Everything We Own Comes With a Story..

  Everything we own comes with a story. We never just outright buy anything... It just goes against my grain to pay full price for anything. Plus it seems God has a way of providing things for us.
Now, this doesn't mean we always get what we want when we want it. It means that we get what we need when we need it. 
  I bought a used stove and fridge for $150 each when we moved here. They were old but sturdy. They served us well for the past 8 years. But... the oven had never baked evenly and it was falling apart. 
  So when we got a Christmas blessing, I decided to look at getting a new stove.  I had planned to shop on facebook marketplace, but when we made a trip to Lowe's,  we saw they were having a great appliance sale. So I checked out what they had.  I was pleasantly surprised by their prices. So I planned to take a trip to Lowe's to pick up the stove sometimes in the next week.

   Meanwhile, I felt God leading me to put as much as possible of our MANY Christmas blessings into savings for Bubbie's school tuition next year.   So  I wrestled a little. I really wanted a new stove!! But  I also want to be obedient with the blessings we are given.

One evening browsing facebook, a friend shared a post on her page of a stove for sale by a friend of hers.  It was black. My current appliances are white and cream. But it was NICE and it was only $100 and I had "that feeling". So I messaged the lady.  She said she would measure and get back to me. 
The next day I still had not heard anything. Finally, I reached out and she let me know she had already sold it.

I was disappointed but have learned to trust God. At this point I just let it go.

    This morning she messaged me again. The first guy changed his mind. I could have the stove. We chatted a little, regarding our connections to the friend who had shared the post. This lady was the cousin of my friend's late husband.  I shared that I was a widow too.

    So This afternoon the boys removed the backseat of the van. We headed out to pick up the stove. It was perfect for us.  I paid the younger guy. He and my boys loaded the stove into the back of the van.
Meanwhile, the older guy was telling me how much his wife hated having a black stove. I said that with all my kids I think black might hide some of the dirt.

    So we were ready to head out and the guy looks at me with a grin and hands back my money with a cheery Merry Christmas! I was shocked. I kept asking are you sure?!  The boys were shocked....This man's generosity was so unexpected and such a wonderful blessing.  Now we had a stove and money to put towards tuition!

   So we hauled that beautiful black stove home, the boys took the old power cord off the old stove and attached it to the new stove.  They moved it into its spot and we praised God for once again providing for us.
 
    I thanked Jesus outloud for our beautiful stove and I apologized for sounding ungrateful, but I told Jesus I would really like a new stove hood that matches.  (And my children scolded me for not being content with what I have :) )

  The neatest thing in all of this was my children's view of God at work.  Last week, we spend a good bit of time giving, giving with open hands and hearts.  We talked alot about how what we have is not ours, but Gods. That we must be willing to give from what we have and that God does promise to give back what we give.
Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back  
Another positive in this.. is that my boys were quite proud of their ability to switch out the power cords and set up the stove themselves. I am still supervising closely and helping as needed. But they now do all the things that I used to do.