We Are Burhans: He Supplies our NEEDS

Ok, here's one of these transperency moments...I'm going to tell you something rather unflattering about myself.

I tend to be by nature a "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence"-"the glass is half empty" kind of person. Contentment and optimism are not my strong points.

Ever find yourself thinking you NEED something, that you reall only WANT?

Well, God is teaching me something about all that, in fact, He has been for a long time, I'm sure, but I'm one of those long-term projects I guess you'd say.

In balance, though I have expensive tastes and desires, Ben and I live a pretty frugal life.

We live basically on one income. I work just enough hours a week to pay the electric bill.

We live in a 1930's house that has lots of "character" shall we say and requires lots of work and acceptance.

We don't have a garage or a pool.

We have one vehicle and it is 14 years old. It has some character of it's own.

We don't eat out at restaurants but a few times a year, and the Olive Garden is about as fancy shmancy as we usually get.

We don't have a boat, or a summer home.

We don't have those cool stainless steel appliances.

We don't go on vacation unless we can stay at Grandma's hotel.

I don't get manicures and pedicures. Neither does Ben. Shocker there, huh?

I dye my own hair (only because I inherited pre-mature whitening from my grandma) and it only gets cut about twice a year...an event I look forward to with great anticipation!

I make my own baby wipes. If only I could figure out how to make my own disposable diapers and pull-ups I'd be all set!

We don't go to movies or shows. If we watch a movie it comes out of those new Red Box rentals where they are only $1 a night.

I use coupons to grocery shop, and I go to 4 different stores, to get everything I need at the lowest prices. This generally annoys anyone who is silly enough to volunteer to go with me. Getting ready to go, shopping, unloading and putting away groceries is a whole day event! Planning the meals for 2 weeks, and putting together a grocery list and compiling coupons takes a half day on it's own.

I buy all of my kids clothes from the store where I work...because I get an employee discount...and even then, I only buy them if they are on sale or clearance.

I am what you call a bargain shopper. If an item doesn't have one of those beautiful red clearance tickets on it...I don't need it!

I can and freeze my own applesauce (can't wait until fall when I get to do it again...there is nothing like the smell of my kitchen when I'm making applesauce. Yummy!)

I don't have a gym membership (though the mirror tells me every morning that I really could use one).

I have one of those pay as you go cell phones...no texting...no camera mode...no computer applications....you know, it's a PHONE.

We don't have cable TV.

And I'm generally pretty ok with all of that. Sure it would be nice to have some of those things, but I don't lay awake at night wishing for them.

But, there is one thing I have been coveting for the last few years.

It's not a diamond necklace, a new car, a trip to Italy.

I have been wanting, I say needing, a new stove...you know, one that works!

When we bought our house 4 1/2 years ago, it came with a well-used stove, which promptly died 8 months later. At that time, Evan was not quite 2, and we had JUST found out I was pregnant, though we didn't know yet that we were having twins. My parents, 2 of my sisters, 2 nieces and a nephew were all coming to our house for Thanksgiving. I was excited because it was my first time hosting a holiday in a house of our own, and it was the day we were going to announce our baby news to our family.

So, a week before the holiday, my oven which was to be the one to bake our fabulous Thanksgiving turkey, just gave up the ghost. It was done for...kicked the bucket...bought the farm..you've got the picture. My sweet, and very handy husband could not fix it. It really need a new home...a landfill.

I began to fret a little, I must admit. What was I going to do without a stove for Thanksgiving? How would we come up with money to buy one?

That next day, we went to Prayer Meeting, which was being held then at our Pastor's home. We sat there on his comfy leather couch in his study surrounded by just a few people. We asked our church family to pray with us that God would somehow supply the money we needed to buy a new stove. See, we thought we NEEDED a NEW stove.

After we started, a couple joined us, whom we didn't know, and who had just moved to the area. During prayer time, they heard us and our friends praying for a new stove. Afterwards, they asked us if we needed a stove. So, we told them about our predicament. Well, wouldn't you know, they had just bought a new stove and it was going to be delivered in a few days. They were needing to get rid of their old stove, which still worked...they just wanted a new one. Would we like their old stove?

Well, Yes! See, God supplied an answer to our prayer, about as immediately as you can get. But God knew we NEEDED a STOVE...not a NEW stove. A couple days before Thanksgiving this generous couple delivered the stove to our house, and we have never seen them since. We knew that this was of God. The timing was of Him. I really wasn't disappointed that I didn't get a NEW stove, because I got something much better and much more fulfilling. I got a really obvious answer to prayer from my Lord, and a reminder that He cares about the most mundane parts of life, the necessities of daily living, enough to arrange for this couple to show up at our church that very night. To have chosen that week to buy themselves a new stove so that they had one to give to someone in need. I was reminded of the love God has for me, His daughter.

