Don’t you love it when God’s hand is evident in a situation? That happens a lot in the Ministry at TEAM. It’s awesome, wonderful, recognized and celebrated. You will often hear a ministry worker say, “Wow! That was another God thing!” Hopefully to inspire you in your journey in the New Year, I’d like to share an example of one of the many “God things” that occur on a regular basis at TEAM.
In recent months we’ve had a lot of problems with our large freezer in the ministry going out. It’s the freezer that contains all our meats and, during the holidays, all the turkeys for our Thanksgiving and Christmas programs. One morning, shortly before our Christmas food distribution, we showed up for work to discover that, once again, the freezer had gone out. What greeted us was a hot freezer full of completely thawed, dripping, and smelly turkeys that now had to be carried out and trashed. So not only did we face having to replace them all with TEAM funds, but how would we be able to find 100+ turkeys at that late date? How many stores would we have to visit, and who would have the time to go to multiple stores? And because our freezer was now useless, where would we even put them if we could find them? It was a very daunting logistical nightmare. Plus, we felt just terrible about what had happened because all those turkeys had been graciously provided to us by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
On the following day, as we were still contemplating about what to do, we received a call from Marcel, a Latter-Day Saints representative. He couldn’t have possibly known about our predicament, but asked if we happened to have any needs they could help us with in addition to the turkeys. He said they had collected more money than they had anticipated and wanted to help us out in any way they could! Our Food Pantry Manager, Colleen, sheepishly shared with him about the sad demise of all the turkeys they had previously donated. She asked him if it would be at all possible to get them replaced. That was an awkward ask! But again, through His miraculous and mysterious ways, God provided. Marcel quickly and even enthusiastically assured us that it would be no problem to replace the turkeys.
And not only would they be happy – yes, happy – to replace the turkeys, but they also offered to pay for the freezer repair! So the freezer was repaired and the turkeys delivered to us in ten days; just in time. And our Christmas distribution went off without a hitch, as if nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened. But we knew it had! There were a lot of “Praise Gods” coming from TEAM that afternoon in December, when yet another “God thing” occurred right before our very eyes.
I am a believer and can testify that when God allows doors to close or disasters to occur, He certainly can make provisions and provide comfort. Sometimes He intervenes in such big ways you can’t miss it, like in this and many other stories from TEAM. But even when we don’t see or recognize Him, He’s still always there. To come alongside us. Through thick and thin. Always.
Miracles are not always visible with the naked eye, but those who live by faith can see them clearly. It is my New Year’s wish that you will have eyes to see God’s mighty work in the world and in the lives around you. And if you are ever having a hard time seeing it, we invite you to come to TEAM on a Tuesday or Thursday. You may even get to witness a miracle!
Blessings to you and yours,
Becky Loving