Even the Little Details
Oct 17, 2021 | by The Fellowship
On a Saturday afternoon in September, we learned belatedly of the death of my husband’s cousin. The funeral was going to be on Monday at 11 a.m. in West Texas. On the spur of the moment, we made plans to attend. He and my husband had been close growing up in the same small town in West Texas, and we had kept in touch by phone and occasional visits.
We decided to leave Sunday morning and drive to a city with a nice choice of motels for that night. The next day we only had to drive over an hour to get there in time for the funeral. Tropical Storm Nicholas was strengthening in the Gulf, but we were only concerned about the possibility of having to drive in heavy rain. That did not happen and we had beautiful weather for our trip.
Because of Covid, the funeral was held outside at the gravesite. We thought it might be hot, but was actually quite pleasant with low humidity and a cool breeze on the high plains of West Texas. It was not a “quickie” graveside service, but a regular funeral with a very compelling message from the pastor about how everyone needs to be prepared for eternity by accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives.
After the funeral, we drove on to Alto, New Mexico, to spend a few days with my husband’s sister and her husband. The morning after we got there, our daughter in Houston called. My cell phone had been out of range while we were driving in unpopulated areas of New Mexico, so no one had not been able to reach us. Nicholas had blown through Katy with 50 m.p.h. winds early Monday morning and taken down a tree in our backyard.
Miraculously, it had not hit our house -- or a planted area with a rock fountain in the middle of the yard -- or any fences -- or our equipment shed. Instead, it was perfectly laid down in the grass without even coming close to damaging anything. It was so obviously a God thing and we were thankful! With no repairs to worry about, we did not have to shorten our trip.
After getting home, we began lopping off all the lesser branches and leaves. It was amazing how many trash cans and bags we filled. A couple of weeks later, our son-in-law came and tackled the trunk and large branches with a chain saw and cut them into manageable pieces. Another tree was leaning a bit, so he also took it down.
When all possible debris had been cleared out, we found ourselves left with pieces of the tree trunks that we knew were too big in diameter for our neighborhood trash service to pick up. That company enforces very specific regulations about what they will take. “Lord, please help us find a way to get rid of this wood,” I prayed.
At the next meeting of our LIFE Group, one of the ladies mentioned that she had a yard man who had taken down two trees in her backyard and hauled everything away. She would ask him. But after being away on a trip for a while, this man was way behind with his regular customers and could not do it.
So again I asked the Lord to help us. That Friday morning I was grocery shopping and had just finished checking out. While putting away my credit card and receipt before leaving, I heard the young man in line behind me say to the cashier, “I would like to pay for seven bundles of firewood.” It was like the words electrified me! I turned around to see a nicely dressed, clean-cut young man in his early 20’s. When I offered him the wood in my backyard, he was grinning from ear to ear!
As it turned out, he and some buddies were going camping that weekend near Navasota and wanted to have plenty of firewood. He works for his dad’s company and was taking his morning break to get stocked up for their outing.
While he filled the back of his pickup with the wood in our backyard, we had a nice visit. “It is so interesting how God works,” I told him. Using our dolly, he made numerous trips back and forth. I am sure he got enough firewood for several more camping adventures in the future!
I felt God’s presence like a great big hug! The euphoria lasted all day as I kept thanking Him for that blessing and so many others He continually pours upon us. How awesome He is to hear and answer prayer for even the little details in our lives! Truly, there is none like Him!
N. N.
We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord,
even as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 33:20-22