God's wonderful grace and miracles - living by faith

My Testimony

In the fall of 1988 I found myself alone and responsible to raise my two daughters ages 2 and 12. I turned to the Lord and he drew closer to me than any human could ever have. In those days of great despair the Lord became my best friend, husband, father to my kids, confidant, defender, provider and comforter.

(Isaiah 54:5) For thy Maker is thy husband; Jehovah of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.
(Isaiah 54:6) For Jehovah hath called thee as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God.

With the constant care and direction from the Lord also came many miracles during this time of my life. As finances were very slim, I had to trust God for many of the very basic needs of life and he never failed me.

One of the miracles was how God returned my stolen car to me. During this time my sister-in-law and her two children had moved in with us to help share expenses as she too had found herself alone.

We had gone to the grocery store that evening and bought milk, diapers and a few other essentials. We then went to another store to see if we could find an inexpensive telephone as mine had quit working. We only had $10 left between us, and even though I had never seen a phone sold for that little amount before, I had a feeling we would be able to find one that we could afford. I knew that God said he would supply all our needs and this was a need. My oldest daughter had to baby sit the younger children a little while each day and needed a telephone in case of an emergence. As it happened the store we went into was no longer going to carry telephones and had the remaining phones on sell at close out prices. We were able to get a $50 telephone for $7.

While we were leaving the store and praising the Lord for supplying our need again we looked into the parking lot and could not find my car. It was gone. When realization hit me that someone had stolen the car a miracle happened within me that is hard to explain. The best way I can describe it is, an unbelievable joy and confidence rose up within me. Like John 7:38 says: He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

An exciting expectation, I knew that I was about to see a miracle. God was going to either bring my car back to me, or he would provide us with another car with milk and food in it. It really didn’t matter to me how he did it, we needed a car and we needed the groceries that were in the car. Praise God, we knew it was coming our way.

When the police came they put the description of the car over the police radio and officers in the area were looking for the car. The officer that responded to our call, allowed us to ride around with him and look for the car for a while. He said he had never met anyone like us before in his life. He had responded to many calls like ours before, stolen vehicles and such, but never had anyone act the way we were acting. He could see that we were very happy and excited; we told him that we were going to see a miracle. We told him that the car was coming back or God would send us another one with the groceries in it. He was being very nice and patient with us. He also did not want to discourage us, but he said the chances were very slim we would be able to recover the car. I said don’t worry, God had it under control.

I asked the officer what thieves did with the stolen cars. He said a lot of times they would break them down and sell them out as parts; they also could be used in a robbery before they are torn down. My sister-in-law and I immediately agreed together in prayer that the car belonged to the Lord and could not be used in any crime. I am sure the officer was thinking we were crazy by this time, but he seemed to be enjoying the change from the norm.

By this time the car had been missing for over an hour. The store where the car was taken was at the edge of town and at a fork in the road between two highways leading out of town. The car could have been in the next county and in another town by this time.

A call came in over the radio saying the car had been found and pulled over just a mile from the store. It was on one of the highways headed back towards the grocery store. It turns out it was a profession car thief with a long record of such crimes. When they were caught, they told the police officer that when they saw the baby car seat in the back seat, they had an over whelming feeling and HAD to return the car.

Praise God the car was in perfect shape and the groceries were fine. The milk was as cold if it just came out of the refrigerator. The police officer knew he had just witnessed a miracle.


There was another time when we needed $150.00, my sister-in-law had a hand gun she took to the pawn shop. The clerk offered to buy it for $115.00, we were disappointed but accepted the offer. The owner came out to approve the deal, he saw the $115.00 written on the paper, and he approved it and then took the paper work back to his office to complete the deal.

While we were waiting, we prayed together and believed that God would somehow provide the extra $35 we needed.

A little while later the owner came out and gave the paperwork to the clerk who then had my sister-in-law sign it. When she looked at the amount it now said $150.00! She was shocked and showed it to me. She then turned to the clerk and asked him if it was right. He confirmed it was the right amount and gave her $150 cash that we needed! Praise God!

