Adventist teacher shares a Thanksgiving miracle

Every one-room teacher knows the challenges of fundraising, budgets and stretching pennies. And you know the dreams you have for your school - a paved parking lot, a paint job, etc. My dreams included desperately needed new front doors and new playground equipment.

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Courtesty Of Nickie Linder

Back | Next

Courtesty Of Nickie Linder

As Juneau Adventist Christian School planned the 2008-09 budget, we chose a conservative figure of $3,000 for our annual auction. We decided after having it at the end of January for several years it needed to switch to November - before the Christmas rush and after Alaska Permanent Fund checks - to encourage Christmas gift buying.

As the night arrived, several of our generous supporters were out of town and even several student families were gone or unable to be there. The economy's flat, PFD checks came early, and as we watched the tiny crowd, my treasurer, board chairman and I were heartsick. We prayed together a second time, knowing that God has never let us down. He has met our budget every year, and we couldn't believe He would forget us now.

The auction ended. The total came in: $3,062! We knew we had seen God's hand at work, especially with so few. As I left for the night, my heart still was heavy, though, because our Sabbath sermon kept coming back: "Oh, you of little faith." Why hadn't we asked for $10,000 or $20,000? Why was I not taking God at His word that He would open Heaven's doors for His kids?

Imagine my total surprise the following Monday when I received a phone call from Julie Wright at our local Home Depot, telling me they had a store display they needed to get rid of and asking if we would like to receive a donation of playground equipment!

Julie, Bob Bonavich, of Roadway Reverse Logistics, and Greg Arneson, of Playcore, worked with local manager Troy Wolfenbarger to arrange the gift and delivery of more than $11,000 worth of equipment. With tears of joy and a grin that split my face, I heard His words again, "Oh, you of little faith!"