Gratitude-Chicken Soup for the Soul Style

When Sarah posted up about gratitude, I started thinking about moments in my life that I'm grateful for. Two instances came to mind immediately.

I lived in Utah for 11 months. I had never lived so far away from anything comfortable and familiar before. I was lucky to have my best friend Samantha just down the road.

I didn't tell Sam my financial woes. I kept them to myself. I had run out of money and didn't have food. Just like Old Mother Hubbard, my cupboards were bare. Right around Christmas, Sam and her husband Nathan sent me a Christmas card. Inside was a gift card to WalMart. Their intention was for me to use the gift card to purchase a sofa or futon so that I would have something to sit on in my little apartment.

Sam had no way of knowing my situation. But she was certainly listening to the spirit when she sent me that card. You see, the WalMart by my place was a Super WalMart and was open 24hrs and had a grocery center in it. I was able to use that card for the next two months to buy groceries. I am forever grateful to Sam and Nathan for that gift.

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The other time that I can recall was last year. Earl and I hadn't been married 6 months yet and I got hurt at work. I was on light duty, earning half of my normal paycheck. We knew that we had to still pay our tithing even though money was scarce. And so we did. And we were about $700 short for rent and utilities. Earl went to our bishop (I had to work that night). And when the meeting was through, Earl had a check in hand for the full amount of our rent and utilities. Not a week later the brakes went out on the truck and they were grinding hard. Because the Lord had taken care of the rent, we were able to keep our truck safe. We never would have been able to afford everything without help.

Sometimes we forget that we do have people looking out for us. Sometimes we don't want to remember that there is help. But help comes when we least expect it.