It was past time to leave work and go home, and I heard rain coming down fiercely. I quickly got my things and left the office. Once in my car, I heard thunder and saw lightning, and the rain was a downpour, mixed with hail! I as well as the other drivers were cautious in driving, and I had to gas up my vehicle before continuing. Once there, I noticed a calm come over me, and then I realized the rain had stopped. I thought that then was the time to get to the bridge and make my way home, hoping I would get away from the storm.

I was right. I made it through the storm. Once to the bridge, the sky was blue, not much by way of clouds, and the sun was shining; even the roads were dry. I felt as if God was sending me a message that all was well. I made it home and went to my mailbox to retrieve the mail.

I opened the nursing home bill for my mother expecting to see the usual numbers. I was surprised to see there was an $1100 monthly increase. Focusing on the amount, I panicked, wondering how that could be, and knowing neither she nor I could foot the increase.

As is usually the case, I tried to ‘fix it’, thinking of ways to obtain funds to pay this.   I went in prayer, and asked others to do the same. I realized I couldn’t  resolve this, but this was a situation only God could fix. I remembered the message of the previous day by Pastor Marcus England who spoke at my church (if you want to hear it go to westparkchurch.cc Drop the Mic series) regarding us asking ourselves that there must be more to living life, not settling and being passive, but being active by getting up, picking up and walking. All that stems from wanting more, not only surviving, but thriving. And getting the more involves us trusting God more. That message made me think of doing something Jesus is recorded as saying to many. Whether in the form of a question (“Do you believe I can do this?”), to a very succinct statement: “Just believe”, or as recorded in Mark 9:23: “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

I watched the message of Pastor Michael Todd of Transformation Church talk about having baby faith, and if one has the faith of a grain of a small mustard seed, one can command any mountain to be moved, and it will.

The next day presented itself, and my plan was to take my mother’s bill and go to the nursing home and talk to someone in the business office. But an idea came to my brain to call the main office in Texas first. As I was talking to that person it was as if God dropped something in me: gross.  I pulled the annual statement that showed the amount my mother received for the year, divided it by 12, and that is how the larger figure was computed, the gross pension amount. When I told the person that, I asked her if the medical insurance that is deducted from her pension was considered. When she reviewed her files, she stated it wasn’t, and it needed to be. That was the difference. I had my answer to bring to the attention of the business office at the nursing home. So off I went.

Once there, I did not get a chance to bring up the issue of the health insurance, as they noticed the error. They went into their files, found the information I had given them months earlier, made the correction and the discrepancy was resolved. While the monthly bill increased, my mother’s monthly check covered the fee. All was well.

Actually all was well before I received the bill. I just experienced going through a storm, but coming out on the other side free of rain and having dry roads and sunshine. God was giving me signals not to be concerned, He had it under control.

Now if I can only apply this to other areas of my life, I can continue to experience the  grandeur of faith, no matter how small my faith seems to be…be strengthenized.