One day I was talking to the Lord and told Him that I wanted a wood cook-stove. The very simple prayer was, “Lord, I really want a wood cookstove, so if you ever see one, would you let me know?” That was it, that was the entire prayer, more in conversation really. Not long after, I was stripping and refinishing some woodwork in a farmhouse that I was soon to move into, and just as I had applied the stripper, I heard the Lord speak to my heart, “Stop what you are doing and go to the Rocking Chair, your cook-stove is there.” But Lord, I just started stripping!” “Go right now!”  “OK, I will.” Immediately I put everything down and followed his urgent order. Timing is everything with the Lord and you’ve got to know that I knew it was His voice, or I wouldn’t have stopped in the middle of a project like that.

The Rocking Chair, was then an antique shop a couple of miles away. I had never been there, but I knew of it. When I walked in, there was a guy on the phone and he waved to me. I walked straight through the place, not even pausing, for I knew what I was looking for. I had made it all the way to the back of the store, when suddenly I saw it–a beautiful flesh-toned and cream wood cook-stove in excellent condition. It sat there with a red dot sticker on it, but no price; no matter, I knew it was mine! I headed back to the front of the store and just as I arrived the guy was hanging up the phone. I asked him how much he wanted for it, and he said, “I just this second sold the place, you can have it at cost–a hundred bucks!” Wow. At that time the stoves were selling from four to six hundred. Sold! He then told me that it was a one-owner stove and the guy was a forest ranger and had just brought it in. God’s timing is everything, if you miss it, you may miss your blessing. If I had delayed, I may still have gotten the stove, but it was in the moment of celebration that the man was excited to sell and have it off his hands. He may have thought differently, had he thought about it longer. I didn’t have to ask him to come down in price, which was already excellent, and God blessed me with the desire of my heart!

Prior to seeing the stove, I had already purchased the paint for the kitchen. It was the same color as the stove, but just a shade lighter. But God knew that; our God knows all things! The question is, did he call my heart to paint that would match the stove He had in mind for me or did He find a stove to match the paint that I had bought? Smile, only He knows, but He knows!

Later when purchasing bricks for the chimney and flagstones for the base under it, I asked the guy why he didn’t weigh the flagstones. He told me that he would if I wanted him too, but he was giving me $500.00 worth of stone for $100.00. And later, when his worker was loading bricks, he told me that he had loaded an extra 85 onto the truck. The Lord causes all good blessings to abound toward us!

One strike of a match and the stove worked perfectly. No smoke, and even the temperature gauge worked! Praise God!!