There are only seven dollars in our bank account. I stared at the pile of bills on the table, then up at my husband.

Six months into our marriage, we had made a major move across the country, leaving our families and good-paying jobs behind. We were convinced that the Lord had told us to go, yet here we sat with a stack of bills totaling over $1,000 and only seven dollars to our name.

As we knelt together to pray, the Lord reminded me of mangos. Yes, mangos. Years before, as a young college student, I was struggling to cover the cost of tuition and living expenses. A series of unfortunate events led to an eviction notice with no place to go and no money. I prayed continually, but nothing happened.

I was running low on food and contemplating the possibility of living out of my car. When I was on the verge of despair and unsure where my next meal would come from, one of the staff randomly gave me a bag of beautiful mangos. That delicious fruit became my rainbow of promise that the Lord would provide in His perfect timing. And He did!

And so my husband and I prayed over that stack of bills. That night there was a knock at the door of our tiny third-story apartment. My husband looked through the peephole; no one was there. Puzzled, he opened the door and looked down the corridor, down the clearly visible three flights of stairs, and over the railing to the sidewalk below . . . no one in sight. As he turned around, something white caught his eyes, drawing them down to the door-jam. An envelope sat propped against it and written across the front: Mr. & Mrs. White.

Curious and perplexed, we stood inside the door as he ripped open the envelope. Gasping in amazement, he pulled out crisp $100 bills. Kneeling, we poured out our hearts in gratitude to our Heavenly Father. But that was just the beginning! A series of blessings and provisions continued to pour out upon us in abundance. Not once did we miss a bill payment.

I believe two habits opened the way for the Lord to bless us in a special way during this time:

1. Give to God first. From childhood, we learned to give tithe and offerings back to God first and pay bills second. It was a habit so cultivated that even when we knew it would take our bank account down to seven dollars, we did it without hesitation.

2. Ask God for help and choose to trust Him to fulfill His promises.

I call experiences like my rainbow mangos and mystery envelope our faith points—specific instances when the Lord has given us an opportunity to experience trusting Him when everything we see around us is tempting us to tremble and fear. It is faith points that ultimately led us to join AFM. And those faith points keep coming!

As we enter the holiday season, I am thankful that God has given us points along the way to look back to when we need reminding that we are not alone, that our situation is far from hopeless and that He is still faithful.

What about you? What are some of your faith points?

Oh, by the way, you are about to receive a very special envelope from AFM. As you read its contents, consider the faith points that each individual may have experienced that led them to this pivotal moment.

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