“Mom, my shorts from last summer don’t fit and I’m supposed to meet McKayla at the river. What am I going to do?” Rae cries from deep within her closet. From the kitchen, her mother hears her like she’s in the next room. Rae stomps down the hall with shorts in hand then flings them back and forth over her head like a white flag of surrender. “I give up, Mom. My old summer clothes don’t fit me anymore. I’m about to cut all my jeans into shorts. I can’t even meet McKayla at the river now.”

“Nice to see you too, Rae. My extra shift at the nursing home went pretty well until Mrs. Cramer threw up her breakfast all over my shoes. How was your night? Did you sleep ok?” Mom asks.

“I’m serious, Mom!” Rae snaps back.

“I am too, honey. I had to scrub banana bread pudding out of my shoes for a half an hour.  They’re so old and cracked that the vomit was stuck in the cracks. I had to find an old toothbrush that looked about as old as my shoes.” Mom retorts.  

“I’m sorry about your shoes, Mom,” Rae says.  “I just don’t have any clothes that fit for the summer and I’ve put applications in at every fast food place, juice stand, and coffee shop in a 20-mile radius.”

“I’m sure something will turn up for you, sweetheart. Have you prayed about it at all?” Mom asks.

“Prayed about shorts?!” Rae questions with eyes wider than a cartoon character getting bonked in the head by a clever rabbit or very fast road runner.

“Why not? You can come to God with all your troubles. He wants to provide for you, you know? Why don’t you go to your room and pray?” Mom suggests. “Then you can cut one pair of jeans into shorts for now.  How’s that sound?” Mom asks.

“Ok!  Thanks, Mom!” Rae says, as she runs back down the hall.  

Things have been extremely hard since Rae’s dad passed away two years ago. Her mom had to not only get a better job, but also had to take a second job at the nursing home just to pay the mortgage, bills, and buy groceries. She doesn’t have any extra money for clothes or shoes.  She decides it’s a good idea to go pray in her room too.

The next day, Rae and her mother pull up to the church and sit in the parking lot for a moment. Sunday was Dad’s favorite day of the week. They would go to church and then to lunch after – family time was always the best. Although they haven’t broken down crying in the parking lot at church for a few months – it is still hard for them to get out of the car to move through the day sometimes.  Mom grabs Rae’s hand. They take a deep breath in unison and together say, “Let’s go.”

A white mini-van pulls up next to the passenger side of their car and out pops Juliana, Rae’s mom’s best friend.  “Carmen, Rae, can you help me with something before you go in, please?” Julianne asks as she opens the van’s back end. Inside are four large boxes. Three of the boxes have “Rae” written on the side in black marker. One has Carmen’s name.

“What is all this?” Carmen asks in shock.

“Well darlin’, I was doing some spring cleaning and boxed up all the clothes that Samantha doesn’t wear anymore or has grown out of. Turns out it is a lot. I had to pull more boxes out of the garage. Then, I decided to go through my closet and box up a bunch of clothes that I don’t wear any longer either.  There’s a pair of comfy sneakers in there you could wear to work too, Carmen.”

“You’re an answer to a prayer, Jules!” Carmen says. “It’s like I told you, Rae, God provides.”

Weekly Bible Verse: And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. -Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Note to Nibble: God is a loving God who cares about you and is the ultimate need meeter.