Submitted By: Nadia F.

I grew up in Chicago, Illinois, with my parents, sisters and brother. We attended a Catholic church and I went to Catholic schools. I loved the Catholic Church and believed in God, but I always felt that something was missing. In my early twenties I prayed and accepted Jesus as my Savior.

When I was only eighteen years old, I got married. After our marriage, I quickly learned that my new husband was impatient, controlling and he grew increasingly emotionally abusive towards me. Even though our marriage wasn’t great, we did have two children together, a son and a daughter. Our son was born in 1979.

In 1983 we moved to Michigan where our daughter was born. We lived there for a few years and then, when my daughter was around four years old, we moved to a small town in central Ohio. Our marriage continued to deteriorate during this time. Eventually, after twenty years of marriage and putting up with a lot of abuse, we finally called it quits and sought a divorce.

After my divorce, I decided to enroll in some courses in hopes of obtaining a degree and a better paying job. I was over forty years old when I became a student and I ended up taking courses at two different colleges. My intent was to study to become a teacher but instead my focus shifted and I received a BS in interdisciplinary studies. During this time, I was in school and working and finances were a struggle.

My son eventually moved to Georgia, where my ex lives, got a job there and settled down. Our daughter, my youngest child, was still living with me and my ex-husband was terrible at paying alimony or child support. My daughter was still in grade school and the costs were adding up for me. The stress of raising her alone was overwhelming at times.

After my schooling, I applied for a job at a retirement community in a small town in Ohio as a housekeeper. This nursing home was run by a church. Although they took good care of the residents, I’m sorry to say that they did not treat their employees very well. My managers were miserable and the work was brutal. I was on my feet all day, pushing heavy carts and enduring hard physical labor.

My wage was $9.37 an hour and no increase for years on end. When they did decide to give a raise, the amount was absolutely humiliating. One year it was a measly three cents. The boss acted as though he had blessed us with a massive increase. Those were jaw-dropping embarrassments.

Although the pay was horrible, the residents were mostly nice and pleasant. I tried to make their lives better and helped them when I could. I worked forty hours a week, but paying for food and rent was always a challenge. I was part of the working poor.

The money I made went to pay for my rent, bills and daily food. My daughter and I never had any extra money to buy anything. I often felt that no one cared about my difficulties. I did have a sister who would send a momentary gift at Thanksgiving and Christmas but the amount was minimal and didn’t go far in covering our living expenses.

Going to see my mother and sister, who lived in Michigan, would have been so nice during special holidays. There was just no extra money for travelling and driving too far made me dizzy, causing me to panic. Plus, my vehicle was very old. Unfortunately, no one ever offered to pick us up and take us for a family get together. I never had the courage to ask.

My son, who lived several states away was usually busy and rarely came to visit on the holidays. Special holidays tended to be lonely and difficult.

One year, Thanksgiving was just around the corner and money was tight. I was feeling sad and even crying knowing that we would have very little on our table that year, perhaps only potatoes and a salad. Even though it would just be my daughter and I, I still wanted to have something special to offer to make it feel that we were okay and could celebrate the holiday like other humans. There was simply no extra money for me to buy a turkey that year.

That’s when I made a decision to pray about the need. I went to work that day and prayed every time I thought of it. God, please provide a turkey for us this Thanksgiving!

While I went about my duties, suddenly an announcement came over the PA system. The front desk announced that someone had brought in turkeys and they would raffle them off to the workers. Never, in all the time I worked there, did they have turkeys to give away for free in a raffle. My faith jumped by several degrees in that moment.

Instructions were given to write our names on slips of paper and enter them into a drawing, inserting them into a box at the front desk.  I hurried over to put my name in and continued to pray as I worked. Sometime during the day, the front desk drew the names. My name wasn’t picked and I was very disappointed.

But still, I continued to pray and believe God for a miracle. Strangely, I knew that somehow God would still answer my prayer. Never had I prayed for a turkey before and this was the first time ever that my workplace was raffling off turkeys. I thought that surely the timing and events had been heaven-orchestrated to bring the turkeys to the nursing home now and for the management to decide to raffle them off to the workers.

At the end of the day, I went to the back dock to get rid of some trash. I noticed the maintenance man was there. He was one of the lucky ones whose name had been pulled in the raffle. He started talking about the turkey that his wife received from where she works. They didn’t need two turkeys and he wanted to get rid of the one he just won.

Looking at me, he asked, “Do you want it?”

I said, “It belongs to you. You won it.”

He said, “I don’t need it. Go ahead and take it if you want.”

“Well, I do need a turkey and I’ve been praying for one.”

“It’s yours then.”

“Thank you,” I said, feeling overwhelmed with God’s provision.

Not only was it free but it was also thawed and ready to cook. Thanksgiving was the next day and God had answered my prayer, I had a thawed turkey in my hands. Praise God! That Thanksgiving Day was filled with praise to God for his amazing provision.

I eventually left the housekeeping role at the nursing home and hoped to get an office job. When that didn’t work out as planned, I started working for a school, subbing for teachers. Thankfully the pay was better and I continued this work until I retired.

Although finances are still tight at times, I am doing better financially. Prices on everything keep rising and at times I do worry about how I will make it.

Reminding myself how God has taken care of other financial needs over the years settles my heart and assures me that he cares about my life. One such instance happened just before a move and I was concerned about the cost because money was tight. I went to the prayer chapel at the Catholic Church I attended and prayed about my need. Curiously, as I prayed, a strong scent of roses wafted around me. There were no roses anywhere in that chapel. Later that day, while shopping at a store, I ran into a former co-worker. I shared my concerns over the cost of the move with her. She instructed me to come with her and wrote me a large check. That extra money blessed me so much. This lady declared that God sent me to the right place at the right time. Yes, God was watching out for me then and I know that he always will.

Just as God provided that turkey for my daughter and I on that Thanksgiving Day so many years ago, and just like he supplied that providential money for my move, I am confident that he will continue to take care of all my needs. I will be forever grateful for God’s loving care that Thanksgiving Day and for his constant, watchful and loving eye over my life until now. He will never let me go and I know that he will never fail me.

Submitted by: Nadia F.

 

*****

 

Once we get to Heaven and God shows us a reel of our life, we will discover how many times we were rescued, protected or redirected by supernatural means. What a divine privilege it is that, during our time on earth, God gives us snapshots into the supernatural realm, unusual happenings that announce that Heaven is present and involved in our lives.

 

For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.

Psalm 91:11

 

If you would like to share a personal story of supernatural protection or angelic activity in your history, please reach out. Private message me on Facebook messenger and I will explain the details. I would love to share your testimony on my blog as an encouragement to others. As it says in Hebrews 3:13, Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’.