Savings and Answered Prayers

I had a wonderful experience grocery shopping today (unlike other times). My typical routine is to look up the ads to see what is on sale, pair sales with coupons, and then make a list of everything else I need that is not on sale and get at the store where it is cheapest. This usually saves our family a lot of money. We are limited with our store selection in Western OK and Wal-Mart does not price match to stores in OKC, so I do the best I can.

Today was my usual shopping day because we go to Elk City anyway for story time and I just do my shopping either before or after the library. The kids are usually ornery and Holland wiggles and cries a lot (especially since we are taking his binky away during the day). It is a pain to find items on sale because they are weirdly placed or sometimes out of stock. I have the kids on the lookout for the half off stickers they put on select products that are close to expiration. Sometimes transactions mess up and the cashier and people in line get annoyed when I insist on checking over the receipt. So, needless to say, by the end of the trip I am exhausted and frustrated.

Now, to change the subject a little bit….The last few times I have fasted, I have prayed especially to find ways to increase our income and be more blessed in temporal matters. I realize I am extremely blessed to be a stay at home mom during this hard economic time. I know the Lord encourages mothers to stay at home if possible but He also knows we will have to sacrifice to do so. I have expected an answer to my fasting and prayers to come in the form of Justin finding a better job, raises, successful garage sales, large tax returns, trying to rent out our extra house…etc. While Justin has done well in his job, our bills and obligations raise just as his income does (not unique to us I’m sure). This brings me back to my day of grocery shopping...

I went to Wal-Mart with my list of non sale items and got them quickly. As I was going to the checkout, there were a bunch of ladies sifting through items in a grocery cart. As I got closer I noticed the items had been marked down to $1 and were things we use daily such as deodorant, conditioner, hair bands, brushes, sunscreen, styling products (the good expensive stuff!). I got what we needed, but wasn’t too greedy. As the cashier started ringing the items up, they rang up at full price so she had to manually type in the correct price for every item. This allowed me to see the original price and I was SHOCKED!! Some of the items were originally $18 dollars. Several were $10. The cashier and I both decided I saved well over $100!!

After this I made a quick stop into a thrift shop that is packed full of useful/non-useful stuff, hoping to maybe find Holland a pair of shoes. The first thing I see as a pop-up play hut with a CARS theme. It was exactly what I was trying to find/buy for Holland’s birthday next week. I wanted a Thomas the Train one I found online that was about $40. (And I was going to go ahead and buy it too!) However, I asked the owner how much she wanted for it and she said $5, but I didn’t have any cash so she said she would hold it for me until I came back. So, we went on to the library and did my shopping at Homeland for coupon items and then headed back to the thrift store to get the tent. AWESOME!!!

It doesn’t end there…..just for the heck of it we made a quick stop at another thrift shop on the same street and I went in looking for shoes for Holland. I have to say that EVERY time I go into this store, they have exactly the right size/style for Holland that he needs at that particular time. For example, a few months ago he needed new tennis shoes and church shoes and the only boy shoes that store had was a pair of each in his size. So, I go to the shoes and there is the exact pair of black Sunday shoes that he needs and they are in his size. I go up to the counter THRILLED and there happens to be no tax in the store that day. So I got Holland some like-new Children’s place black Sunday shoes for $3!!!!

As I start driving home, a thought came to my mind that this was what I had been fasting/praying for. I have been blessed on numerous occasions to find the things I need or even want at deeply discounted prices. I am able to clothe my family in cute, stylish outfits, and feed us good, nutritious food because of days just like this one. Sure we don’t have the money we need to do a lot of things we WANT to do, but we always have what we NEED. And then there are times when we are blessed with things we want too and it feels fabulous!!

I know that the Lord wants us to be happy, but we can’t always have what we want . He does not want us to become spoiled little children. We have to experience trials and sacrifice to learn and appreciate what we have. I am so thankful that I received that realization today, and it has always been right under my nose. I just had to put two and two together.

A sampling of my items...I even found 2 toys for Holland's birthday on clearance (both under $4)