Reader Update : Thank you for your prayers

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Psalm 29:2

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due

His name; worship the Lord in the

splendor of His holiness

I am pleased to report that my husband has a new job !!!!!!!! I want to thank all the readers who prayed for us and tell you how the Lord worked in our lives during the last 5 months. My husband was let go the 2nd week in Dec and it came as a shock. Winter always brings large bills due for Hay, Wood, Hydro and feed and it is the worst time to be unemployed. I have had some health problems that have forced me to down size my work load and I work part time twice a week . It helps but it certainly won’t pay the bills. My husband was offered a small severance pay after working for the company for ten years and we were forced to sign off on it because we could not afford to fight it in court. Employment Lawerys in our city start at $300.00 per hour and I needed the money to pay the bills. Our bank account was already drained because we had to put on a new roof, drill a new well, and replace the septic system. To say the least we were tapped out. To make matters worse there had been a lot of drought like conditions in the United States so farmers were sending trucks up to Ontario, Canada to buy hay. This drove hay prices thru the roof ! In the past we had bought our hay from a local Cash Cropper and once again again just like last year we called to make arrangement to pickup our hay. The Cash Cropper called us and assured us that he would still supply us for hay. On the morning we were supposed to pick it up he phoned my husband and told him not to come over he had sold all the hay.    By this time round bales of hay that were usually $30.00 a bale were now $100.00 a bale and small square bales $3.oo a bale were $7.00 a bale and most people were all sold out of squares in a matter of days.   We went to God in prayer and asked others to pray for us because if we could not get Hay the horses and goats would have to go. I was beside myself with fear and I remember crying out to the Lord and saying Lord I have two options the first being to trust you to provide when we had no money or try to find a rescue to take the horses, the goats, the donkey, the cats and the dogs or put them down if no rescue was available. Everytime I thought of this I would cry and feel sick to my stomach. I told the Lord that I believed that I was safest in his hands and whatever he decided to let happen in my life I would do my best to trust and accept. I did mention I would be a total mess at first but if the worst happened it would not change the way I felt about him and God. The day after that prayer my husband went to our local feed store and told the manager what happen in regards to our hay situation he gave Jim the name of a farmer in Beaverton who might have some hay. When we went out to meet this farmer we did not realize what a blessing he was about to become, but God knew. This farmer decided to give us some hay at the regular price even though he knew he could make 3 times the money selling it to some one else. He said he did not feel good about taking advantage of neighbour’s and friends when times were hard. So as time went by and my husband could not find a job and money was getting tighter this wonderful farmer said not to worry about the money he would keep us stocked in hay and we could pay him at a later date when Jim was working. We were truly amazed that he would lend a total stranger $1000.00 in hay with nothing but our word as collateral but he did. Since we did not have to pay so much out for Hay we could now use that money for animal feed. Now that next hurdle to climb was heat. We heat entirely by wood so we need quite a bit of it to split and stack to get through the winter. We needed at least four bush cords maybe more and once again we did not have the money but the Lord stepped in and thanks to a wicked fall storm that knocked down a few large tree`s  on my neighbours property we had some wood to start. We also collected quite a bit of dead fall wood in our bush that surrounded our property. My sister`s husband was also sending us hardwood pallets that he got at work . We would chop them up and they make great kindling. My neighbour also sent over a bunch of old wooden fence poles because they were re -fencing their property so we cut up these as well. Jim spent most of his time at home splitting and chopping wood with an ax but the real problem came when the mild winter weather gave way to freezing rain. All the wood that was left to split was soaked and it was hard to dry out. In March we realized we did not have enough wood to get through the winter (piles of wood  stacked on the ground always looks like more than there is once they are cut.) once again we hit our knees and prayed. My husband than called the person we usually deal with for wood and explained that he was out of work and out of money and that we were short on wood and he sent over 2 bush cords and told my husband just pay me when you can. It`s really amazing when you pray when your in desperate circumstances how the Lord goes before you and open`s the doors that you need to walk through to get that need met. But the Lord was not finished with us yet we had payed the mortgage for Dec, Jan, and Feb but our phone, cable, internet and Hydro bills were piling up and we had used all our money up on feed and paying the mortgage, once again we prayed and I bought a lottery ticket and we had won just enough to pay the outstanding bills. We had made it through most of the winter but my husband still could not find work. When we started praying about my husband`s work situation we asked the Lord to close every door on all but the one place where the Lord wanted him to work. By April we were wondering if it was a mistake to pray that prayer but we were already commited to waiting on the Lord for the right job. Finally after many job interviews he was hired by a great company that offered a great territory to sell in. The only hitch was my husband`s severance pay ended March 30th and the new job did not start till May 1st. And even when he was hired in May because he is a commission salesman we would have to wait until the end of May to get paid. How would we make it till than. I remember bursting into tears when he told me. It was not that I wasn`t thankful for the job but I was sure God must be tired of helping us by now and I had know idea how the Lord was going to get us through sixty more days with just my part time job for money. My husband did have 25,000.00 locked up in a retirement savings plan with his old job but in order for us to access the money we would have to qualify for a hardship discharge and we were told that it would take at least 6 to 8 weeks for a cheque to be sent if all the requirements were met. Jim and I decided to apply for a hardship hearing knowing full well that we did not have the money to last another 6 to 8 weeks. Acting in faith that the Lord would once again go before us to open up doors we were stunned when our application was approved in 24 hours and they told us we would have the money in the next seven to ten days. When the funds arrived on the tenth day we had just spent the last of our money on feed and groceries.  Our bank account statement reflected that we were down to 62 cents in the bank, talk about just in time but the Lord`s timing as always was perfect. Now I would never want to go through that kind of trial again but it has really shown me how faithful the Lord is to provide a way for his children when they turn to him in prayer! I also firmly believe that the prayers that were sent out to the Lord from all the people that were praying for us were answered as well. Thank you so much for your prayers and support  and the animals thank you as well! God Bless!

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