Friends of ours decided it was time to upgrade several years ago and made arrangements to have a second bath with a walk-in shower added to their cozy country home. The main bath had an over-sized garden tub, so a second tub would have been superfluous and would have placed unnecessary strain on the water heater.

Their decision was providential. The work was scarcely begun when a months-long medical emergency arose. When our friend finally came home from the hospital, he was thankful to have that step-in shower, as he would never again regain the physical agility necessary to access the garden tub in the main bath.

The need was met.

I love babies.

Nothing soothes me the way a baby nestled in my arms does. Sometimes, I need a baby to hold.

However, when my children were teenagers, there was a dearth of babies in our extended family. Danny and I were the youngest parents on his side of the family and the Carlson side, ever competitive, seemed to add offspring simultaneously. Ben, our oldest, was Mom and Dad's first grandchild. He arrived in 1975. Brittany was their last grandchild. She arrived in 1983.

No babies. Anywhere.

But wait! I worked in the Brighton School District's child nutrition department and the school district had a program for unwed mothers that allowed them to attend classes and have adequate childcare just off campus. Our department provided toddler meals. Ordinarily, our driver would deliver the meals, but if he was detained by other duties, someone from the nutrition office would step in. I was happy to oblige. Once I brought the meals in, you see, I could hold one of the babies while the staff members prepared the meals. I called it baby therapy. It worked like a charm.

The need was met.

Danny has expended a lot of energy trying to save energy. We take advantage of NPPD's budget billing program so as to budget more easily through the year. This year, for the first time, when it came time to "settle up" the account, we ended with a credit balance. Danny has done well. And, that credit balance relieved the monthly budget just in time to pay the first installment on the house taxes.

The need was met.

Mom was fond of saying, "God will provide." And I faithfully followed in her footsteps with the oft-repeated phrase.

It's time to upgrade.

He already has. In every instance of need, he has already met it. We need only to travel to the point of need to see how he has met it.

Now, when I find myself wringing my hands because tags are due in June and August, the balance of the taxes still must be paid, and insurance on the vehicles is coming up, I settle myself with the realization that "God has already provided."

In Hebrews we are told that without faith it is impossible to please God.

Faith is more than believing in the person and purpose of Jesus, though that is the beginning, the foundation upon which we build. Faith is trusting God. In all things. In all ways. This day, every day, always trust God.

I am still disturbed by one man's statement immediately following Hurricane Katrina. He was trapped in the Superdome with tens of thousands of others and he declared to a television reporter, "We have to steal from one another to survive."

No they didn't. They didn't believe God when he said through his Son, "do not worry about what you will eat..." if they ever knew it, and so were compelled to steal, believing that was the only way to survive.

Brothers and sisters, let it not be so among us. God has already provided. We need not worry, nor take the world's solution in hand to meet any need. To do either one diminishes our testimony and brings shame to the one who has promised and is faithful to bring us to the point of provision for every need, large or small.

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them." Matthew 6:31, 32 (NIV)

Things you won't see in heaven: Worry lines.