My testimony is about the theme of the year, The Year of Much More, shared by Pastor Prince. I never thought the “much more” would include me.

I have been dealing with health challenges, and in 2022, my husband died suddenly. Life became very difficult, and managing our big house and everything in it became overwhelming. There were so many things to get rid of, and I cried to God a lot, telling Him that I needed help and asking how I was going to go through everything by myself. I wanted to downsize and would dream about a smaller house and peace.

I had fifty boxes of vintage Christmas decorations alone, and it was such a burden and a weight. There were also some heavy vintage items that were worth something and could help me pay some bills, but I could not move or ship them even if someone wanted them. And how would anyone even know I had them?

In particular, there was a jukebox, a Coke machine, a vintage milkshake mixer, a special piece of art my husband and I had made in the nineties, and two vintage-etched diner doors. I was so overwhelmed that I eventually stopped pointing those things out to God because I didn’t think He was listening to me anyway.

Then I had a roof leak, and a roofer was coming to give me an estimate. I wasn’t feeling well that morning and prayed, “God, You have to help me. Please help me!”

After the roofer inspected the attic and roof, I met him in the garage. I just wanted him to give me the estimate and leave when he suddenly pointed at that art piece leaning against the wall and said, “I love that! What is that?”

I told him it was something my husband and I had made 30 years ago and that I wanted to sell it. He asked how much, and I said $500. He reached into his pocket and peeled off 5 $100 bills! Then he pointed to the etched diner doors and said they were really nice. When I told him I wanted to sell those too, he bought them for $250.

He was so excited and asked me what else I had. Then he told me that he and his wife had recently seen a Coke machine at an antique store that they wanted to buy but didn’t manage to get. He had no idea I had one on my back patio.

“I have a Coke machine,” I said. He bought that too! He was so happy, and his happiness was contagious and made it easier for me to let go of these things that held memories of my husband.

When he left, I was leaning against the wall in the hallway, reeling from confusion. What just happened? The roofer pointed out the exact things I had been crying to God about months earlier. I suddenly looked up and said, “Did You do this?” And then “The year of much more” popped into my head!

The roofer came back later that week and bought the jukebox and milkshake machine. He also told me I didn’t need to save all those shipping boxes to sell things on eBay because he was going to buy the Christmas decorations I didn’t want!

And that wasn’t the end of it. During his roof inspection, he discovered that my clogged gutters and downspouts were contributing to the leak. The next day, I heard something in my backyard and discovered that he had sent someone over to clean them for free—just because he wanted to do it for me.

He came by another day to pick up more items, and as he was leaving, he suddenly turned to me and said, “I feel I have been so blessed to have met you.” I told him I felt the same way. He had bought the very things I had been crying to God about. I thought God wasn’t listening to me, but He had heard me! He took care of the very things that had weighed so heavily on me and showed me how much He loves and cares for me.

God decided to love on me and give me much, much more!