We were praying, not paying.

God speaks to me usually through others, I'll have questions or concerns, or maybe just feeling like I've been hit by a truck, then I'll hear a song, a sermon, or a friend will unconsciously give me what I need to hear. Sometimes I can't feel him or hear him, and that is truly scary. I am going to insert a journal entry that only a few people have read...so ignore bad grammar and miss spellings:
In September 2007 my house burnt, I lost everything, I am a single mother, this was my first house, I had bought it a very good price because it needed soooo much work, all of which me and my teenaged daughter did ourselves, with the help of friends. It was a labor of love. We were so proud and loved our little house we had put so much of ourselves in, there was not one square inch that we had not touched. Well as I said, it burnt we lost everything, That night was one of the most horrible nights of my life, as I laid in a strange bed and thought of these things, not knowing if they were o.k., really thinking that all was lost, I had worried about those things that could not be replaced, but when we went to the house the next day in the light, we were totally amazed, The irreplaceable things were fine, a little dirty but fine. We had lost everything except what mattered most, it was a miracle, picture frames were melted but the pictures behind the glass were totally untouched by the smoke damage. A plastic turtle that had been my grandmothers for as long a I could remember had not melted in the heat.
So then it was time to decided what to do, My brother-in-law owned a hotel in town that you rent by the week, he offered us two rooms and we moved in. We stayed at the hotel for 3 months, these were some of the hardest days of my life, trying to be strong and positive for my child but then when I was alone falling on my face in weakness, crying out to God not knowing what to do, most days not even able to pray an audible prayer.
Below the hotel (it was upstairs), there is an antique store, and at the bottom of the stairs the was a picture, I could tell it was of Catholic origin, but I had no idea who it was, each day I was drawn to this picture and could not explain why, I would pass it every morning and every evening, sometimes I'd go over to it and touch it, it gave me unexplainable comfort. I thought it must be the familiarity, a lot of my family, specifically my aunt and uncle and cousins, who I spent much of my childhood with, and occasionally went to Mass with, were devoted Catholics, their home was as much my home as the one I lived in.
The picture cost $175.00, I thought “I need this picture in my house when I get one“, I am definitely not the person to pay that much for a picture, but I thought, well maybe they will drop the price. I watched and waited but it never came down, then one day there was another picture beside it, I could tell or thought it was a Madonna, I knew that the two pictures went together, they were totally different, the first picture had all the gold and halos around the head, the Madonna was simple, plain, but somehow I knew they were connected in some way, now there were two pictures I had to have, the new picture cost $55.00 still more than I had ever paid for something to hang on the wall. And keep in mind I didn't even have a house to put it in.
I kept telling myself, "your crazy, thinking of buying pictures and no wall to put them on"
Well time pasted and I found a house, it was great, but I would still drop by the antique shop to check on the pictures. Then one Saturday me and my boy friend, Mark, were out going to yard sales and the antique store was having a side walk sale, we stopped in, I only have about 19 or 20 dollars with me, I was so shocked they have my two pictures on sale, the Madonna was 5 dollars and the other one was 25.00, since I didn't have enough for the first one, so I bought the Madonna, I had picked up a couple of other small items the girl ran me up and said that will be $5.25 I said the picture was $5.00 how can that be right, she said oh I rang it up as $3.00 guess it's your lucky day So I got the Madonna for $3.00. I was soo happy I could have yelled. We went on to other yard sales and on our way back we past the shop, they were putting stuff back in the store, we stopped in hopes of them marking it down some more, I saw it, it was still there, and still 25.00 dollars, the woman ask me if I wanted it and I said yeah but I really couldn't afford $25.00, she said “What about half, I'll take $12.00“, of course I said SOLD!!! I had both my pictures for $15.00 Can you believe it, $15.00.
Well I had my pictures now, But what did it mean?? I had to find out, I did a lot of research, pulling up images of Catholic art, then I found it, St Anthony, there it was I knew who the picture was, so I pulled up St Anthony of Padua, my eyed filled with tears as I read his story, and how he is the saint of all things lost, I had lost everything. I can't

Looks like my story was too long so I am posting the rest in a separate comment:
I can't tell you the joy I had, then that human thing kicked in and I thought this is just coincidence, so I looked for the Madonna, I found it, it is called Madonna of the streets, as I read about the Madonna, again my eyes began to fill with tears, I can't remember who painted it but the models for the picture was a young peasant girl and her little brother from the little town of PADUA!!!! that was the connection and my conformation the this was no coincidence, God had sent me a message that he WAS there, beside me all the way and everything would be alright. That's why I felt I had to have both pictures!! He knew my human element would creep in and try to reason it out or put it to coincidence, I felt so loved that my creator took the time with all the worlds problems and more important stuff, to comfort me and speak to me directly in a way that he knew I would understand, when I was so flat on my face that I could barely cry out, I was so distraught that I could not even pray an understandable prayer, sometimes all I could do was say Jesus! Jesus! For him to let me know that he would restore my life, and return all that was lost, and that he did.
When I finally settled with the insurance company, I ended up with only $2000.00 to furnish my house, buy me and my daughters clothes, towels, food, all those things you really don't think about until you have nothing. He multiplied that money over and over again. My house is running over now.
It has been a little over a year, St Anthony is hanging in the place of honor over my fireplace, front and center to remind me everyday that I am loved by my Heavenly Father more than I deserve, more than I can imagine, the Madonna hangs just off to the side, reminding me that I didn't dream all of this it really happened.
And yes, when I realized all of this I called my cousin, Wanda, and shared my joy, to be so loved, it is just too awesome for words. I have a renewed faith now, God sending me that picture of St Anthony did not just help me find the material things I had lost, or just comfort me in my time of despair, he brought me back to the place I need to be in my heart. He restored my child-like wonder of God’s love. Sometimes as we get older in the faith we forget what that feels like, that roller coaster of emotions that his love can put us on going from I am loved so much to I am not worthy of this love, to the joy of knowing I am not worthy but he loves me anyway.
I had always wondered why my Aunt Harriet had so many statues and pictures around, rosaries everywhere, now I know, that is where she found her strength, these were her reminders of all God‘s promises, she made a tremendous impact on my life, all my life she was the mother I wanted to be. Of all the people in my life it is her opinion that mattered most. She is no longer with us, but I hope somehow I have made her proud.
God moves in our lives in strange ways sometimes, but it is always ways that we, as an individual will understand, even if the rest of the world thinks we are crazy, we know, He is speaking and we need to listen.