Well, that stove was not what I had wanted, but you know what, it has met our needs for almost 4 years. It was 2 tone black and white, which I really don't like, and doesn't match the other all-white appliances, but it does what a stove is designed to do. It cooks food. It has baked us chocolate chip cookies, roasted our turkeys, boiled our pasta, baked our birthday cakes. It has been a daily tool I've used in feeding my family of 6. Ok, so the self-cleaning function never worked. I can live with that. And the broiler never worked either. A little disappointing, but we lived without it. But, she and I, have come to an impass. She has decided that she only wants to work on 2 burners. Ok, well, I've dealt with that for over a year. I know which 2 work, and which 2 don't. I only use 2 burners at a time. I bought all new elements...unfortunately, her problem is bigger than that.

Ben and I decided that we were going to set aside enough money out of our tax refund this year to buy a new stove. In our 12 years of marriage, all of our's have been hand-me-downs, and we figured we really should get a new one. This one has been aggravating us long enough.

It was February, this year. We had just received our refund, and I set aside enough money to buy the stove I wanted. We made our plans. Valentine's Day was Saturday. Ben didn't have to work this Saturday. We were going to go to Home Depot, buy our stove, and treat our boys to Friendlys. We were looking forward to a good day as a family, and a new addition to our kitchen!

Ben and Evan decided to go get me roses for Valentine's Day, while I got ready. While on their way to get the flowers, the van broke down. Ben was finally able to get it to limp to the house of a couple from our church, and they helped Ben get it towed to a garage. They lent Ben their second car to use for the weekend. After hours of being gone, Ben and Evan showed up at home with flowers from the grocery store that they stopped at on the way home. Our plans for the day were canceled. We couldn't fit our whole family into their car. No new stove, no fun trip to Friendly's for the boys. I won't even tell you how disappointed I was. But that disappointment paled in comparison to the dismay I felt when we payed for the repairs to our van....the amount for the repairs was almost exactly the same cost of the new stove I had picked out.

There would be no new stove this year.

Well, 4 months later, my parents moved up here from PA. They are renting a house right next door to us. We live in the village, so when I say right next door...I mean we can see into each other's houses! Anyway, my mom has a stove she bought recently and wanted to bring with her. Their landlord allowed them to put it in the kitchen, and he took out the stove which was in the house, an inexpensive brand stove that was only a few years old. My Dad mentioned to him that we needed a stove and maybe we'd want to purchase it. When my Dad told me that, I said NO! I don't want another stove unless it is going to be a new one. Now, doesn't that sound like a child! I just knew, that if we got another "old" stove, Ben would be content, and I would NEVER get that new stove I wanted. And this stove, was exactly the same as the one we have....white with black. It is self-cleaning, has a working broiler, and all the burners work. But it doesn't have the flat cooking surface that I wanted. I'd just stick with what I have, I decided. Of course, my husband thought the price of $125 was too much of a bargain to pass up. Fortunately for me, we didn't have an extra $125 floating around or hanging on our trees.

Well, God has been nudging me...Becca, do you really need a NEW stove? Couldn't you be content with what you NEED, not what you WANT?

A week and a half ago, my Mom and I had a yard sale. The sale was going pretty slow in the morning, even though we had some good quality things to sell. I was getting a little discouraged. Ben and I had decided that if we made enough money on the yard sale to cover the cost of the stove, we'd purchase it from my parents' landlord.

I sat out there in my driveway in the quiet and the HEAT between customers, and prayed that God would allow us to make just enough...just $125. As the day wore on, the tally rose slowly, but it didn't look like I would make it. But in the last hour of the sale, some wonderul customers came by, and not only helped me reach my goal, but surpass it. I made $160! Ok, this was a sign...God wanted us to get that stove.

So, last night, when I came home from work, I found my old stove out on the deck, and in my kitchen the "new" stove.

ok, isn't he the cutest little Vanna White, you've ever seen?

No, I didn't need my LG 30 in Freestanding Smooth Surface Electric Range, I had selected after I'd spent hours researching.

I didn't need a stove that matched perfectly the color of my other appliances.

I didn't need NEW.

I needed a STOVE.

And THAT is what God gave me. God said he would supply all our NEEDS, not our wants, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Could God have given me a brand new stove? Could He have kept our van from breaking down and costing us our stove fund? Could God have allowed it all to happen before the very day I was waiting for, so as to spare me the bitter disappointment? YES! But, I believe it all happended just as he wanted. To make me disappointed and miserable? NO. But I got a really obvious answer to prayer again. Another reminder that God cares about the most mundane parts of my life, the necessities of daily living, enough to arrange for my van to break down. To see to it that all of my money was spent. To have chosen to supply the needed sales at the end of our yard sale. I was reminded again of the love God has for me, His daughter.

And yes, God was teaching me again...in whatsoever state I'm in, with whatever appliance I am using, there with to be content.

That lesson is a lot more valuable than the NEW stove I wanted.

I'm looking forward to more lessons in this regard....our washing machine is on the fritz! :-)