* NOTE: this post gets quite personal and I probably shared a bit more than I should have (TMI, if you will). Feel free to skip to the next post.

If you have known me for any amount of time you know that I am a pretty faithful person. I live my religion, and always have. I make choices in my life to bring me closer to perfection, and closer to my Father in Heaven. I recently have had so many obvious miracles happen that I fear I need to document them so may never forget the lessons I have learned.

Several weeks ago, I was dreading paying the bills. I knew we were falling short, and that our money was not stretching as much as we needed it to. Lance usually says it's because I hemorrhage money (we are both perfectly aware of my love of a shoppers high). Going on, money (or the lack thereof) was constantly on my mind. I didn't know how we were going to survive the next few months (or better yet the rest of time that we are in school). It got so bad that I was sitting at the computer and texting Lance one day, sobbing...we weren't going to make it. I am so grateful for the still small voice that whispered to me that my Father in Heaven loved me and that he would take care of my family. I decided then, that I need to stop worrying and have a bit more faith. That night I found $20 in my pocket, and I said a little prayer of thanks. I knew I was being watched over.

A few days later I sent a check in the mail for a photo radar ticket. I won't tell who got the ticket, but if you know about my perfect driving record you could probably take a guess who got the speeding ticket. I was a bit upset about the cost of the ticket ($190) and that OR doesn't offer traffic school as a way to get out of it. But, I sent the money (we didn't have) off anyways, praying we would find a way to make things work. About a week later I got a letter in the mail from the circuit court. Great, I thought, now I got one! I opened the letter and just about fell off my chair, and cried. Our check had been sent back. The case had been dismissed because the officer had failed to submit the ticket to the court (but had still sent us a copy of it??!?!). Coincidence? I think not.

Right around the same day, we filed our tax return. Lance works 5 hours a week, he makes very little. We knew we would get a little back, but somehow the money we figured that we were counting on getting back was tripled. WHAT?

I know that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me (and my family too). I am so grateful that he knows all of my fears and lets me struggle over them, and after we did all we could, he stepped in and showed his love to us. I have never doubted my testimony of tithing, but boy has it been strengthened ten-fold!