A Week of Testimony

 So, sometimes it's the little things.  When we were in Alabama I loved that so many store clerks, fast food clerks, really just about anyone ended a transaction with "Have a blessed day!"  So when I stopped at the Wells Fargo drive thru last week it brightened my day to find this on my envelope. I did feel blessed by a small kindness on a rough day.

 A few days later I received this in the mail from a high school acquaintance in Utah who is now a Facebook friend.  Apparently she just does give-aways for fun on her page when people "like" something she has posted.  She contacted me to say she had drawn my name and wanted to know how to get my "gift" to me.  I told her she could just give it to my sister to hold for me (they live in the same neighborhood) but she said she wanted to send it to me as it's so fun to get things in the mail.  You know what…..she's right.  What a delight to receive this box of wonderful homemade items! Thanks LeeAnn!

Finally, I just want to share something wonderful that happened to me.  So at the first of the year one of our goals was to really get a handle on finances.  That included going to back to the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace habit of using cash for certain things.  The other was a vow to honor the covenant of a 10% tithe.  I've always had a testimony of it and I've seen God's hand in our lives in so many ways financially when we've honored it but lately have felt convicted as we've slipped up occasionally.  

So, we've been back on board on both counts and I've been carrying my Envelope System booklet with me with my cash for groceries and a few other things.  Been very good at using only what we had budgeted for food, transportation, entertainment, etc. and headed to Costco to get a few things.  Now HERE'S the real test as anyone who shops at warehouse places knows!  I was only getting things we needed.  Passed by things I wanted.  Knowing I had around $125 in my food envelope.

 I got to the check out and slowly worked my way up to the cashier.  A long line as usual and the woman in front of me was having a bit of a struggle.  She was struggling with the language (maybe Ethopian?), walked up the wrong side of the checkout stand so she was standing next to the cashier who explained that she needed to go around the other side and seemed generally confused by the whole process.  Once the cashier had checked her items it became clear the woman could not pay.  She had a credit card but Costco only takes debit cards.  The woman was clearly embarrassed and upset as the cashier tried to explain this to her.  It felt like many minutes had gone by as the line grew longer behind us.

You know how the holy spirit just sometimes takes hold of you and even though you know this is going to blow your awesome envelope system you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you need to do something.  Yep, it was one of those moments.  I asked the cashier how much she owed.  It was 76 dollars.  I looked in my grocery envelope and had enough to cover that with some left over but it wouldn't be enough to pay for my own as well.  I told the cashier…."Let me pay for it" and gave her the cash.  The look on the cashier's face was priceless.  But the woman seemed to have disappeared.  We looked around and in her confusion she had gone back to the end of the line.  The cashier called out to her to come up and said "This lady just blessed you by paying for your groceries".  I thought she was going to cry.  Both of them actually.  She hugged me and in her very broken english tried to get my contact info so she could pay me back.  Told her it was a gift as I knew that repayment was not what this was about.  I hugged her back, told her to have blessed day and payed for my own groceries with my debit card.

I left Costco and headed to the base to run a couple of errands and decided to use what little was left in my food envelope to grab some lunch.  I was sitting in the drive-thru line just messing with booklet when it flipped open to the second to the last envelope (I only use the first three) in the book and there was an envelope that I had set aside for money for Jessica when we were helping her out.  I don't when it was, or how long it had been there ( at least 4 years) but I opened it up and there was 90 dollars in cash in it.  90 dollars.  Now clearly I don't need to tell you the moral of this story except that our God is faithful.  We've seen it during the years we were paying out incredible amounts of money for Jessica's treatment and I see it here when we're trying to be more honorable in our giving and in our stewardship of what we have.  I have always had a testimony of giving.  It brings me joy and I see the joy it brings others.  Especially our Father in Heaven.