A few of you might remember this post I wrote several months ago. In it, I shared that we weren’t really sure how we were going to pay our taxes, or how we were going to pay for flights home for Christmas. I didn’t really know why I was supposed to write that post and share with all of you what was going on, I just knew I was supposed to write it. Seriously, look back at it and you’ll be able to read the tone: I don’t wanna write all this but I’m gonna.

What I haven’t told you (until now) was what happened after I wrote it. I was blessed with one special gift from a friend from back home, and all else was quiet for a while. But then. I was contacted by a wonderful and gracious lady in the US. She loves the Lord, is originally from South Africa, and is married to an American. She was looking for blogs about Mexico (I spent a few months there several years ago, which I suppose I’ve mentioned somewhere around here) and she arrived at my site. It wasn’t what she was looking for, and she planned to move on but felt led to keep reading. She read the aforementioned post and then emailed me with some great news:

Her husband is a CPA and between the two of them it doesn’t add up that my taxes should be so high, considering my line of employment and likely income. They offered to take a look at things for me, free of charge.

Feeling like I had nothing to lose and not being particularly concerned about being swindled when I have little money to speak of and I’d just written a post saying as much, we began emailing back and forth, speaking on Skype, faxing documents and … would you like to hazard a guess at what ensued?

A rather important lil’ discovery. The discovery that my taxes had been filed incorrectly for the past two years. For a number of reasons a little too complex to get into, even though I’d been paying to have my slightly unusual tax situation studied and filed by a professional, things were incorrect. This led to another rather important discovery.

If I refiled my taxes, Uncle Sam would owe me some money. And a pretty decent amount, in fact. We re-filed my taxes for 2007 and 2008, and correctly filed for 2009 and then I waited and hoped that this would be the answer to the prayer: Lord please provide for our flights to go home to North Carolina this Christmas.

I decided to wait until something happened to share the news with you guys. And guess what?

My Mom called this morning with the news that a check for almost $3,000 arrived in the mailbox yesterday. Signed: the US Treasury. I couldn’t have been more delighted if they’d suddenly announced a seventh season of LOST.

After covering the ridiculously tiny amount that this amazingly generous CPA and his wife requested for their services, we have enough for two flights home for Christmas. And if we can find reasonable prices and an airline that will help us out with a child fare for the Bear (he’s turning two soon so he’s not allowed to sit on our laps anymore) we might just be close to covered to head home for Christmas.

So that one post, where I listened to the Holy Spirit and shared our story, led to us finding out we owed NOTHING for our 2009 taxes, that the government owed us for 2007 and 2008, and eventually, it even provided for us to fly home for Christmas. Three big birds, one wee stone. A desire that’s been in my heart for about two years now: Granted!

I feel sure there are at least a few readers around here who might think I’m making some of this Jesus stuff up. Are you getting tired of pointing at coincidence? (She’s the one standing in the corner saying “Uh…wasn’t me.”) I’d like to encourage you to keep hanging around, keep reading, keep searching, and believe me when I say I’m not making this stuff up!

God is true. Jesus is real. The Holy Spirit is alive and at work. Listening to His leading can have a powerful impact in your life. And prayer really does change things.

And in other news I’m delighted to share:

While I’m really going to miss bacon-covered cherries, Mom Collie’s amazing cooking, Dad Collie’s great sense of humour, Auntie Lyn’s stories and smiles, and the feel of Bloemfontein grass on a summery December 25th…

I’ll be home for Christmas.

xCC