Racing the Clock

One of my favorite quotes comes from a dear dear friend of ours. I may have shared it before but it is apropos today. "God is seldom early but He's never late."


Yesterday afternoon around 2:45 my husband called me and shared the good wonderful AMAZING MIND BOGGLING news that some friends had decided to pool their resources and loan us the money needed to prevent the foreclosure proceedings from going into effect. However the clock was ticking and would require some fast action on my part since hubby was trapped in the field working. 


After a race to the bank to establish the exact amount and process required for payment, the countdown was on!! We are west coast and we had to act on east coast time since this was where the money needed to. We had to have cash. We had to wire it. And it had to be 'there' before 10 am EST Thursday. (we learned the foreclosure date was actually scheduled for today, not yesterday as previously thought) 


After numerous phone calls back and forth between hubby and the friends and myself, I met one of the friends later that evening and let the tears flow as the check was placed in my hand. I couldn't let them fall for too long as I needed to see to drive to the bank and cash this!!  Thankfully our bank's drive up window was open till 7pm. Then it was scurry over to the nearest Western Union. Slam dunk. 

right?


No. Something was missing in my information regarding a 'code city' for where to wire the money and by now the bank who has the loan, was closed and there was no one who could tell me what this missing information was!!! Aaaaaaaghhhh!!!


Operating on FUMES (both in my car tank and my tummy, to say NOTHING of what the constant racing and adrenaline pumping had done to my sweat glands!!!!) I drove home to where Bruce was waiting for me. We could do nothing but wait till this morning to make more calls and learn more. At 5 am this morning I was up and calling the east coast bank and learning what I could. By 6:30am we were at the door of the nearest Western Union-- our local grocery store down the street-- which I never realized has this service till I was google-ing every thing I could last night in a vain attempt to learn code cities!!


The money was successfully wired before 8 am our time and then Bruce and I sat in the car and made the call to the bank (transfer to so and so and transferred to such and such and can you hold please?)  to give them the verification number to prove we'd wired the money so they would stop the process of foreclosure. Talk about more adrenaline rushes!!


The phrase 'roller coaster of emotions' probably gets used way too much but it captures the essence of the last 24 hours. From feeling despair in the morning, and trying to  hang on with hope that God's plan was still good no matter what it looked like from our perspective, to learning of the plan our friends were putting into effect to help us, to be affirmed by this selfless action of love, trust, and support, the race to make it all happen in time, the near misses and frustrating set backs, and finally, the whoosh when the basket sailed into the net, and cleared. 


I'm exhausted and it's only 8:30 in the morning!!

Facebook can make me insane sometimes, with some of the petty postings, verbal attacks and political or religious uses, but most of the time I find blessings in what my friends share.  This is what my dear dear sweet friend, Melody Mae wrote on my facebook wall yesterday and it is as fitting as the quote with which I started this post:

The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. Psalm 145:15-16

Yes, Lord in just the proper time, you opened your hands, using your humble servants here on earth, to supply what we need, just as we need it. 


Yesterday was a living breathing example of the 'church in action'.  Words fail me in trying to express my thanks to these dear people. All I can do is offer once again the simple 'thank you' which feels so inadequate yet it is all I can say. Once again, God used His Church to care for us. All glory and praise to God!

SO blown away by these actions and displays of love and faith in us. This is Grace. Pure Grace.