O W A F
"Oh What a Father"
Janet Neville
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.
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.
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.”
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.”
I packed up all the groceries and the girl and I carried them across the street to the family.
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.
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.
If you have a OWAF story that we might be able to share on MondayMorning please post it here or email me.
Janet