\u201cAre you going grocery shopping today?\u201d my husband, Roy, asked when I picked up the telephone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI plan to,\u201d I answered.<\/p>\n
Thanksgiving was only a couple days away. Everyone in our family would be coming to our house. My funds were limited, therefore, my box of coupons awaited me in the car. I knew I had to be creative in my shopping that day. I had to stretch every dollar.<\/p>\n
For a few seconds, Roy sat silently on the other end of the line. \u201cWhy do you ask?\u201d I uttered, fearing what he might say.<\/p>\n
\u201cNancy, there\u2019s a family with a half dozen kids that will not have anything to eat for Thanksgiving. The little one is only five-years-old.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, what are you saying?\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile you\u2019re at the store, could you possibly buy something for them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Roy\u2019s words echoed in my heart. Groceries, a five-year-old, eight in the family. My head began to spin thinking about the fifty dollars I had reserved for our family\u2019s Thanksgiving dinner.<\/p>\n
In the back of my mind, I counted the hungry guests who would be coming to our house for dinner. I put my head down on my desk, already feeling defeated.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no way possible, I thought. But the compassion I heard in my husband\u2019s voice struck a nerve inside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure,\u201d I replied. \u201cBut only if God helps.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks, sweetheart,\u201d Roy whispered. \u201cJust do what you can.\u201d He then hung up the telephone. I finished my work and prayed all the way to the nearest grocery store.<\/p>\n
I entered the parking lot and I noticed a big sign in the grocery store window: \u201cTurkeys – 29 cents a pound.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the place, Lord,\u201d I whispered. I grabbed my box of coupons, went inside, secured two buggies, and headed to the frozen foods. The turkeys were indeed on sale, but I discovered one big problem. When I read the sign posted on the freezer door, my heart sank. \u201cLimit one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I need two,\u201d I uttered to myself. I decided to find the manager. I explained the problem. He made an exception.<\/p>\n
After tossing a turkey in each buggy, I began my shopping fury. It was amazing how many buy-one, get-one free items were being featured that day. The first item went into one buggy. The free item went in the other. In addition, I had all the right coupons to get exactly what both families needed for a hearty Thanksgiving dinner. I proceeded to the register and held my breath while the cashier rang up my groceries.<\/p>\n
To my surprise, I had enough money. I was even able to purchase a package of cookies for the five-year-old who had stolen my heart, even though I had never met her.<\/p>\n
Later that afternoon, Roy and I made a special delivery to a home filled with children of all ages. I will never forget the smiles on the six kids\u2019 faces, as they made several trips from my car, carrying numerous bags of groceries inside.<\/p>\n
This event reminded me of a story. Even though He only had a few loaves and fishes, Jesus multiplied them and fed five thousand people. And to top it off, there was food left over. I wondered if God was doing the same thing that day.<\/p>\n
By far, that was the greatest Thanksgiving Day of my life. My entire family shared a hearty meal with us. We had plenty to eat. We even had enough food left over for the evening meal.<\/p>\n
That afternoon, when I had time to think about what had happened, I imagined a home, not far from where I lived. There was a mother and a father and six children sitting around the kitchen table, laughing and rejoicing. They enjoyed the same meal that our family had shared together that day.<\/p>\n
Then I realized that miracles happen when we step out in faith and in steps God. For with us, some things are impossible. But with God, all things are possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cAre you going grocery shopping today?\u201d my husband, Roy, asked when I picked up the telephone. \u201cI plan to,\u201d I answered. Thanksgiving was only a couple days away. Everyone in our family would be coming to our house. My funds were limited, therefore, my box of coupons awaited me in the car. I knew I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[376,728,727,729,726,104],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7887"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}