First, frugality and financial sacrifice is not virtuous in and of itself. Strategizing, squeezing every dime out of your budget and obsessing over every purchase is not an ideal way to live for an extended amount of time. Anyone who has experienced financial hardship will tell you that they are more than relieved when their situation changes and they no longer have to live so close to the edge of their comfort zone. I believe that Christians are not meant to live in poverty, self-induced or otherwise. There are lean times when tightening the financial belt is a healthy response and much can be gleaned spiritually in the process but poverty itself is not a spiritual goal any more than attaining riches should be.
Second, the practical changes we made in our budget accounted for roughly one quarter of our debt reduction and some of them were practiced only during that specific time of our life. The remainder of our debt reduction was through the series of God-incidents that I am sharing with you. Our story is about God’s faithfulness as we put actions to our faith and embraced a debt-free lifestyle.
Several months into our debt-reduction journey, I was beginning to be weary of the continual stretching of my grocery dollars. I would start my Thursday shopping routine by attending Ladies Prayer at WCF. Although my prayers were directed by the group, I usually had an opportunity to intercede privately for our situation and for favor during the hours of marketing that awaited me afterwards.
I shopped a series of stores in a specific geographic area, purchasing the items that each store was competitively priced on. I usually packed a lunch, but some days there was little to pack so I would sometimes eat food from groceries I had just purchased.
I’ve always planned my meals and shopped with a list, but I now was utilizing a program on my palm pilot that inventoried the foods I purchased and their prices. I literally shopped to the last penny and price fluctuations could mean the difference between whether an item could be purchased or dropped off our list. It was stressful and took incredible focus and discipline to bypass sales and featured items that were not vital to our families needs.
To alleviate some of the discomfort of my shopping experience I began making a certain store my last stop because they sold fountain pop for $0.91. I made a game out of making sure that I got everything on my list and still would have the change left-over to buy my soda which was a welcome treat at the end of a shopping day.
On one hot, summer day, I found myself nearing the checkout of my final store with a little more than usual left-over after all my purchases. According to my calculations I would have more than enough for the pop and some extra dollars to add to the next week’s grocery budget. Just as I was checking out I spotted an item that had been on our grocery “wish list” for several weeks and it was exactly the amount I had left to spend. If I decided to buy it, there would be no money left over for the pop, but if I didn’t…there was no guarantee that there would be enough the following week if other necessities came up. I quickly decided to add it to my cart but immediately felt disappointed that I would have to bypass my weekly beverage treat. At this time we were drinking primarily water with the exception of rationed milk. The misery of having to make that choice when others were leaving the store with their carts piled high with whatever they wanted to buy weighed heavy on me that day.
I started to leave the store, but in frustration I decided that it was $0.91 and I would use some money I had in my purse designated for another purpose. It was my game and I was breaking the rules if I wanted to.
“Who lives like this?” I asked myself.I pulled my cart up to the concession counter and ordered the soda. The clerk gave me a huge smile and explained that something unusual had happened just before I arrived. A person had ordered two pops, but had changed their mind after ordering. Instead of getting a refund, they had instructed the clerk to “give” their paid-for pop cup to the next person who came by. The clerk was upbeat and happy but my reaction was clearly not what she was expecting. I started to tremble and cry as I tried to explain in a flood of words what this meant to me and my day. I’m sure she didn’t understand a thing I was saying and was a little puzzled by my reaction, but I didn’t care. As far as I was concerned, GOD had given me this pop. I filled my cup and wept openly as I walked to my car, loaded my groceries, and drove home. It was the best soda I had in my entire life!
God knew all the things we were going through and how hard it was. The gift of a $0.91 pop meant so much to me and it gave me the encouragement I needed to stick with the plan and trust that my heavenly father knew my needs and wants and would take care of me. I was overwhelmed with His very personal love for me.
To this day, I cannot think about this event without tears. God has showered us with much greater displays of blessing since that time but it is still my favorite miracle because of its personal meaning and timely occurrence. This scenario had never happened to me before and has not happened again since. I rarely stop at that counter now as we currently can afford to buy some extra beverages in our weekly budget, but I will never forget what God did for me that day! He loves us and if we let Him, He wants to prove that we can trust Him with our lives…every part of them.
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