It was the best of times...well, actually, no.
It wasn't quite the worst of times either, but it was mid-December in the grocery store with six children...six hungry children...one a squirmy toddler...food all scanned, bags being loaded into the cart...coats...lots of coats and scarves...and, I forgot my wallet.
No driver's license, no credit card, and no way to pay for the groceries....
I'll get to my story in a moment, but first a word:
Obedience.
Such a difficult word. Leaves an unpleasant taste in our mouths, if we're honest.
Obedience.
It's much more pleasant to be the one obeyed rather than the one doing the obeying.
Obedience.
Yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we all obey something. Whether it's our own internal desires or some external authority, we are all governed by something.
The question is what.
Very early on in our marriage, Peter and I made the commitment that we would obey God in our giving. That meant that we would give both out of our abundance as well as out of our need. If we were ever wavering, we would err on the side of generosity, from tipping waiters to volunteering our time and services.
Because we believe and obey, we have seen God's faithfulness in this area of our lives. It hasn't always been easy. When God called us to adopt, we looked at the staggering costs (monetary and otherwise), and hesitated, then trusted. When God called me out of my part-time job and into full-time homeschooling, we took a leap of faith. I could fill pages with the "miraculous" checks we got in the mail or the times that strangers have picked up our dinner tab or friends have given us clothing and free childcare.
My grocery story is no exception.
Fast-forward to my recent and hectic day. I took all six kids to the grocery store to pick up a few things to tide us over the few days before our pre-Christmas trip to visit Peter's family. Those few things totaled $115 and change. My arms were full; my ears were full (my precious children had been fussing, to put it mildly); and my patience was, well, let's say I was making a valiant effort.
As I juggled hungry kids, a squirmy toddler, and a cart load of food on the conveyor belt, I asked one kiddo to dig through the diaper bag for my wallet. My missing wallet. The one I forgot to bring to the store. The one that held the magic plastic rectangle that was the key to my leaving with food. It wasn't there. It didn't even magically appear when I expertly looked for it.
Desperately, I asked the cashier if I could give him the card number (oddly, I have it memorized). It was a long shot, I knew, and he said no. He did kindly offer to suspend our order so I could go home and get my card. Knowing that my children were watching my reaction (and trying not be overly dramatic about having to drag a toddler [did I mention squirmy?] in and out of the carseat multiple times), I put on a smile and was just about to agree when a lady from the next aisle walked over and stopped me. She proceeded to pull out her credit card and inform me that she was going to pay my bill.
All $115 of it.
I offered her a check (I had one of those...but no ID to use alongside it), but she declined. I asked for her address to reimburse her. She hugged me and said, "no" and "Merry Christmas." As my children watched me stand there stunned with tears running down my face, they were shocked into silence. Well, not really. But, they were surprised and full of questions.
What they, and others, didn't know, was that just the night before I had asked Peter if he would be willing to give away some money that we had planned to use to pay a bill. The Holy Spirit had been prompting me to give money to two families in particular. As is most often the case when I ask Peter if I can give, he says "yes" without any qualifiers, In fact, this particular time, he didn't even ask me how much. We gave away $175 without his even blinking.
For those of you who may think, "well, she gave away $175, but only received $115 in return," let me add that only two days later, we were given two $40 tickets to my son's concert. These tickets were offered to me by a mom that I barely know. God gave me back more than I gave away. He always does.
Obedience.
Or, as we repeat to our children, "listen and obey." It is our prayer that as we train our children to listen to and to obey us that they will one day learn to listen to and to obey the Almighty. Life is so much easier that way.
Obedience.
Who will you choose to obey?
"[G]ive, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38)
