While my late husband, Jerry Romprey, attended Bible Institute to prepare for the ministry, I remained at home to care for our three preschool children. Finances were a constant challenge. We lived quite frugally, never getting into debt, but just making it from month to month.
A day came when I realized we did not have the $80 for rent, and our landlord, not known for showing mercy, would be showing up soon. Jerry and I prayed, “reminding” God we were attempting to fulfill the roles we believed important, and also “reminding” Him that He promised to meet our basic needs.
Hearing the doorbell, I opened the door to find a small child handing me a plastic bag filled with freshly picked lettuce. His dad, our very good friend, was sitting in the pickup truck smiling broadly while the child said very deliberately, “Be sure to wash this!” It was just picked from their garden, and I thought that was a somewhat unnecessary statement. But I nodded, and waved my thanks to his daddy.
Dumping it out into my kitchen sink, I discovered one $20 bill, then another, and then two more! I went to the phone to call the wife and exclaimed, “Margaret! Thank you! The $80 is precisely when we need to pay the rent!” She, having no knowledge at all about either our rental fee or that it was almost overdue, said they just felt compelled to get it right over to our house. She had no idea just how much she was helping a friend in need.
