A story of coincidence that helped me feel God's love

When I travel northeast to Jamesport, Missouri I bring along my checkbook.  It's the easiest way to pay at the Amish and Mennonite stores I visit for bargains on produce and groceries.  They do have credit and debit card readers but in my experience they are unreliable.  I never carry cash with me, so I've learned to just pay by check.

Saturday morning when I had to wake up early (everyone in the house was still sleeping!) to go pick up some produce I had ordered, I located the checkbook and discovered there were no checks left.  So I found our stash of new checks in my bedroom and then discovered there were no checks there either!  How could I have used the last pack of checks and not made a note to buy more?!  Sometimes this momma gets too frazzled to be efficient!

So, here I was, early Saturday morning, and I had no way to pay for my orders.  One was for bulk onions, potatoes and carrots from a man named Max.  The other order was from a personal friend of mine who ordered wheat in bulk and sold me a few 50-lb bags.  I knew they couldn't accept debit cards.  And I had no checks!  I couldn't just hit a store on my way and get cash back because there are no stores on the way that direction that offer cash back! 

So what was I going to do?  The only option I could think of on that early Saturday morning was to grab a $100 bill from my precious Christmas cash (a generous gift from my hardworking father) and all the cash I could find in mine and Matt's wallets which amounted to $9.  Important note: this Christmas cash had been heavily guarded.  I did NOT want to use it on bills or necessities.  I wanted to use it for a couple of super-fun date nights which is a luxury Matt and I never seem to afford.  The fact that I grabbed a bill showed the desperateness of my situation!  I zipped out the door and sped to my destination, hoping the cash I had with me would be enough.

When I got there (10 minutes late), the produce was carried to my car and the time to pay was imminent.  I asked Max how much my order was.  It had changed because a couple of items I had ordered weren't available.  He told me $47.  I asked him if I gave him $107, could he give me $60 back?  He checked his stash of cash and didn't have enough.  I then asked my source for wheat if I paid him the $100 bill, could he give me change (which I could then use to pay Max for the produce).  He checked his wallet and discovered he didn't have enough.  Oh, man.  I was afraid this would happen.  Now what was I going to do?

We three of us put our heads together and figured out how much exactly I owed.  Max counted his cash again and we figured out that if I paid him the $100 bill, he would owe me $53 in change.  Guess how much he had exactly in change?  $53!!  It was incredible!  I took that $53 in change and then added the $9 I had remaining (from mine and Matt's wallets), and had exactly enough to pay for the wheat!  The total for wheat was $61.50 and I had $62.  It was so phenomenally coincidental, it was hilarious!

But using the $100 of fun money to pay for food was sad to me.  I was really looking forward to some fun date nights with Matt.  I'm thankful, however, for the exact amount of money I needed for food for my family!  That was a blessing enough!

Today at church Matt and I were given a late Christmas card with a surprising gift inside.  One of the people Matt carpooled with last semester gave it to us.  The funny thing is that she apologized for it being so late.  But to me, the timing couldn't have been more perfect.  Can you guess what the present was?  It was two movie theatre passes and a gift card to a nice restaurant in St. Joseph!  A wonderful date night for Matt and I to enjoy.  Coincidence?!  Maybe.  But this coincidence was enough evidence for me to feel cared for and loved by my Father in Heaven.