The Lord has reminded me lately that He is my provider. This makes me think of a specific scripture verse and time when He provided for my family.

“I will remember the Lord’s works; yes, I will remember your ancient wonders. I will reflect on all you have done and meditate on your actions.” Psalm 77:11-12

In 1997, I lived in McLaughlin, S.D., with my mom and two older brothers. My mom was doing the best she could, as a single mom, to provide for us. Sometimes, we would eat plain elbow macaroni, because that was what remained of our government-provided commodities. At this particular time, we didn’t even have that. I don’t intend to make it sound like we were starving, because we weren’t. We ate meals at school; however, we had absolutely no food at home, no money to buy food, and we were all hungry. My mom decided to do the only thing she knew to do: she decided to pray. My mom never asked anyone for help except God, and she wouldn’t let people know we were in need.

Before we prayed, she asked us what we would like to eat. We each shared various desires, but the one thing we agreed on was ketchup. Why ketchup? Because it was a treat. When food is scarce, condiments are a treat.

We prayed and asked God for the specific items we wanted. Within an hour, someone knocked on our door. We answered, and a man stood in the doorway with two large paper bags full of groceries. He said the groceries were a gift from God. We received them, and he left. My mom hadn’t told anyone that we needed food. I remember when we emptied the grocery bags onto the kitchen counter. We were so excited to have food to eat. We found each item we had prayed for, including ketchup, among everything else. God wanted to show us his ability to provide, and his attentiveness to our specific prayers. He is so good.

In Him,

Julieanne