreed, that is what God had told them. Steve suspected that God was using this to strengthen His team, that somehow this would go towards God’s plan.
In the following week, before we wrote out that check, we had 2 unexpected expenses present themselves that were for that same amount. Our pool pump wasn’t working properly, and it was going to cost that same exact amount to run all new piping from the pool to the pump. Also, Mike’s Suburban was having some issues and it was going to cost that same amount to get it fixed. With our Christmas trip to KY coming up, we needed to have it fixed and ready to make the trip. We were being tempted, but we knew what God wanted us to do, so we wrote out the check as we had planned.
As for the other bills, things worked out fine. Thankfully, we had someone offer to help install the pipe if we purchased the materials for a lot less. We decided it was time to trade the Suburban in for something newer, more reliable, and with less maintenance costs, thereby avoiding the repair cost, and the truck was our down payment. We believe that the resolution of these 2 things, without the need of diverting the gift, was confirmation that we had made the right decision to use that gift as God intended. We could’ve made so many other decisions with it but that is where God wanted it to go. God provides what we need when we need it, if we trust Him, and follow Him.
For God’s Glory!
Michelle