“And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” -Isaiah 65:24.
My wife & I were blessed to purchase a washer-dryer on September 10th, 2023; a wonderful supply for our needs. Yet it took 67 more days (11/16/23) to fully realize just how incredible it was.
We returned from Africa June 7th of this year, obeying the Lord, even though we'd never thought we'd return to America. And so began the process of re-establishment here, for all our previous goods had been surrendered before leaving (except for clothes, and a few necessities we carried with us).
Jamie's parents had graciously allowed us to borrow a little money in order that we could leave the motel sooner, and get into an apartment. This had only a washer-dryer hookup for a stackable unit, and so we often did wash at laundromats, aiming for a day when we might have our own unit at home.
And so we “shopped around” via internet for the used stackable type of unit we needed, and found prices ranging from $350-500. We had hoped to find something cheaper, but were sure that the Lord would supply our need (Philippians 4:19), whatever the cost. But there was something more pressing that had to be done first, and that was to pay back the money we'd borrowed, before spending more money on ourselves. We were pricing the washer-dryer units, but wouldn't make a move toward purchasing until our debt was paid (Romans 13:8).
But on August 8th, we were still a month away from repaying the loan when a seemingly unrelated event occurred. When I went to the laundromat to do wash that day, I forgot to bring our detergent, and decided that I would just go ahead and purchase the single use detergent from a vending machine for that day...
The machine took my money, and gave me nothing! No directions were evident on the machine, or a price, and it didn't indicate the product was sold out. I tried twice, just in case I had missed seeing something, but it took my 75 cents each time without giving product. I was simply going to do the wash with only the water, but then I saw “empty” detergent bottles in the recycle bin-and managed to get about 25% of one detergent cap to use for cleaning! It helped, the Lord being merciful.
I left a note for the keeper of the facility, and he later graciously returned the $1.50 I'd lost...
Fast forward now to that 2nd weekend in September, and there was another load of wash waiting to be done; I could go on either Friday the 8th, or Sunday the 10th. We also planned to stop by Jamie's parents on Sunday to repay their loan to us. I'm reluctant to do a lot of extra work on Sundays, so I really prayed it through, and was certain that God was leading me to go on Sunday. It was the first time I had been back at this same laundromat I struggled at, since August 8th,
When I use this particular laundromat, I always go to the left side where there is a seating area with magazines, a drink machine, and a restroom. But while seated there, I was curious about the soap machine that took my money, and that was on the other side of the building. I walked over to check it out, and found no new instructions (warnings!) awaiting any future patrons. The machine was on the corner of the wall, and on the other side was a bulletin board for people to hang up information of personal interest-including items for sale!
I was the first and only patron there at 6:30 a.m., and read the hand-written advertisement for a stackable washer-dryer for sale; a 5 year old Kenmore brand for just $100! Praise the Lord! Yet still I needed to wait until our loan was repaid, before contacting; which I did, accompanied by much prayer!
The man who was handling this sale was doing so for a new neighbor that was just moving in next to him in his mobile home community. In fact, the home was still almost empty of their goods when we were there. They apparently didn't want the units, and he agreed to take care of disposing them. He told us he had only posted the sale note at the laundromat the day before (Saturday), so if I'd done wash on the Friday, it would NOT have been there!
But brethren, all of this move of God began way back on August 8th, when I forgot detergent. Because of that, I determined to buy from the vending machine, which took my money; and because this frustrating event occurred, I walked over to the other side of the laundromat to check on it again, discovering the bulletin board, and the washer-dryer listed for sale! This was on the day we were due to pay off the loan, which needed to happen before looking make a purchase. Back on August 8th, we weren't praying hard over this issue yet, seeing the debt payoff was still a month away. But God was doing all this well in advance! And the new tenant moving in was also not in place at that time.
There is yet, however, one more thing to share; the washer-dryer combo was way beyond our expectations. I've seen & used stackables before, but this was a FULL SIZE washer and dryer, made to be stackable, with a lot of electronic extras. We've seen these individually priced new at some $1300 a piece. The down side was that they were very heavy, especially the washer, but God upheld us.
God is so good to us, isn't He? His hand was in it all; my forgetting detergent, the vending machine not working, the new tenant moving in, directing me which day to do the wash, and the posting of the sale notice. Oh, that we might trust God more, far beyond what we immediately see-for He will indeed work “all things together for the good” of those who love Him, and are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” -Psalm 27:13,14.
“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” -Psalm 107:8.
Here is a link to the YouTube video I did on this subject https://youtu.be/TuVHZRfFerc.
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