God Protects - Sometimes In Mysterious Ways

Ever had one of those things that you did and you really don't know why you did it? Or perhaps you had one of those days when you were running late and didn't know why and then came across an accident that took place about the time you would have been in the area. Perhaps, like Timothy this past August, you went through an accident in your car, at work, or at home and you know that there is no way you should have come out of it alive or without injury...and yet you did. You know that God was the only way that you were protected in that situation. I have a testimony to share with you of how God recently protected our family. I share this giving God the Honor and Glory for His protection and provision!

On December 29 for some reason I unplugged my mixer...now I NEVER unplug my mixer because it bothers me when I try to use it and it is unplugged. However, even when I unplugged it I thought "Why am I doing this? I don't like my mixer unplugged..." but I kept it unplugged and went on with cleaning my house and kitchen.

On December 30, I started a large pot of gumbo. When I make gumbo I fill a 16 quart stock pot to the top. My pot is large and overhangs the burner by a good 1.5-2 inches. I started the pot of gumbo in the morning and allowed it to simmer all day long, because anyone who has ever made gumbo knows that the longer you let it simmer the better it is:-) And, once I had my gumbo started and chili meat started in another pot, I went back to cleaning my house.

Around 4:30 I wore out...and told Rusty "Let's go to the store and look at dishwashers." I knew if I stayed home I would continue to work until I dropped, and I was ready to get a new dishwasher after handwashing dishes for the past 6 months! I was hoping to get a dishwasher and have it installed by the next day - dreaming wasn't I? But, I know our God!

So, we didn't tell the kids where we were going but we left to "go to the store." I didn't want them disappointed if we didn't find a disherwasher at a price we could afford. We drove a good 30 minutes to the Sears Outlet store and looked at dishwashers only to find they had $1200 machines marked down to $800-900 which was well over our budget. So we stopped at Home Depot to look at one we had seen before - we had forgotten to check the price the first time, and then ended up going to Sears in the Mall to "see if they had any good sales today."

God provided us with a beautiful dishwasher with all the features I "wanted" including a stainless steel interior - which was one of those "extras" God provided. This particular disherwasher had been sold, but apparently when it got to its original location there was a large nickle size scratch in the front panel and it was returned to the store. Instead of sending it to the Outlet store as usual they had it on the floor at the mall. They had marked it down a good $250 because of the scratch, and I said "I can cover that with white fingernail polish." (which I did when I got home.) And, since it was at the store without a box, we had to "take it with us." The kids were so pleased when we came home with the new dishwasher.

By now it was about 7:00 and time for a late supper. I went to serve my gumbo and removed the pot from the stove to put it on the table. Nothing fancy that night as Rusty had the dishwasher to install. When I removed the pot from the store we were shocked to see that the power cord from my mixer had slipped under the pot of gumbo and touched the metal ring on the burner. The cord was burned and melted! We immediately praised the Lord for His protection. Had I not unplugged my mixer the day before we would have had an electrical fire in the kitchen. We knew it was possible that a fire could have happened while the kids were home alone. Yes, we have older children, but praise the Lord they nor we had to deal with a house fire. Just this past month we had friends at church have their house burn. We have heard the stories of their damage and working with insurance companies, reconstruction, etc.

We praise the Lord for His protection!