Hard Times

When I saw this picture of my sister Ruth, I was reminded of how hard things were for us while my dad was pastoring in Vermont. The Lord always provided our needs, but there were times we didn't have the money for food, much less for stylish, new clothes. My dad has often shared the story of the time we had nothing to eat but saltine crackers and a little jar of peanut butter. I can remember sitting around the table and thanking God for the food that He had provided, not knowing where our next meal would come from. Later that night we recieved a phone call from another pastor in the area who had a van full of food that his church had collected for our family. They pulled in the driveway and began to carry in boxes and bags of groceries. Not just practical food for cooking, but lots of goodies that we rarely got to have. Before the men left, we all said thankyou. Some of us were teary eyed as we put the groceries away, finding that we didn't have enough room in our cupboards to fit it all. My dad sat us all down, and began to pray, thanking the Lord for his provision once again. It was a night I will never forget.

My mom use to make all of our clothing out of bargin fabric, which we would pass down as we outgrew them. On occasion like our birthday or Christmas she would make something especially for us. To say the least, we weren't the best dressed kids in the neightborhood, with our hand-me-down socks and shoes...but we had Godly parents who loved us and that is a lot more than some of the wealthiest kids in the world have.