Anna's Birthday

And Abraham called the name of the place, Jehovahjireh, as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of The LORD it shall be provided." Gen. 22:14

Jehovahjireh. The-Lord-Will-Provide. In a Bible study in which I participated a few years ago, we were given a list of all of the names of God that He has given us through His Word. What an astounding activity to think through your life and consider at what point(s) He revealed Himself to you as that particular name.

Jehovahjireh introduced Himself to our children in a profound way recently. We were scheduled to speak at a church in Columbia February 20, which was also our Anna’s second birthday. On the day before one of our children’s birthdays, we always say, “Wow! This is your last day to be __!” Two days before Anna;s birthday, I heard our then four year old, Elijah, say, “Anna, tomorrow will be the last day that you’ll be one! And then you’ll be two! And you’ll get to eat cake and ice cream on your birthday!” And then he called, “Mom! What kind of cake is Anna going to have?” I explained that we weren’t going to have her birthday celebration on that day, but would wait until the weekend as we were going to Columbia to speak. He said, “Well, she needs a birthday cake on her birthday.” I knew that it wasn’t possible for me to get a cake made between then and her birthday. I thought the matter was over, as we’ve celebrated many birthdays on days other than the actual birthday. Then, another son asked what kind of cake Anna would have on her birthday, and another, until all of them had asked me about it. I explained and then put it out my mind.

When we got to the church, we introduced everyone to the pastor and his wife. As we got to Anna, I mentioned that it was her second birthday. As it was their church’s Wednesday night potluck supper, the pastor said a blessing and the members sang “Happy Birthday” to Anna. As they were singing, one young mom and her daughter made their way up to the front. As soon as the song was finished, she came up to me with tears in her eyes and said, “I made your daughter a birthday cake.” I said, “What?” I had never seen her before and knew she did not know that today was Anna’s birthday. She said, “I didn’t know that’s what I was doing, I just began to make a cake for tonight. My daughter kept saying, “Mom, whose birthday is it?” This sweet mother told her daughter, “No, honey, it’s just a cake, that’s all.” But her daughter, who looked to be three or four years old, said, “Well, it IS a birthday cake, Mommy.” She proceeded to tell me she hadn’t planned to make a cake that night, but decided to at the last minute. It was beautiful—pale pink icing and pastel confetti sprinkles on top. Best of all, Anna and her family got to eat birthday cake on the night of her birthday!

Later, as we drove home that night, we were fascinated by the beauty of the lunar eclipse that was taking place as we traveled, but more importantly we marveled at its Creator—the same One Who designed the moon and all of creation to point us straight to Him, knew and cared deeply that five brothers were concerned for their sister. He made sure that little Anna had a birthday cake on her birthday night.

As we have journeyed along this process of becoming full time missionaries, we have answered many questions that have arisen, “God will take care of it in His time.” In essence, “God will provide.” . Jehovahjireh. The-Lord-Will-Provide. He did—and he does!