When Larry and I were first married we had no money. We lived in a 1940’s trailer behind a church in Yuma, Arizona. It had no Air Conditioning and no bathroom, we used the church bathroom.. We were also broke and out of food.

 

I thought, "Wow this is crazy." I’ll call my dad and have him send me some money through Western Union so I can get some groceries. I called my dad and he was happy to send me twenty dollars. This was almost fifty-one years ago, so twenty dollars filled the grocery cart.

 

When I told Larry what I had done, he kind of got upset (Him being the husband and the provider). So he went to the church to pray, which he needed to do after getting upset.

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I’m sure he was dreaming of having a wonderful dinner waiting for him when he came back. He wanted country-fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy.

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While he was praying and I was beginning to put away the groceries there was a knock on our door. I opened the door and there was a young girl who told me a mother with five kids across the street didn’t have any food. I thought WOW that’s awful. I meant that from my heart.

 

Then the Lord said to me, “Janet give them your groceries.”

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I said what! I thought that can’t be God. I had just got these groceries and we had no food but I knew it was the Lord. So I asked Him, “Do I have to give them my Ritz crackers?" He said, "Yes.”

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I packed up all the groceries and the girl and I carried them across the street to the family.

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About an hour later Larry came in thinking he was going to have this amazing meal. When he looked around he asked me, “What did you do with the food?” I told him about the family across the street, and that I had given all the groceries to them. Well at that moment he did not have the same heart of compassion I had. He said, “You are like my mom.” His mom gave everything away many times.

 

So we fasted for a couple of days.

 

Two days later I heard a knock at the door of that old trailer. A couple was there who were passing thru town and stopped to see us. They said, “We would like to take you to the store to buy you some groceries.” I said, “Great, let’s go”.

 

At the store, I was only getting the bare necessities like, beans, flour, and cornmeal. The man had a grocery cart and so did his wife. They filled both carts  with everything. A roast, chickens, 2 boxes of RITZ crackers! They brought me home and then they went on their way.

 

When Larry came home, I had food stacked against the walls because my cabinets couldn’t hold it all. God had given me so much more I had given away.

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As a new pastors wife, that was my first OWAF (Oh What A Father) moment. From that moment on, I have always had plenty of money for groceries.

 

I had learned that the key to God's blessing was to be a giver.

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If you have a OWAF story that we might be able to share on MondayMorning please post it here or email me. 

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Janet 

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Return to MondayMorning November 8