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I saw my Mother her face sharp and pinched, against the night sky as she was leaning over the bank of a ridiculously high and flooded creek bed. The eroded sides of the creek bed were deep, and the precipice she was standing on was not safe for her to be there. I cried piteously to her in my little small voice for I was only three years old. "Mom, please come back from the edge of the flooded creek." The flooded precipice we were standing on was dark, deep and slippery, but Mama wasn't listening to me. She had her own reasons for being there in the windy, dark, and stormy night. She was trying to throw a fishing hook in to the flood waters. She was hoping to get a bite of fish to eat for our supper that night. It was raining hard, a windy night with a cold, hard rain, and we were very wet standing there beside her. My brother and I were worrying that she might fall in. She might be gone from us forever. I was holding onto her ragged dress tightly, with my hand outstretched, to try and catch her if she leaned a little farther away from me. Then I guess she just gave up, because she gave a longing sigh and looked at both of us watching her. "Well, if I quit trying now, you will only have corn meal and grease to eat for supper," she said. "They ain't nothin' else." We said passionately to her. "It will be all right Mom, as long as you are there."
But she continued trying to catch whatever it was that she expected there in the fast flooding of the creek bed. She needed something to fix for supper. She had run out of everything that she had to cook that day, except a little corn meal and a bit of bacon grease. It had rained hard everyday this week, and she and her husband had not been able to get into the fields to work for money. They never had any more than she actually needed to live. There were no backup accounts available for her to use. She had to make to do with what she had. Which was nothing to her? She had seven children at home, there were three of them married and gone from home. Each of the remaining children would work along beside her in the fields. They were poor, but they wouldn't starve. They were used to having to live like this. In times, when it was good times, they always had plenty to eat. But when they could not get into the field that's when they ran in to trouble. Then the money dwindled down to nothing, and with seven hungry little mouths to feed, that made it even more difficult to bear.
Her husband had tried to borrow the money for their food, but he had already owed a considerable amount to the store. The grocery store had told him that he could not borrow any more food from them until he paid his last bill. But God was good, and God would provide for Mama. Maybe even though, he wouldn't provide for today, but tomorrow was another day. Mama had already had many blessings, and he had provided each time they needed something. He would provide again for them. But tonight, they would just eat corn meal powder and grease fried in a skillet over the stove for their supper. They would say their prayers in thanks to God and go to bed a little bit hungry.
They awoke the next morning early for breakfast, and it was again just cornmeal mush and gravy. The Mother knew this wouldn't satisfy the children's need for food, but there was just no other choice for anything to eat. Mama knew also that the children wouldn't say anything about it. But God would provide for them, and he would provide for them today. She knew that. He had already told her that he would.
It was early 9:00 A.M. that morning as a knock came on the front door. Mama was standing there calm and quiet. She went to the door, but not before saying a short word to God above. Oh dear Lord, I ask you to provide for us this day. It was still raining outside when Mama opened the door.
A man was standing there waiting patiently for them to open the door. "Well Hello!" "How are you guys this early morning." He said talking to Mama. "We are from the Baptist Church in town." "We have been praying and we felt that you had an urgent need. We ask if we might deliver these goods to your house." "We have a couple of bags of groceries." "We also have some clothing that you might need for your children." "Will you accept these gifts from our Church today as a blessing from God?" Mama did not hesitate a moment as she praised God for his work. She threw up her hands in prayer as she accepted the man's gift offering with big wet tears in her blue eyes. She thanked the Church for their giving to them, and she was astonished when the man handed her twenty dollars in cash. "This is for anything that you need that we didn't bring to you, "he said.
She was crying and praising god when the man left to go back to his car to get the things that he needed. The man asked if there was anything else that he could do before he left and she said no. The Church had already done more than their share. He said to her, "I felt that you needed these things today, and I hope that God has answered your prayers." With tears running down her cheeks unashamedly, she told him she had been praying for answers to their need. And that God would definitely bless them. He was the answer to her prayer. God had again supplied the very need.
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