I went to bed last night knowing that I was going to sit in my recliner with a cup of coffee and write a blog.  The thought made me smile to myself…like meeting an old friend that I had missed seeing and was looking forward to catching up with.

As much as I love sitting on a Saturday morning, quietly writing on my laptop in my chair, I lead such a different life during the week.  As a business owner involved with current projects as well as bringing in new clients, my days are filled with emails, quotes and client meetings, site visits and planning marketing strategy.  At night, more emails and quotes, constantly trying to keep head above water and by Friday evening, I’m exhausted both mentally and physically.  The good news is that our new employees are taking some of the work load off my hubbie and myself and we are getting to bed sometimes at 10pm instead of midnight.  Yea!  More sleep!  Less coffee!  No, keep the coffee.

Why did I title this blog “Please Send Manna”?  We had our 3^rd best month ever (in almost 10 years of business).  Besides that, I think we did have our best first quarter of the year ever.  The “funny” part of it is that my husband and I have no idea how that happened.  In theory, one tracks metrics of how much marketing one does and follows up with potential projects and that translate to work…sure we tried to do that but I am convinced that the reason we did as well as we did is that for months now, we have been praying desperately for manna to get us through each day and strength to get through each week.

Remember, my husband and I went months trying to do the work of 4 people though we were only two.  Even after we hired more staff, it was weeks and weeks before the new employees knew enough to be able to independently “run” with projects.  Statistically, being understaffed should not have led to good months because the reality is that we could not really duplicate the work of 4 people.

“Pray for manna” became our motto for the business last Fall and it’s rare now that we miss a day praying together before starting the day.  Driving away from the house for work, when I know that we have asked for heavenly guidance on the day, I have a sense of security that the load of carrying the business forward is not just on us.

Did you know that God can send clients/work/provision our way (and to you) even if we don’t know where to look or don’t have the time and energy to pursue them?  The revenues the first 3 months of this year don’t just represent money to me.  They are a note from God saying, “Got your back.  You can trust the future to me”.  I have to remember that when the “good” month comes to a close and the calendar turns to the first day of the month again.  The revenue count starts at zero each month so it gives us plenty of opportunity to keep praying.

I have another manna story and this one I didn’t even ask for.  It’s the “new” chair I’m sitting in as I type this.  I have a recliner in the living room that I have been writing in for years; there were also two rose colored chairs next to it that look like wing back chairs but are actually recliners too.  They aren’t all that comfortable but looked nice; at least they did when they were new.  Over the years they have become “tired” and then when our son’s cat decided to use them as a favorite scratching post instead of using the actual scratching post…well now they are just sad.  Fortunately, the cat lives with our son now and our other cat uses the real scratching post.

Every so often I would look at the chairs and think we really need to recover those.  But…time and money is involved which both need conserving so I lived with them.  Here is the manna part.  A client, one of the churches we do a lot of work for, has a fundraiser rummage sale once a year for their students to do mission/volunteer work in the summer.  The area is an affluent area and so the items tend to be in very good condition.  My contact there (she has become a friend as well as client) let me know it was coming up and because of years of working with her, she let me look around before the actual sale started.  Lo and behold there were two country blue, cushy, comfortable Lazy Boy recliners there.  What are the odds that there would be “just the right shade of blue” chairs?  Our Living Room throw carpet has country blue and rose tones which is completely outdated for where we live (but hey, I like it).  Adding to my delight, they look brand new, as if in the first home they graced, they were for decoration only and little if ever used. The end of the story is that I was able to buy them (at a fraction of what I would normally have paid) and I put the tired chairs up in my daughter’s room.  Maybe I will recover them later.

When I look at the new recliners, they look like they have always belonged there. I see more than just pretty chairs that coordinate with my rug.  What I see behind the visual aspect of those chairs is the provision that I didn’t even ask for.  It’s a heavenly reminder that says, “Don’t worry about the future because I can provide what you need without you even knowing you need it”.

I’m trying to soak in the manna lesson deep into my soul because the truth is, my hubbie and I are hamsters on a wheel.  We can pay our bills and put food on the table as long as we keep running the business and keep putting long hours into it.  Like hamsters on a wheel without an end in sight, we keep plugging away every day, every week, month and year.  We are both so tired but we have to keep going for now.  We are still paying off the loan for our daughter’s treatment.  We still have kids in college; we are still paying off our mortgage and all of our retirement funds are invested into the business.

God knows my future and yours.  We don’t.  I would like to see down the road to a simpler lifestyle but I can’t see how to get there.  The manna reminders help me to have hope that just as God provided recliners and a good business quarter, He can guide us into the future even if I can’t see it.