A few days before our state’s announcement of emergency, I filled up a grocery cart like normal and someone said, “Wow, you’re stocking up aren’t you?” I was like, “Nope! This is just Wednesday. I have a big family and this doesn’t go far.” That lady just gave sort of a blank stare there.
After the emergency announcement was made I was shopping again and the sentiment had shifted no matter what was in anyone’s cart—“Do what you need to do for your family” was what the lady at the register was saying to everyone. As I was bagging my groceries the man next to me told me that he’s been out of work and didn’t know what to do. It made me think about who could be prepared to experience all of this, if there was anyone. Some people have hoarded A LOT—does that make them prepared physically? I felt perhaps people who are used to living one day at a time are the only ones who are really prepared for this crisis emotionally.
My church used to have a local cannery where we could volunteer and then also purchase emergency food for our families. A long time ago I bought a lot of whole grain wheat and potatoes and beans and rice and it had a long shelf life. Because I had this resource from the Provident Living program, we had some peace of mind regarding our worst case fears and we still felt that we could go on our Spring Break vacation and visit my cousin before everything really got worse—also because we knew we needed a mental break to help us power through what was coming. And I’m glad we did because it was exactly what we needed emotionally and mentally and now we have stronger family relationships and happy memories with our cousins Gerry and Danna.
But even though we had emergency plans in place for our family, an image of me standing with eight hungry little “birds” around me kept coming to my mind. In this uncertain crisis where big changes have happened daily or weekly we just honestly don’t know how long the effects of this pandemic will last. So even tho I have calculated how much emergency food we have and how long it will last us in a worst case scenario, I don’t want to get to that image of having 8 hungry little kids looking up at me. I also have adopted kids whose former trauma related to food is triggered in a huge way by this crisis—those behaviors can wipe out a pantry in no time—not even joking. With all that in mind, I don’t really want to be showing up at a friends or family member’s house saying, “Hey, there’s 10 of us. Can we eat all of your food?” So in my effort to stretch our food so that we don’t end up in my worst case scenario crisis situations, I have decided to pray for manna.
I have been shocked at the way the prayer has been answered. I kid you not, every time I ask God to help us stretch our food, it has happened. Below are some of the experiences that have happened to us during our COVID-19 days that have helped provide for our needs. Specifically the need for food, and some situations I now think of as my “modern day manna”. Just like the Israelites, if you take too much and have greed with your manna, it will go bad. You must take only what you need, eat it while it’s fresh, and have faith that the Lord will provide the next day, too. I think the lesson is that as you continue to seek, you will find.
First of all, the school breakfasts and lunches are an amazing resource at this time of crisis for everyone with kids. I literally cried for gratitude the first time we went. I truly appreciate the school lunch program during this time for all kids ages 0-18. We haven’t gone every day but we go frequently and it’s nice to leave the house even tho we just drive through. And my sister Erin reminds us to go because she’s been an influential person in helping us stretch our resources for our family. She’s such a great planner.
Other ways manna has come to us at different times during the weeks I have prayed for it in the last month:
My sister in law Tina brought us pizza randomly.
The Urban Family showed up with donuts 🍩 and the kids had chocolate faces and smiles to prove it.
The Heywood Family gave us homemade bread.
My friend Julie brought us dinners snacks and even games for the kids one day.
My friend Melanie brought us soup.
My mom taught our boys to make bread and also delivered a dragon cake to my son for his birthday.
All of these were random acts of kindness.
My friend Brandis delivered a food box to us last week from the local ASA Now non-profit for foster/adoptive families. She made sure to help us meet the deadline for the order even tho I couldn’t do it myself. There was so much in this box and delivery. Mitch and the kids and I were so grateful.
My neighbor Amanda gave us her surplus of magical unicorn macaroni and cheese—my picky eater will actually eat these things! She also shared messages about God with me that she posts online. She’s a soul sister kind of girl with how she’s approaching this time to build others up, and it hits my heart.
Our Grandma Mo Mo and Grandpa Borden delivered some homemade strawberry freezer jam to our outside fridge. Seriously, if that’s not manna, I don’t know what is! Baby Jude eats it on toast like crazy.
One of our friends moved out of the country and gave us their extra supplies of food and spices. God has a sense of humor—I asked for MANNA and we got something labeled “SPECIAL SH$$” 😅😅😅 It’s pretty good too. I’m going to use it up quickly.
My friend Hailey brought me chocolate and a DP on the worst day of March for us. She didn’t even know it was my worst day ever until later, but the caffeine got me thru it all!
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED during all of this is that I don’t need to be afraid of being a mama bird with 8 little chicks. I’ve learned from praying for manna that it’s going to be okay. I’ve learned that people are nice and kind and think about more than themselves even when it’s a scary time of crisis. I have seen in an overwhelming way that I live in an amazing community full of beautiful people and that we are not alone. I’ve learned my kids (even my trauma babies) are capable of NOT being wasteful. I’ve learned that my kids want to help do things like bake bread and plant a garden and make lemonade out of real and figurative lemons 🍋 . They want to be helpers and problem solvers during this unusual time. I’ve learned that I can let go of my fears enough to focus on what I have. I can be grateful for what I have today, and know that If manna can come today, it can come tomorrow, too. I don’t need to be greedy or hoard things. When I have more than I need for my family we can also share—it’s not that I didn’t know this before, but I feel like this situation exposes the awareness more because my confidence is stronger than ever before that we’re going to make it. Besides being confident that we can be resourceful and work hard to plan for our family, my community has shown without a doubt and even without us asking them, that we don’t need to feel alone. I can see that we are not alone. When what we have to give our kids feels like it’s not enough during this time, I understand I don’t have to be afraid because when people say “We’re in this together”, they really mean it.Besides our family’s physical needs, our emotional needs have also been supported by our work community and friends and neighbors and church connections, too.
Last but not least, I told my husband I was going to write tonight about what I’ve been calling my “manna experience”. He said without skipping a beat, “Oh, yeah. You’re going to tell everyone about the MANNA-YOUR DREAMS!” 😂😂😂 It’s true though. Mitch is his own type of ‘manna’. He is so resourceful and handy. He can stretch our household needs much farther than I can because he has the patience to make things work in thrifty ways. He also has the skill set (and his mind works well as a problem solver) for practical and logistical things. He said he’s sure all the Israelite wives got sick of their husbands calling themselves the manna-their-dreams as they wandered for 40 years.
Let’s stop for just a second here:
MITCH—
ARE YOU SURE THEIR JOKES WERE IN ENGLISH? 😂
Either way—here’s the final type of manna that our family has been blessed with:
The “MANNA-MY-DREAMS” 🥰😍🥰😍🥰
Love your story and humor. Miss you
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