A Moment with the Publisher: Thankful for Bread

Many days I wish I could have my cake and eat it too. Let’s be honest it’s human and this year I have had to learn what it means to not even be able to have your cake to eat. I’ve had some hard lessons and to be honest most days my cake isn’t even on the plate. I’m just waiting.

I know I’ve told the story before, so I won’t go into great detail but I came about owning The Graceville News in less than a two week time span. More than that I didn’t even realize I was going to be owner of the paper the morning I woke up and took ownership. I woke up like it was any other normal day and I got a phone call that has since changed my life to the point that I don’t even know if I could recognize my life and what it was a year and a half ago.

I’m going to get real with you and tell you the first six months of owning The Graceville News were great times. Sure, there were days that brought me to my knees and I cried, but financially I was okay. People were paying their bills, I had new subscribers left and right and besides one bad incident with a person that will tell anybody they don’t like me to begin with, the last six months of 2022 was a dream for me.

And then I got into 2023. Let me start by saying 2023 has probably been one of the hardest years for me. My family and I went from theme park vacations every 2 to 3 months, Desi/Mommy days, and a pantry full of food with extra money to burn to counting nickels and dimes and being so grateful that I know how to go into Graceville Piggly Wiggly and find a $10 dinner in 2023. And on the work front it’s been just as hard. Most months I didn’t even have the money to pay myself much less others but somehow, someway every single day that a check needed to be written, God made sure the money was in the bank.

In complete transparency I have questioned my sanity in buying this paper many times this year. I’ve put more money into it than I ever thought possible and even though one day I know I will reap the rewards, let’s be honest, right now the only thing I’m reaping is the bare wheat. But through God’s graciousness and His ultimate wisdom, I realized just last week that this year has been about lessons. I’ve been learning an important lesson from my Creator and that lesson is to remember even when I’m only reaping the bare minimum (or metaphorically wheat) as long as I am making sure my work is done in His name and in His glory, He will ensure every single day that the wheat I reap is turned into the bread I need.

2023 has been scary, I’ve had a lot of specials in the paper and waited for a lot of checks to come in. I’ve also been drowning in my work, holding the position of office manager, publisher, writer, editor, photographer, social media manager… it gets to be a lot. But every time my earthly cross seems too much to bear, God makes a way and whether it’s through a person like my mom or my husband or just strength I didn’t know I had… I don’t know where it comes from, but God always makes sure the task gets done.

Last week, I was holding hard on my faith trusting that this paper is what God wants me to do, because the bills needed to be paid but the newspaper payments weren’t coming in. It was during this time in contemplation that I went back to thinking of the rich man and Jesus. The story from the Bible continued to run through my head last week, not only because of my own problems but because of problems other people were dealing with around me. The truth is the rich man had lived a great life and was a good person and had been blessed for that, but when asked to give up all his riches to just be with Jesus, he ran. He had to have his cake and eat it too. It was in that moment that I realized as much as I want The Graceville News to succeed, I only want it, if it’s God‘s will and if it’s not going take me away from Him anymore.

The next day with my nerves starting to get on edge, I opened the post office box saying in my head, "God please let there be money" and the bare box was finally full. It wasn’t everything I needed, but it was exactly what I needed financially to pay the bills due on that day. And I praise God. I praise Him with all my heart because He is giving me bread for my wheat. The next day I went back and the mailbox was full again, this time allowing me to make a print payment that needed to be done that day. I praised “hallelujah” because when I was hungry my Creator gave me the bread that I needed.

So, for me, 2023 been a lesson, not on how to be happy in the hard times, not on how to manage money better (I really wish I could’ve got that down this year), but I have truly learned how to lean on God every single day with faith knowing that He is going to give me my daily bread. I don’t need cake and I don’t need to eat it too. I just need to serve my Savior and know that as long as my faith is in Him and Him alone my daily bread will be given and while it may not be the sweet cravings of the world it will give me the heavenly fullness that I need while I’m on this cold earth.

So today, I just want to take a moment to praise a Heavenly Father, a graceful Savior, and the Holy Spirit because in 2023, I never went hungry physically, mentally, but most importantly spiritually. Happy Thanksgiving and I pray that you all take the gift of daily bread only given through our Heavenly Father.

Samantha Angerbrandt