It
never ceases to amaze me. God's tender care extends to even the tiniest
details of our lives. I used to depend on Jesus to do my food shopping
for me. I know, that sounds a bit over the edge. But, it's true.
During one of our ultra-lean times, finding the resources to feed
two hungry boys was difficult, at times impossible. I would shop at a
supermarket, not known for it's low prices, but not having a car, it
was the only one I could get to. And, it never failed. When I only had
a dollar or two to spend on dinner, I'd go in there, and lo and behold,
there would be some "manager's special" that just fit the bill (or
rather my meager pocketbook). And decent food, too. A whole chicken for
a dollar or two (enough for at least 2 meals). A large package of
italian sausage (who can't find a hundred things to do with that!
;-) ) Large packages of ground beef. Always different, and always
something I could afford. There were many-a-time when we would have had
to go without had it not been for those unannounced, out-of-the-blue
sales.
And then, there's the blueberries. I love blueberries. I mean, I
LOVE blueberries. Pies, cakes, muffins, anything with blueberries. I
noticed that sometimes, the "sale" included some form of blueberries.
Not always, mind you. But when I was down, depressed, just in need of a
hug, there would be some form of blueberries on sale - a bargain even I
could afford. You see, Jesus knows I love blueberries. Just one of
those things He and I understand.
Things have gotten better since then. And they've gotten worse.
Sometimes lots worse. But, they're getting better again, much better
than they have been in some time. Still, it can get tight from time to
time. Like now. Just paid the bills, and there wasn't a whole lot left
over. Enough to make it to payday, if we don't breathe ;-) Well, I went
into that same supermarket chain (different store), with the same
dilemma. I had just so much money, and had a number of things to get
with it. After going up and down the aisles, looking for that special
"sale" but not finding it, I figured Jesus was trying to teach me
humility and mortification. Thank you, Jesus. So, I retraced my steps,
and decided on spaghetti. That's pretty inexpensive, if you go with the
store brands, and I found a package of Turkey Italian Sausage on sale.
Not a great sale, but I could manage it if we did without a few other
things.
I got to the checkout and chose one of those you-scan-it lanes. I
only had a few things, and besides, I like the power. I scanned
everything else, and came to the sausage. It scanned in a good bit more
than what it should have. I deleted the item, and rescanned. Same
higher price. Darn it! I
might have to put it back. Well, vegetarian spaghetti is good, too.
First, I went to the girl standing herd over the line, and told her of
the problem. She said, they didn't put in the prices, the meat
department does that. I reiterated that the sign said one price, and it
scanned at another. She got out the sale circular and went over it. It
wasn't there - must have been one of those unannounced sales. She
called over the manager, and she went to the meat dept. to check on it.
The manager came back with another of the same. It too scanned at the
higher price. "Well," she said, "looks like you get it for free."
"What!?" "If it scans at the wrong price, you get that item for free."
Wow! Free. You can't get a better bargain than free.
All together now -- THANK YOU, JESUS!
