Faith Like Taco Soup

It’s no surprise to anyone close to us that this has been a tough season. I don’t mean tough like ends won’t meet or there’s bickering at home. I mean tough like we can barely show our faces in public some days and we weep into pillows when no one is around. The month of January started with a bang. We had our healing trip at the beach, celebrated my mom’s fourth year in heaven on the 3rd and flew back into our routine like we had never missed a beat. 

Then at the start of the week, sickness hit our house like a tsunami. Judd started throwing up, Lynlee  was coughing so hard she could barely catch a breath, and Josiah ended the night by throwing up in our bed. Josh and I couldn’t really miss work because he’s helping with a big move and I had so many meetings, several I was supposed to be leading, and my first night classes at KWC. 

We hustled all day, came home to babies who desperately needed us, snuggled warm bodies at night and prayed for a speedy bounce back for each of them. By yesterday, I was TIRED. Josh texted me that he really wanted soup when he got off work since he had not eaten all day, and I decided he could have the lone can of store brand chicken noodle in the cabinet because I had no energy to even stop. I pulled into the driveway like a race car, wanting to hug my littles and access the sick wing of our house, when a text message stopped me right in my tracks.

“Hey Chickipoo!! I woke up this morning with you on my mind! GOD told me to make you all some soup! Does your family like soup? I was thinking a wonderful taco soup! Are you wonky about people making you food. I’m okay if you all are. I just wanted to be obedient! Just let me know!”

I almost broke into tears. This text message came from someone that I had not talked to in quite a long time. It would have still meant the world to me from a family member or close friend, but this felt straight miraculous. I thanked her and said we wanted it, in awe that God would provide for us in such a creative way— by putting us on someone’s heart out of the blue.

The soup arrived and it was phenomenal. There were tortilla strips, sour cream, and shredded cheese all included. This amazing lady didn’t just dump off a huge pot of soup she loved us WELL. I am sharing this because sometimes the Lord will bless us in the most unexpected ways and it’s important to remember that we can do that same thing for others, too. It’s awesome to be there for our family members, and it’s great to do sweet things for our close friends, but when the Lord shows us someone we haven’t spoken to in quite some time and asks us to unexpectedly bless them, it is so worth it! That taco soup showing up on my porch at just the right time restored my faith during this season. 

In Nehemiah 9:21, the Israelites acknowledge God and how he provided for them in the wilderness for 40 years. He was faithful in his provision and it even says they lacked nothing. How much more can he do that again for each of us?