God is so Good

I have a neat story that I thought I would share. Sometimes God's provisions for us are not so clear (or maybe they are and just go unnoticed). Whichever the case, this past week provided me with two glimpses of how He cares for his children and their every need, not just the big ones.

While I was at work the other day, I started to have some indigestion. Since I work in a health care facility, it would have been pretty easy to get some Tums from one of the nurses. I didn't do that though (not sure why). I sat there and was thinking about going shopping after work. I thought, "maybe I can find a coupon and get some free or very cheap Tums at the drugstore". I'm always trying to figure out how to get things like that for free or very little money. The crazy thing about all of it is that I had several containers of antacids at home. A lot of good they did me there!

Fast forward to my weekly stop at CVS that evening. I was in and there is a machine that prints coupons when you swipe your Extra Care Card. It usually prints 3-5 coupons for various items in the store. This time, my card only generated one coupon. Do you know what it was for? "One free CVS 3 pk. of antacids up to 1.99". Is God good or what?? I bought the other Tums because I had a coupon that made them really cheap. The second time that God provided this week was on a trip the boys and I took to Goodwill. I was dropping off some things to donate and thought we would look around. I told the boys that we could look for a pair of boots for Tyler. The other two boys are needing to move up into their brother's boots, and Tyler has the biggest feet. I told them that there probably wouldn't be any because "it's the middle of winter", "they are kids boots", "the economy is bad" (OK, I don't think I actually gave them the reasons, but I didn't want them to get their hopes up. I was trying to be realistic about the situation). As we walk back to the children's clothing section I see one pair of boots. The only pair of boots in the whole store. Yep, they were Tyler's size.

Some other fun finds at the Goodwill. I love the "My first Little House" books and found one I didn't have yet. I also got a crossword puzzle dictionary for a friend at work. The kaleidoscope is a liquid one, much like one I asked for this past Christmas and couldn't find anywhere!

God's Provision...or sense of humor?

This came in the mail today. I'm sure it was divine intervention.

Aldi Encounter

A week or so ago I ran into Aldi's one night to pick up a few things. As I got near the cash register, there was a line. I started to people watch, which is always an interesting thing.

There was a girl (probably in her 20's) in front of me with a small box filled to the top with items. She was having trouble managing it and several things were falling out onto the floor. She put the box on the floor and was rummaging through it looking for something. The lady in front of her asked if she wanted a bigger box, but the girl said no that she was looking for something. She frantically searched the box. The lady in front of her asked what she was looking for and she said "a piece of paper". The lady noticed a piece of paper a little ways away and handed it to the girl. The girl was very grateful and must have thanked the lady 10 times. She told her that she had recently lost her job and her dad had given her an Aldi gift certificate to get groceries with.

Immediately I felt sympathy for her. You could just tell she was frazzled. As she paid for her groceries, I kept feeling a nudging to help her out. Her total was above what her gift certificate covered and she wasn't sure she had enough. She was rummaging in her purse. At that point, I would have paid the difference rather than let her put things back, but she found enough and paid.

I put my groceries on the belt. My few things had turned into half a cart full. I still felt this nudging to help her. I felt that I was to give her $20. As I was standing in line, I thought about offering it to her, but I didn't want to make a scene. How do you just offer a stranger money without making a scene. I was afraid she would refuse, or be embarrassed.

She took her small box of groceries over the packing shelf to rearrange them. I kept feeling the urge to give her $20 (OK God, I hear you. But what if I don't have enough for my groceries?). I usually figure out my groceries exactly at Aldi's since you have to have cash. Today I didn't worry about it so much because I had $70 and figured I was safe.

In my mind I was thinking that if I don't get the money to her soon, she will be gone and I will have missed my opportunity, but at the same time, I really needed to find out if I had enough to pay for my own groceries. The cashier rung up my groceries and I don't know why I was surprised that the total came to $49 and some odd cents. That left me with a $20 bill and I knew who it was supposed to go to.

The lady and I ended up walking out at the same time and once we were in the parking lot, I called to her. I mentioned that I had heard her talking in line and that I felt God wanted me to give her that $20. She was so grateful. She told me she had two kids. We hugged (how crazy is that) and I told her I would pray for her. I walked back to my van with tears streaming down my face. The whole encounter lasted maybe 30 seconds, but it made me think for a long time after that.

I think all too often I ignore those little God nudges. I worry that I won't have enough money, or someone will think I'm crazy, or any other number of excuses. God has blessed me so much. I want to show others His love. I want to be a physical earthly extension of Him. This world is so in need of seeing Him.

I tell this story not to make me look good. I have been hearing a song lately that states exactly how I feel. It's Michael English singing "The only thing that's good in me is Jesus". I just want to encourage you to listen to that still small voice and then follow it. You will be blessed and bless others in the process.

Giving God First

It always amazes me that, without fail, when I spend time reading God's word or praying in the morning, he gives me the time afterward to get done what I wanted to get done. The boys are still sleeping and I've gotten the kitchen cleaned, the living room and bedroom picked up, and some clothes picked up and others hung to dry.

I'm a mother, I know it seems hard to make time for God. I would love to be one of those women who says she sets her clock early every morning, gets up, has a cup of chai tea and spends an hour reading God's word and praying. I probably could do that. It would be hard (hard to get up, hard to make myself spend that much time with God when I know there are other things that need my attention too). If I look to spend an hour, I am almost certain to fail.
We had a speaker at church talk one time about how "some is better than none". I think that could apply to a lot of areas in our lives. I can't/won't spend and hour each day with God. But 5/10/15 minutes is better than none. Reading to your child once a week is better than none. Saving $1 is better than saving none. Giving up one pop a day is better than none. Getting one load of laundry done is better than none. Cleaning one room of the house is better than none. Eating healthy one meal a day is better than none. What have you been putting off that you could do a little bit of today? Some IS better than none!

(And now He's given me time to blog!)

God sightings

Our former pastor and his wife always talked about "God sightings". They are those things that happen to you that you know God had a hand in. I personally don't believe in "coincidence". Anyways, last week I had $15 to spend on milk, toilet paper, and juice. The essentials. We didn't really have any extra grocery money. I was trying to make as many meals as possible out of what we had. I bought 2 bottles of juice and a pack of toilet paper at Aldi. Then I went to Rite Aid for the milk because it was cheaper there. I wanted to get 4 gallons because we usually go through at least that many in a week. Well, I only had enough money left for 3 gallons.

Then next day my uncle comes to watch the boys. He walks in carrying some burritos (that they had gotten but don't like) and....are you ready....a gallon of milk! Apparently my cousin had picked up the wrong kind at the store (which just "happens" to be the exact kind we use) and they wouldn't get to using until after the expiration date. God does provide!