More Than A Building

We have now lived in Elk Grove for a little more than a year, and moving to a new community in the middle of these struggles has proven to very painful at times. Though we have prayed for a new church home, we have not had the ability to put much effort into the search as our Sunday's we can attend are irregular, the risks for Elianna are hindering, and changes in environment are hard on my 5 year old, just to name a few. But God has used this as a chance to remind me that the church is more than a building - it is a community of believers, meeting needs and looking out for each other.

There have been two particularly astonishing events that have made this hard to ignore. Both originate with a church plant that we were blessed to be a part of, yet it has been several years since we attended there.

One family that we spent a lot of time with (and miss terribly) now lives in Arizona. Many months ago Mr. Family-in-Arizona sent me the contact information for a friend they have there who has her own miraculous story of healing, and who feeds her family a gluten-free diet. She has been a fantastic resource and often helped me to figure things out when I have gotten 'stuck'.

I recently posted a survey on facebook about food processors versus blenders, and raving reviews for the Vitamix kept coming up. I needed to figure out a way to get pureed meat into Ellie, and due to her eating delays she was certainly not going to just pick up a hunk and chew. I tried adding it to her bottle after putting it through my Cuisinart, but it did not make it smooth enough and she refused it. Then came a message from my new facebook friend. She offered to ship me her Vitamix and loan it to me for a year while she was out of the country. Say what?!

My immediate response was - no way! What if it broke? And what about the cost of just shipping it to me? This was not your Walmart blender - this was several hundred dollars! I thanked her but declined.

In the meantime I realized I was stuck. I had to get food into Ellie other than the broth in order to get her off of the formula, but I could not figure out how to do it. Could we scrape together enough to buy a Vitamix and try it? Would it even do what I needed?

She messaged me back. Her Vitamix was under warranty, and it would be insured while in transit. And she wanted to cover the less than $20 it would take to ship it. Please pray about it.

*Smack* (That was God telling me to get over myself)

I accepted, amazed at the generosity from someone who has never met me or my child.

Within a few days it arrived, and I quickly whipped up a buffalo and pork smoothie for Ellie. She gladly slurped it down! This amazing gesture of kindness is feeding my Ellie, and has eliminated the stress of funding a Vitamix on our own during this already stressful time. I am humbled and reminded every time I use it, and can only hope that she is blessed even half of what we have been. I certainly know she is earning jewels for her heavenly crown!