Miracle on Portobella Place

As most of you know, when Hubby and I decided for me to be a stay-at-home mom and homeschooler, we made a conscience decision that we would have less income and would have to change our lifestyle. Sometimes this is easy (when the children are playing harmoniously and seem to be thriving in their learning) and sometimes it is difficult (when others seem to have more "stuff" than our kids).



Well, it turns out that having a baby is one of those times when it is tough. I expected my big bill to come from the hospital where you can finance it over a year, but my doctor's office filed on the insurance first so I owe them the big bill. I went in their office last week and found out that we owe them $2200 and they will only finance it over 3 months!!!! Everybody has an extra $733.33 sitting around to pay on a bill each month, don't they? Then, we went to the pediatrician's office yesterday and discovered that they had our address wrong and had not been able to bill us correctly. We owed them $230 from previous visits and $310 for the shots that Superman got that day. Needless to say, these sorts of things are extremely stressful.



Hubby has an attitude concerning these things that amazes me. He told me to do the best I could and not to worry because "What are they going to do? Come and eat us?" Certainly we plan to pay our obligations on time, but news like that out of the blue is discouraging.



Last night I sat down to balance the checkbook and to sort through the stack of mail that had accumulated. In our mail was an envelope from our insurance provider. When I opened it, it contained the escrow refund from our home owner's insurance. We sold our house a few months ago as part of our sizing down initiative, and I had no idea that there would be a refund. It doesn't cover all of the medical bills, but it helps out a ton. Even though we don't have to tithe on it because it is not income, we decided to give the Lord the 10% he asks for as a Praise Offering.



It's amazing to me just how good God is! Everytime He throws a miracle my way, I am surprised by it. You would think that I would remember how much He loves me and would understand that He will provide for me if I am faithful to Him.