When cool things happen

Let me say that I am not a "prosperity gospel" person. Nor do I believe in karma. I do, however, believe in God and that sometimes He shows up in cool ways simply to remind me that He sees me and is shaping my heart.

Just this morning I was reading in Matthew 5, which is Jesus' sermon on the mount.  This verse intrigued me: "Give to those who ask, and don't turn away from those who want to borrow." (NLT version) The footnote directed me to Deuteronomy 15: 7-11, so I went there and read this:
⁷ “But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. ⁸ Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. ⁹ Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin. ¹⁰ Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. ¹¹ There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.

So basically.... BE GENEROUS. I prayed that God would help me be more generous, as I tend to be pretty self-absorbed and don't even realize when there are opportunities to give to others.

After I dropped the boys off at their preschool, I went to the grocery store. As I stood in the checkout line, the lady ahead of me was paying for her groceries but somehow the cashier missed one item, and the lady had already paid her bill. So, without really thinking, I just told the cashier to put it on my tab and give her the item. And before you think I'm super noble.... it was a box of Ritz crackers. They cost 2 bucks. But the lady was very gracious and grateful! It was a neat moment. I could tell the cashier thought it was cool, and the lady most definitely appreciated it. I silently patted myself on the back, completely forgetting that I had prayed that God would help me be more generous. And I went on my way. 

Next stop was another store to get one more item before heading home. I walked in, and told the sales guy what I was looking for. He walked me to where it was, and we looked at the variety of brands they had (for those with inquiring minds, it was a neti-pot type thing because I cannot seem to shake my cough and congestion and my husband suggested I get one.) The cost was $20. I then saw one other item, very similar, sitting beside it, and said "how much is this one?" The sales guy said, "You know, why don't you just take that one. It came as a sample from the distributor, and I should have taken it off the shelf a while ago." I said "REALLY" And he said "Yes - it's yours. I hope it helps!" 

Okay... I got back in my car and then it hit me what had just happened within a 10 minute window. I bought a 2 dollar item for someone, and minutes later someone gave me a 20 dollar item for free! That stuff NEVER happens to me. And as I said before, I do NOT believe in the prosperity gospel. Instead, I believe in a God that was answering my prayer, and showing me some grace at the same time. I might not have given God credit for being generous to the lady at the grocery store, had I not been distinctly reminded with an even bigger generosity by someone else. 

I like it when cool things happen.