***I wrote this post last fall, and never published it. I am not sure why I never published it, maybe it was because it was too personal. It was an impactful moment for me. A green binder may seem insignificant, but it is awesome that we have a God that cares so much about us, that His love pours out even in the smallest of details. We all have our own “green binder” stories, and they are all wonderful expressions of His love for us.***

Over the past few months, Cal has been going through the process to become licensed as a lawyer. He sat for the Bar Exam at the end of July and we are waiting on the results. As a result, his employment (and our source of income) has been a little bit on the irregular side.

We have been cutting out everything “non-essential” and that includes all school supplies. Ask any homeschool family, and having $0 budgeted for school expenses for August-November is difficult. Thankfully, we already had our entire curriculum and I am a supply hoarder, so we really have not needed anything.

One thing I did really want was a binder for the Ethan’s portfolio. I have several white ones, but I really wanted a green binder so that I could eventually have each child’s set of portfolios color coded and green is his favorite color.

I searched high and low for green binders while school supplies were on sale at the start of the school year. The only one I could find was $10, which doesn’t seem like much until you are pulling it out of a bare-bones grocery budget. I decided to settle on a white one that I already owned.

Fast forward almost two months. We are going through our office to prepare for the Cal’s new job and to turn it into a school room/nursery. I pull down my white binders from the shelf to move them into the closet and a green one fell down and hit me square in the face.

I laughed in astonishment. It was an Avery, D-ring, 1.5”, 3 ring binder. Not only was it green, but it was a very close match to Ethan’s expandable file folder that houses all of his preschool work and artwork from the past three years.

There have been so many other moments that we saw God’s provision while we were going through that tight time: a chicken lasting four meals instead of the planned two, a vet bill being half of what I expected, side jobs turning up unexpectedly, and many more. But, for some reason, my green binder has been the moment where I have felt His presence the most.

Share your “Green Binder” Moment in the comments below!