The Message of the Tip Jar

"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:24 NKJV)

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4 NKJV).

To make a long story hopefully short ... Deb and I, a vendor at the Freighthouse Farmers Market where I sell my baked goods, were talking on one of the Saturdays about her tip jar. She said her clients were always so generous and that she made quite a bit of tip money (she called it free money). Well, I liked that idea and took it a little further and wrote a little message on the tip jar. I wrote that I was saving up for a dough sheeter, a machine that would help me greatly to roll out the dough for me. I had been looking around for a dough sheeter for a long time and it seems that I had been praying for it all the time. 

So, listen to this now: A client of mine, Maria, saw the message on the tip jar and took it also a little further. She spoke with her friend Katie, that happened to have a dough sheeter she wanted to sell and told her about my project. Then Katie called me one evening when I was in the midst of rolling out the dough by hand and wishing I had a dough sheeter. It just happened so, that she had a dough sheeter I had been wanting (there are so many out there ... but the Lord answered my prayer by giving me more than I asked for). To my great joy I learned that she was living at the time in the same town as I. She initially asked for $ 2800 but then kindly offered me $ 2000 which I did not have right away. Two of my clients/friends though suggested I open up Go Fund Me account. Within one month we were able to raise $ 2101 through generous donations and tips. The funny thing was though that when we went to pick it up we realized that the seller lived only one street away from us. All the time that dough sheeter was so close and we did not know until we put that message on the tip jar.

What do we learn from the story of the tip jar? Well, everything starts out with prayer. Then we need to be specific. We need to put a message together of our desires and dreams. You know if I think about it, this story with the dough sheeter was no different than finding my husband Mark. I prayed, I was specific in what I was looking for and then two lady friends told me to go online and the rest is history :-) 

Know this, the Lord is completely good and He wants to bless you and make your heart glad. Trust in Him, even if it takes a little longer (I waited for my hubby for over 13 years).

With much love,
-Suzanne