The Cow Story

If we have a generous heart toward others and trust God to meet our needs, He takes care of us. And sometimes, He surprises us.

It was our first year in Kentucky, where my husband Kelvin was enrolled at Asbury Theological Seminary. Our main source of income was educational benefits received as a result of his three years of service in the Navy. He also worked part-time as a carpenter. I stayed home caring for our six-month-old daughter and giving piano lessons.

             Even though we didn’t have much money for groceries, we enjoyed vegetables from our garden and beef from our freezer. Kelvin had worked on his family’s farm in upstate New York for two years before coming to Asbury. His parents always shared beef with us from the farm’s supply. So, while our seminary friends ate hot dogs, we enjoyed an occasional steak or roast beef.

            God had really blessed us with a place to live, family, and a supportive church family. We had much to be thankful for and reason to pass on those blessings.

            One wintry day in February, I decided that it would be a nice gesture to share some of our beef with Sandy and Ron, a seminary couple who attended our church. Kelvin agreed. At first, I thought I’d take them some ground beef. Then I felt God was telling me, No, they already eat hamburgers. Give them something better. So I opened the freezer and took out a roast.

          Kelvin was studying in the bedroom and our daughter Keely was napping when I left the house with my package. I walked a short distance on the snowy sidewalk, passing several one-story duplexes like ours in seminary housing. I turned the corner and crossed the street to Sandy’s house. She was surprised to see me at her door and pleased when I presented her with a beef roast.

            When I returned from my errand and stepped into the house, I saw that the mailman had dropped some letters through the front door mail slot. As I picked the letters up off the floor, I noticed a legal-size envelope from an address I didn’t recognize. It was from a slaughterhouse in upstate New York. I took it in to Kelvin’s desk.

            “What is this?” I asked.

He opened the envelope and found inside a sizable check made out to him! Shaking his head with a smile, he answered, “My parents sent a cow to the market and had the entire check mailed directly to us!”

            We had literally given away a piece of meat and received a whole cow in return on the same day! Amazing! God, again, was a step ahead. The check was already on its way before I even stepped out our front door. Thanks be to God!

            “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion…and your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11).