by Julie Jaunese
In the late 1970s, the economy was much like it is today. Unemployment was high and people were struggling to make ends meet.
My husband and I owned our own business at the time. He also went to college at night. Despite working so hard and so many hours every week, times were tough for our family. It got to a point that one day I had to pray that God would supply the food we needed to eat that day. We had plenty of venison in the freezer, so meat wasn’t an issue. We didn’t have store bought meat at that time. We really couldn’t afford it.
This particular morning I realized I didn’t have anything to put with the meat. I had used everything else I had in the way of fruit, eggs, veggies, cereal, pasta, potatoes. Everything was gone. I had flour and sugar in the cupboard but nothing to put with it to make anything edible. This is a frightening thing for a mom with two little girls that needed to be fed. Baking my own bread had become my way of releasing stress, but I was all out of yeast.
I was also embarrassed to tell anyone how desperate we were, so I took all of the “talking to God” on my own shoulders. I didn’t call anyone else to help or to pray with me. It was God and me. When my husband left for work that morning, I began crying out to God. I told him I didn’t know what we were going to do. I knew the Bible said he wouldn’t have his people begging for bread, but we didn’t have any bread. I needed to feed my children and I knew that He loved them even more than I did, so he would need to provide our food.
About two hours later I received a call from our pastor’s wife. She said that someone had called her that morning and said that God had told her in the summer months to can twice the food she would normally can and when the time came, God would tell her where she was to take the food. Today was the day.
That morning God told her to call Babs, our pastor’s wife. The woman told Babs that God hadn’t told her who the food was to go to, only that Babs would take care of it. Babs told me that at first she didn’t know who the food was to be taken to. But when the woman told her there wasn’t any meat, only fruits and vegetables, Babs immediately knew it was for our family.
- Julie snapped photos of her pantry after having it miraculously filled with canned goods.
When Babs arrived she brought boxes of canned fruits and vegetables along with frozen vegetables that filled our freezer. I was in awe as I put the jars on the shelves. It was amazing as I stood back and looked. God had known 6 months before this day that I would be crying out to him on this date and at this time. He had planned ahead for me by prompting this woman to can extra food. He didn’t provide Del Monte or Green Giant, which would have been great. He provided food that was home canned with love.
Why is this story important to you? It is important because we all have times when we are alone with our burden. We don’t always need to be on a prayer list or share our burden with someone else. God is there for each of us individually. He wants you to call on him. He is ready to provide.