Daily Bread

Then the Lord said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you.  The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.  In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions."  (Exodus 16:4)

A little over a week ago, I freaked out about money again.  I got a notice in the mail telling me that my forbearance period is ending and I will have to start making payments on my student loans again in July.  I called the lender to ask whether it would be possible to wait to pay until September, when I will have a regular paycheck again.  The person on the phone was sympathetic, but had good reasons for recommending that I start paying at least the interest on my loan in July.

Soon after, I went to Spokane for the weekend.  Sarah P and I were going to visit Sandpoint Friends Meeting in Sandpoint, Idaho, the last of our official meeting visits for the Quaker Women's Theology Conference.  Over the weekend, I said to Sarah that I had been feeling a lot like the Israelites in the wilderness.  Even though God has always provided for me in the past, I worry about having enough for tomorrow.

Sarah and I had a wonderful time visiting Spokane Friends.  We were thrilled to have our friend Leann accompany us as an elder.  Worship was quiet, but filled with the Spirit, and after worship, Friends there welcomed us with a delicious potluck.  We enjoyed sharing about the women's conference and talking about the different ways Friends worship together.

I flew back to Seattle on Sunday evening and got home around 10.  I was hungry from traveling and went to the kitchen to look for a snack.  When I opened the fridge, it was packed with all kinds of fruit and vegetables, much more than we usually have.  I asked my housemates about why we had so much food and they said a CSA box had showed up at our door during the weekend.

Over the next two days, we tried to get in touch with the CSA.  My housemate wrote them an email to let them know that we received the box of food, but had not ordered or paid for the delivery.  We figured it was probably supposed to go to someone in the neighborhood, but had been delivered to our house by mistake.  Finally, someone from the CSA responded.  He said he did not know who the intended recipient of the box was, but to go ahead and eat the produce so it wouldn't go to waste!  

So for the past week, I have been eating an amazing variety of fruit and vegetables from the CSA box.  This is not the first time I have suspected that God has a pretty good sense of humor. I am grateful that sometimes that sense of humor comes in the form of tasty food that mysteriously appears on my doorstep!