God has this irritating habit of waiting until I've come to my wits end to teach me a lesson.

Ok, God, you've made your point. I know I'm supposed to run to you and seek your face first but so many times it just seems less complicated to do things my own way.

You'd think I'd have learned by now. I mean, He's super faithful and always right on time. Like the day our third baby was born and we had $11.00 in our bank account. The next thing we knew a friend wrote to tell us that there was a check on the way for $200.00.

And then on my birthday we were broke but I still ended up with everything on my mental wish list including a few other things that were pretty cool.

God has also been there to help me through the emotionally tough times. Like when my friend's husband was cheating on her and I didn't know how to help. My heart was breaking for them but He was there for all of us. And last week when I helped a 19 year-old mother work through the grief of her baby's stillbirth His grace was sufficient. And when I lost my own precious little baby 2 summers ago and was unsure about everything, He held me close and gave me time to question then find the answers in Him.

He is also present in my daily life, when I would rather bury my head under the covers and go back to sleep instead of getting up and making breakfast for my family. By His grace alone am I able to answer 50 pesky questions a minute asked by a 4 year old who likes nothing better than to trip me up, it seems. I am also aware of God's faithfulness when I have to prepare a meal for 4 people with only $2.00 and have some left over the bless a widow. Now that's a miracle.

Time after time He has brought us through when everything around us looked hopeless. Maybe I am learning my lesson after all. And, hey, I have the tears of gratitude to prove it.