I still remember being hungry day after day. Doctor visits took up any "extra" money we had as we did not have insurance with either of our jobs. We were so broke. I felt so bad for Stephen, who was so hungry, and I remember hoping and praying that church people would invite us to dinner on Sunday so we could get one good meal in a week. The baby was almost due and our kitchen cabinets were practically empty. Except for some condiments in the door of the refrigerator, the refrigerator shelves were empty. The freezer had ice cubes. For a time, when Stephen came home for lunch, I boiled water and put a beef bouillon cube in the water to make broth. I think we had crackers at first to go with it, but when they ran out I used popcorn in place of crackers in the soup. We had peanut butter for awhile, and although Stephen didn't like it previously, he grew to like it when it was all we had to eat. I remember praying that the baby would be healthy and not sickly for my lack of nutritional intake.
Feeling very maternal expecting our first little one, I had canned red tomatoes and green sweet pickles earlier that year. We didn't have anything to eat them with, but they at least looked colorful lined up alternately above the cabinets. The "nesting" syndrome swept over me as my due date neared, so I washed the inside of all the kitchen cupboards and rearranged all my Tupperware, creating a clean and ready feeling for whenever the baby arrived.
The big day arrived 4 days early on February 24, 1977, and the Lord gave us a healthy baby boy. We named him Michael David Harvey after Michael the archangel and Stephen's brother, David. My parents and one of my younger sisters lived only about a 75-minute drive away and though they had never visited before, they came to see the baby.
I was glad they came and proud to show off Michael, but I was nervous about entertaining them. There simply was nothing to serve them. As a matter of courtesy, shortly after they arrived, I asked them if they would like something to drink, secretly hoping they wouldn't want anything. I was relieved to hear them say they had just finished dinner before they came and didn't want anything. We stayed in the living room visiting and looking at all of Michael's tiny features. I noticed my dad left the room and went to the kitchen. This made me nervous. What was he doing there, getting a glass of water? He had already said he didn't want anything to drink. He poked his head into the living room and said he was in the mood for some "pop" (or soda, as some say). He asked us what kind we liked and asked for directions to the closest store and left. After 45 minutes or so we began to wonder where he was, as the store was fairly close to our apartment. Storm clouds were brewing and my mom was getting worried. It was really getting dark and they had over an hour's drive to get home. Finally after a full hour we saw the car pull into the driveway. He did not come back with just the soda. He came back with 10 bags of groceries! He began unloading bags from the car into the kitchen and I couldn't keep up with him. We had more groceries than could fit in the cabinets and freezer! He said very casually, "Oh, I noticed the cabinets were a little empty so I picked up a few things!" He also had an Easter basked for the baby, several varieties of pop for us, and had put enough meat in the freezer for several weeks! I think he went down every aisle and just put a little of everything in the shopping cart. He seemed so pleased with himself for having found the store, including the Easter goodies from the discount story he wandered into first, by mistake, right next to the grocery store.
Before my family left, my dad sat at the kitchen table and asked about our hospital bill. Inwardly I cringed. It was embarrassing and humiliating to talk about our finances when we were so strapped for money. I tried to sound casual about it, but Michael's bill had some extra charges for some newborn care he needed. I think our bill was $1200. My dad was taking out his checkbook and when I said $1200 he winced a little and I thought, "Oh my, he's not going to write a check for the whole amount, is he??" He wrote out a check and left it on the table; I think it was for $600! We were a bit awestruck that someone could just write a check out of their account for that much money (and this after purchasing 10 bags of groceries). My parents were not Christians, but they were always very generous with us, and the Lord used them many more times to help us out without our asking.
What an answer to prayer! What a provision! Jesus was showing Himself to us as our Jehovah-Jirah and continued to do so over and over again throughout the years, and He continues even now 26 years into our marriage with many wonderful provisions. Praise the Lord!
Post Script: That infant whose nutrition and health I was worried about? As it turned out, he grew up and signed a contract with the U.S. Marines and became a "lean, mean, fighting machine." No health problems there!
by Cathy A Harvey
TWF Vice-President 2003-2004
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