I love coffee. For most of my adult life, I’ve enjoyed a cup or two a day, and even an after dinner cup of decaf in the winter months. The past couple years, now, I’ve looked longingly at Keurig coffee machines, but they were just too much for my budget. With a kid in college, one in middle school, and a toddler, not to mention a major move coming up and both vehicles needing lots of work, I couldn’t rationalize the expense—even when my old coffeemaker died right before we moved to Colorado.
The week we moved into our new home, a friend sent me a $50 bill. She said she’d found it in her purse, but before she could get all excited about it, God told her that I was supposed to have this money—she didn’t know why, but she was sending it along to me.
I carried the money around with me for a month, praying all the while. God, WHY do I need this extra money? Am I supposed to pass it along, as well? Is there something specific I’m supposed to do with it?
A few weeks later I was in the Post Exchange (PX) and walked by a display shelf of clearance items. To my utter amazement, there sat a Keurig coffee machine on sale for 25% off. Apparently it was returned without the box or instructions, so the manager put it on the clearance rack. This meant the $104 coffee maker was around $75. While still pricy, we had a bit of extra money from our moving reimbursements, so after conferring with Glen, I went to make the purchase.
As I headed to the display shelf to grab the machine, I saw something that made me pause: an acoustic-electric guitar for $120. For over a year, I’d felt God nudging me to expand my musical horizons and learn to play guitar. I’d been searching for an inexpensive beginner’s model ever since, but anytime I had the money, I couldn’t find a guitar, and if I found a guitar, I had to spend the money elsewhere.
So standing in the PX I experienced a bit of a dilemma: I could afford either the coffeemaker I really wanted or the guitar I’d felt for so long I was supposed to get-- but not both. What to do, what to do...
Suddenly I remembered: I had $50 in my purse I’d been wondering what to do with, AND the PX has layaway for non-clearance items! I grabbed the guitar and headed to the layaway department.
Even better—when I got to the cash register, it turned out the PX was having a special on Keurigs that week—you got a $15 PX gift card with the purchase of that particular model. Even though the item was on clearance, I still got the gift card. So I went and put that $15 on the guitar. Now I had my Keurig and over half my guitar was paid for!
So as I’m enjoying a cup of coffee and learning to play my guitar, I’d love to hear from you: what unexpected blessings have you received?
The week we moved into our new home, a friend sent me a $50 bill. She said she’d found it in her purse, but before she could get all excited about it, God told her that I was supposed to have this money—she didn’t know why, but she was sending it along to me.
I carried the money around with me for a month, praying all the while. God, WHY do I need this extra money? Am I supposed to pass it along, as well? Is there something specific I’m supposed to do with it?
A few weeks later I was in the Post Exchange (PX) and walked by a display shelf of clearance items. To my utter amazement, there sat a Keurig coffee machine on sale for 25% off. Apparently it was returned without the box or instructions, so the manager put it on the clearance rack. This meant the $104 coffee maker was around $75. While still pricy, we had a bit of extra money from our moving reimbursements, so after conferring with Glen, I went to make the purchase.
As I headed to the display shelf to grab the machine, I saw something that made me pause: an acoustic-electric guitar for $120. For over a year, I’d felt God nudging me to expand my musical horizons and learn to play guitar. I’d been searching for an inexpensive beginner’s model ever since, but anytime I had the money, I couldn’t find a guitar, and if I found a guitar, I had to spend the money elsewhere.
So standing in the PX I experienced a bit of a dilemma: I could afford either the coffeemaker I really wanted or the guitar I’d felt for so long I was supposed to get-- but not both. What to do, what to do...
Suddenly I remembered: I had $50 in my purse I’d been wondering what to do with, AND the PX has layaway for non-clearance items! I grabbed the guitar and headed to the layaway department.
Even better—when I got to the cash register, it turned out the PX was having a special on Keurigs that week—you got a $15 PX gift card with the purchase of that particular model. Even though the item was on clearance, I still got the gift card. So I went and put that $15 on the guitar. Now I had my Keurig and over half my guitar was paid for!
So as I’m enjoying a cup of coffee and learning to play my guitar, I’d love to hear from you: what unexpected blessings have you received?