The Rent That Wasn't Due

Ever since Ian and I paid our first month's rent and deposit for our new apartment (which was, to say, 2/3 of our cash in the bank) I have been thinking about the hit our bank account will take every first of the month when rent is due.  I've never had to pay for lodging in my life, so the thought has been daunting.  In an effort to keep adding to our checking account, January has been a long month of me hardly seeing my husband and son. It's always Ian working another 17 hour day or I'm sleeping off my 12 hour nights...

It's been taxing.

After a nice rare morning with my family Sunday, I begrudgingly went into work that night.  I came home Monday morning to sleep until my shift later that day.  Very routine stuff.

Imagine my surprise when I wake up to a text from my husband saying, "We got an invoice on our door and our rent for next month was paid anonymously".  That woke me up quicker than my alarm clock does, I'll tell you what.  "Is this real?" I texted back. "What?"

the invoice

I ran to the door and picked up the invoice.  After seeing it for myself, I broke down into tears.  Tears of relief, tears of joy, tears overwhelmed by the generosity of our anonymous donor.  We hadn't asked for this.  (If you're asking for someone to pay your rent you should probably live at home, by the way.) We hadn't asked for it, but we are very grateful and indebted to whoever did this for us.

On behalf of the family in apartment 6, I want to thank our anonymous donor.  It means more to us than you know, and we will be putting that money away in a "rainy day" fund, as rainy days are as sure to find us as this sunny day was.  And whether you meant to or not, you have impressed upon me that God provides the daily bread.  As hard as we work for our money, we're not the ones taking care of ourselves (although we try).

When we have the means, I would like to do this for someone else one day.  In the meantime, we'll pay it forward in some other way. What I'm trying to say is thank you, thank you, thank you.  I truly wish I could thank you personally.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, 

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 

 Are you not much more valuable than they? 

Matthew 6:26 NIV