We didn’t go around telling anyone about our “troubles” only the Lord knew about them. The biggest “miracle” is what the Lord did within me. The things of this world meant nothing to me, only being in the prefect will of the Lord matter. God placed that desire in me. As the Bible says, he gives us the desires of our heart; he placed his desire in my heart. Only he can get the credit for that. The trials and tribulations I was going though brought me there. And I praise God for them! It changed my life forever!

After I had been attending my church for several months, I meet the worship leader. We were having a small group fellowship for the purpose of getting to know everyone. I was asked to give a testimony about my life. When I was finished he said he couldn’t believe I was going through everything I had mentioned. He said every Sunday morning he would search out for the two ladies with the smiles on their faces to encourage him while he lead the praise and worship service. He would have never dreamed we had a care in the world. But a truth, we didn’t have a care, God had it. Again, I cannot take credit for that, no one in the natural can do that, but with God everything is possible. What people would call the worst time of my life became the best time of my life.

I had many hurtful things thrown at me, and suffered much rejection. But the Lord took the brunt of it all for me. It was as if the Lord himself was standing in front me. When these fiery darts were hurtled at me it was as if they hit the Lord first before it came to me. He took the full force of the darts before they passed on to me, and while I felt them they could not do any real damage their sting had been softened and I was quickly released from the sharp pain of them. What a wonderful comforter we have.

After moving North Carolina, God continued to provide for us.

I had to travel to Florida to pick up my now 13 year old daughter who had been visiting a couple of weeks with my father. It was an 800 mile trip to Fort Myers from where we now lived in North Carolina. I knew that my car wasn’t in the best of shape, it needed new tires and the transmission had been slipping a little bit in Austin, Texas before we moved North Carolina a few months before. But I trusted God to get us there and back home safely. My 3 year old and I set out to Florida. After traveling several hours we stopped for gas and food. I noticed my front driver’s side tire was almost completely flat and could see it going down even more while I watched it. It must have happened quickly after I had left the highway because there had been no sign of having a flat tire. The steering had been fine and I had no vibration. Thank God he got me off the highway at just the right moment.

I was at a service station that sold tires; I went to the office and asked if they could put a plug in my flat tire. The mechanic came over and could see right a way where the air was leaking from. He told me there was already a plug in that spot and another plug would not work and I needed a new tire. I did not have any money to buy a new tire. I told him to please put a plug in it anyhow because I knew it would work. He again said it was impossible for it to work; you cannot put a new plug in with the old one it could not seal the tire. But again I insisted because I KNEW it would work.

He finally decided to put the plug in and prove to me that it would not stop the leak. He put the plug in and filled the tire with air. Then with a smirk on his face, he rubbed the spot with some soapy water expecting to see it bubble up proving his point that air was still leaking out. The look on his face was priceless when there were no bubbles and no air escaping the tire. He stared at it for a while; trying the soapy water a few more times to make sure, and then said to please check on the tire often.

Six hours later when I pulled into Fort Myers, I got out and checked the air pressure and not one ounce had leaked out. I drove on it back to North Carolina without any more trouble. A few months later because I could not pass the state inspection and God provided the money, I finally got new tires.

That has been almost 20 years ago now and God has given me so many wonderful things since then including a wonderful husband who has been a father to my children. God miraculously started and maintains our present business. For 15 of the last 20 years my husband and I ran a church/mission within our business. God preformed unbelievable miracles of provision for both us and homeless that came to stay with us. Like the small pot of rice that didn’t run out, but fed over 30 people one Thanksgiving Day.

God has been so good to us, but I have found if we are not careful, it is easy to get tangled up in the things of the world if we are not as “dependant” on him for our every need. I thank God he has kept us close to the vest for the most part depending on him. While I have failed him, God has never failed me. He is quick to bring us to repentance and keeps us growing in him unto perfection. As Paul said: (Philippians 3:13-14) Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, (14) I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.