My Life of Miracles - part 6

As I said, receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit opened the floodgates to the supernatural and miraculous in my life. I had always been one that once I saw it in the bible, I just accepted it. So, when the bible said miracles were mine and the legacy for my life that Jesus had died to give me, I believed it. Because I believed it, and still do, miracles seemed to be everywhere.

Hungry to Learn

I studied in the bible on my own. I devoured books written by others who had experienced miracles. I prayed in the Spirit as I drove, long or short distances.

My husband and I had moved our single-wide trailer yet again. We were now out in the country on a portion of my parents property. They owned 160 acres which had ranch and farm land. 

My husband still worked in the oil field and was gone most of the time. He worked seven days a week, and usually had to drive one hour each way to and from work. So, I was alone with our baby boy most of the time.

Little to Budget

We had gone into debt almost as soon as we got married. We bought furniture. While I was in the hospital with my first born, he bought a new, much needed vehicle. I was not working and was trying to run our tiny household at 19 and had never been taught how. I didn’t know how to cook. I didn’t know how to manage money. But, we both knew how to spend it.

As soon as I heard that we were supposed to tithe, I did. The bible said it, I believed it, and so I just did it. I wanted to do whatever I was supposed to do and felt joy in doing it.

Tithing Was a Start

Even though I was tithing, it was not a magic wand to quick financial freedom. I didn’t expect that; I was tithing out of obedience and love for the Father. But, I had a desire to manage money well. It seemed though that I was always running out of money and accidentally writing checks that would overdraw our bank account.

The Lord helped me develop a system, long before Dave Ramsey since this was in 1977, where I would take my husband’s paycheck to the bank each week with a list of bills that needed paid. I would get money orders for those bills, and then get a series of $5 bills. I don’t remember how much I would leave in the bank. I could tell the tellers at the bank thought I was crazy.

I Had a System

When I got home, I would mail the money orders off, paying the bills. That way I didn’t have to worry about them not getting paid. I then took seven small white envelopes and taped them inside the pantry door. I put one $5 bill in each. I wrote a day of the week on each envelope.

Today, we could not get by with $5 a day as a budget, but then I could, even if just barely. If I didn’t spend the days money, I would remove it and put it in the next day’s envelope which would now have $10 in it. I would do this ‘roll-over’ system until I needed to go to the grocery store and would take what money was in the envelope for that day whether it was $5 or $30 and buy groceries.

It Worked Until It Didn't

This system worked for the most part. I was really trying. I really wanted to manage the money we had well. But for some reason one week, I ran out of money early on. Obviously I had had to rob the other envelopes of their stash for some reason. Whatever had come up, I don’t know, but we had spent what I normally budgeted.

So, I prayed. I needed to go to the grocery store. I needed groceries. The last time I went, I had spent nearly all that I had. Honestly, I think I may have had a little over a dollar in my wallet.

Inspired to Go Shop and See

As I was praying, I thought I would just go to the grocery store and see what I could get with what I had. I went, not even sure how much money I did have since I was afraid to look, and bought a few things.

When I got to the checkout stand I was very anxious, thinking I would have to ask our small town grocer to allow me to get what I had brought to the checkout stand on credit. I was trying to get up the courage to ask since I knew it was inevitable. I knew I did not have enough in my purse to pay for it all, even though it was only about five dollars or so.

Anxiety at the Cash Register

She rang it up and I reached into my purse to get what money I had. When I opened my wallet, I just stared at it. There was the exact amount that I needed and a few coins left over. There was more than enough!

Let me stress to you that I knew I had only had around one dollar in there. To see over five dollars in there was shocking. I knew it was a miracle. I knew God had an angel put money in my purse. My faith was bolstered even more. As I saw the money there I felt a hot flush of the Holy Spirit.

Had to Do It Again

But, what I bought was barely enough to make the meals for one day. I had to go back to the grocery store again the next day. I knew exactly what I had in my wallet. Those few coins that I had left over the day before.

I shopped, searching for the least expensive and most ‘stretchable’ items I could find, but selected even less than the day before. When I got to the checkout counter again, I was thinking I would have to ask for credit. But when I opened my wallet, there was the money I needed to pay for all my groceries, with a few coins left over. I was dumbfounded. One day was outstanding, two days in a row what shocking. Again, my faith was bolstered and I was walking on air.

And Again...

If that had been the only two times that week it would have been enough, but it didn’t stop there. I went to the grocery each day until payday. Each time there was just enough money in my wallet to get what I needed for that day, with a few coins left over. If I were to count, probably three or four days that provisional miracle occurred. Payday came and I was back to living on my $5 a day budget and the ‘money in my wallet’ miracle stopped.

I have found money since then randomly, but I have not since experienced that type of financial miracle in that particular way. Had it been once or twice, I could have possibly explained it away, but that many days in a row was impossible to deny. I believed in miracles and was looking for them everywhere, and so it was easy to see it, recognize it as such, and thank God for it.

Watching For Miracles

I wonder what if I had not recognized it as a miracle that first day. What if I had blown it off or excused it away? Would I have seen subsequent miracles the following days? I choose to see the tiniest things as supernatural and miraculous, and I firmly believe that being always on the lookout for them, actually multiplies them in my life.

Seeing the first one on that first day fired me up and I was expectant each day. By the third day, I went with confidence that I would have what I needed, and guess what? I had in my formerly nearly empty purse, just what I needed. 

Read more about praying in the Holy Spirit. This is a document that I prepared with multiple scriptures.

I want to encourage you to leave me any comments below. They are so encouraging and motivating to me. 

Click to Read Part 7 Here

Nancy

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