Count your $20 Blessings

We happened to stop at the store the other night on our way home from getting a little exercise. It was a quick stop, we gathered the few items we were after, and went to the checkout. I wasn't aware of it, but it seems that the woman ahead of us in line was having a problem with her credit or debit card. It wouldn't approve her purchase of $14. 67, and she walked out of the store. As she was leaving my wife Susan noticed her pretty quick departure. We put our few items on the counter and the cashier said that she was sorry, but she needed a manager to cancel a transaction. My wife put 2 and 2 together and realized that the woman that had been ahead of us was not able to pay for her groceries. There they sat, bagged and ready to be taken home. We could see some if the items...a loaf of bread, peanut butter, some apples...pretty much the staples of a quick lunch or dinner. We offered to pay the bill...the only problem was that the woman had left the store and the sacks had nowhere to go. So the register was cleared, we payed for our things, and went out to our car.

Perhaps there is such a thing as divine intervention...or sheer coincidence. As I slid into the passenger seat and Susan the driver's seat, Susan noticed a family in the car beside us. Looking closer, she saw it was the woman who had left her groceries, unable to pay. Susan quickly took a $20 bill and walked over to the neighboring car window. We'd like to help pay for the groceries, she said. The woman objected at first, but slowly, and thankfully accepted. Inside the car with her were her four children, ranging in ages from toddler to high school. She opened the door and thanked Susan for her kindness. She broke into tears, sharing that her husband had left her, there was little money, and all she wanted was to buy some bread and groceries to feed her children.

The next time you see a $20 bill, count your numerous blessings. For some, $20 is a week's worth of coffee, or a few workday lunches. To others, it's a simple matter of survival, a full stomach for your children, and a windfall on a day when the winds seem destined to blow strongly against you. Count your $20 blessings. And if you're able, share your $20 blessings, like Susan.