Count Your Many Blessings

*Please note that this post is being written for purposes of keeping a journal of the event. It's pretty personal, and I'd just ask that it be kept somewhat confidential. Thanks!* One of the challenges that I have as a single mom is that I don't receive child support very often. It's very rare that I see anything during any given month. Because of this, I have been receiving food stamps for about a year now. This also allows my boys to receive free hot lunch at school every day. I have been receiving about $200 per month in food stamps. I was up for a review, which is required for everyone on "welfare" every six months. I had sent in all of the paperwork, but it was lost repeatedly. Long story short, we went without food stamps for a couple of months. I had been checking the website daily and calling every other day to check on the status. Last week, it showed that it was approved. I checked the balance on my food stamps and it was much higher than usual. Because I was concerned about an error, I called (again) to notify them of the error. The nice lady I spoke to read over everything and told me that it wasn't an error, that the monthly food stamp amount had been raised to the correct amount. It just so happened that the amount that I would be receiving monthly was just $10 off the amount of child support I am supposed to receive per month. Please note that the amount of child support I am supposed to receive for my four boys is extremely, extremely low. It is the amount that most people paying child support for one child would pay. However, the "irony" was not lost on me. My heart is so full of gratitude. I pay my tithing fully every month, and that has provided my boys and I with blessings seen and unseen. For months now, I have prayed that I would not be angry with their father for not paying child support, but that my boys and I would have what we need to be able to survive without it. There is no doubt in my mind that God lives. He knows us personally. He answers our prayers. Tithing is a blessing. It is such an honor to pay tithing. It does not go unnoticed. I am so thankful for the blessings that my boys and I have daily, even minute-by-minute.