Kindness Shines In Financial Darkness

This moment of selah is brought to you by...not the letter K, as some may think...but by a little blond boy around 8 years old in the grocery store...

Any new parent can tell you, having a child revamps your entire budget...where there used to be date nights, movies, dinners, spurges and mani/pedis, now there are diapers, day care, jar foods (i kind of sucked at pureeing them myself...) and wipes...By the grace of God, we have been blessed with so many gifts for our son. Like, my sister in law randomly receives an enormous bag of clothing, that just happens to be my son's current size, season and his next size up...coincidence, i think not...

Having a child has forced my husband and I to tighten the belt, eat out less (we miss you too, Mr. Wong's Take Out guy) and make better decisions for our family...sometimes those decisions are tough...you hand over your credit cards and put them away, feeling much like the Schmeagol character in Lord of the Rings...You have just given over your "Precious!"

Last night in the grocery store, I had exactly $XX amount of money to spend to take care of my family's needs...after going down my list, picking up things and putting them back, stressing and becoming frustrated, I felt, I had a cart worthy of my funds...Turns out it was a little too worthy...as the bill got higher and higher, the tears got bigger and bigger behind my eyes. I was so embarassed...I KNEW I was going to have to put even more things back...with a furious blush and a nervous laugh, I got out of line, trying to ignore the comments of the undoubtedly overworked and underpaid cashier...like about how I should just add things up before wasting her time...

I begin retracing my steps in the store, checking my list...and at this point, my son, who Im beginning to think understands my heart more and more, keeps making the kissing noise we taught him and saying "mamamamamama..." I feel a little tap on my leg and there is this little guy behind me with a fistful of cash...Im dumbfounded...i don't know what to say...He says, "My mama wanted you to have this"...Seven Dollars

**You may commence crying...I know I did**

Truth be told, I probably could have just paid the bill and walked out the door...sure, i would have had to pull from somewhere else, but then something else would suffer and it was more important to me to keep that budget...Sure, seven dollars doesn't mean much in the long run, but maybe it was all that mother had...she saw another mom having a rough time and just trying to make things work...and so she emptied her pocket...

This song by Fireflight keeps running through my head "Im here, to stay, nothing can separate us...I know Im ok, you cradle me gently, wrapped in your arms..." and at that moment, I felt wrapped by the Father...My moment of selah came that day when He worked through a little boy, whose mom emptied her pocket to help someone else...Father, give me the same opportunity in the future...I have no clue who she was...but I would love to honor her gift and pay it forward.