Abundant Grace

The news of Hubby’s mobilization traveled fast. Strong and immediate support came from family and close friends. But the reaction of mere acquaintances and total strangers left us stunned.

The Lawyer

Not 48 hours after we told family and a few friends I got a call from a lawyer who attends our church. Our church is pretty good sized, so I had never met this man.

“I understand you husband’s being sent to Iraq.”
“Yes sir, he is.”
“Then you are going to need wills, power of attorney, and a health care power of attorney.”
“Yes, we do.”
“Consider it done.”

The Photographer

A photographer offered to come take our family picture. Now the last time we had a family portrait taken our second child was four months old. She is now seven and we have two more children. So having a current family picture was a high priority.

Meg came over and took tons of photos, explaining that she would send them to us on a disk and we could print what we wanted.

A week later she showed up with not only the disk full of photos, but three beautifully framed pictures, a disk with a slideshow set to music for Hubby to take with him to Iraq. Plus she had printed tons of prayer cards with our family photo on it to distribute to those inclined to pray for us.

The amount of hours, money, and care Meg put into this project still takes my breath away.

The Headmaster

When we found out that Hubby’s orders were for a minimum of 450 days, we concluded that continuing to home school all four children, plus being a single parent with the stress of a husband at war, and working part time just wasn’t feasible.

So I called a local private school and asked if they had any openings.

“Well, we have space in the second grade,” said the headmaster, “but the kindergarten class has had a waiting list since last January.”

That answered that question. Other options would entail a lot of driving every day.

Two hours later the headmaster called back.

“I have been sitting here staring at our school’s mission statement since you called,” he said. “It states that we are to show the love of Christ to the community. Your kids are going to be without their dad for over a year. The least we can do is accommodate your request.”

The Acquaintance

A woman I had one or two conversations with over the last three years dropped off the first meal after Hubby left.

The Hairdresser

My hairdresser handed me a Christmas card stuffed with restaurant gift cards for me and the kids to use over the holidays. Little did she know that our wedding anniversary is painfully close to Christmas, and one of the gift certificates allowed me to take the family out for a nice dinner, so at least I wouldn’t have to cook on that date.

The Couple

A couple from church offered a week of their timeshare to use when Hubby is back this summer for his two weeks of R&R.

“Anywhere you want to go, just let us know the dates.”

Grace

Grace is defined as unmerited favor, getting something good that we in no way deserve.

The amazing grace showered on us by these relative strangers brings light into the darkest of days and is a source of great hope and encouragement.