God bless my coupons

God bless my coupons

I am a coupon lady.
Not a hard-core couponer as some with their big binders and such, but a couponer nonetheless. I rarely buy anything unless I have a coupon for it. The Grocery game got me started and I've been hooked eversince. I dutifully stockpile so my pantry is often full. I haven't bought toothpaste for months because I will only get them when they come out free after coupons. And I still have boxes of them under my bathroom sink.
I am a coupon lady. And proud of it.

Using coupons has been a big factor why we are able to live on my husband's salary as a part-time nurse, pay the mortgage of this house, pay for my son's preschool and not run ourselves into debt. We truly are blessed.

Because of the savings I get, I am able to donate food to my church's food bank. I donate the cans of chili and beans that I get for pennies. I donate the jars of peanut butter, the microwaveable rice, the cans of tuna and others that I get really cheap or free. I bring these to church on Sunday. The ushers take them and put them with the rest of the donations from the congregation.

But I have never really directly come in contact with the recipients and see for myself how God uses me to bless them, until today.

I went for my usual grocery run to Ralphs, then Superior, then Costco after dropping off DS at preschool. Earlier today, I was hurriedly cutting the coupons from Sunday's paper that I was going to use to buy groceries. Two coupons for Tyson frozen chicken nuggets and breast strips caught my eye. I don't usually buy these but I thought I'd give them a try. So, I bought them at Ralphs - a whole bag of fully-cooked chicken breast strips and a small box of nuggets. As we(my daughters and I) were leaving Costco, our last stop, we were stopped by a mother and her young daughter.

"Would you like to buy a flower?" the mother asked. "I just need some money to get some groceries for today."
I shook my head, "I'm sorry but I don't have cash on me right now."
Then she moved along.

As I was loading the kids and my groceries into the car, I remembered I did not have money but I had food. I searched the parking lot to see where she had gone but could not find her amidst the parked cars. I jumped into my car and drove around the lot until I found her. I asked if she wanted food. She said she would take anything I can give.

I opened up the trunk and looked through my grocery bags and I found the chicken. I gave her the big bag of chicken strips, a bag of cookies for her daughter and a bag of salad. As I drove away, I felt blessed by the experience. I am thankful that I was given this opportunity to share God's love with someone. I did not just happen to buy that chicken. I bought that bag of chicken for this lady.

Thank you, Lord, for my coupons. Please continue to bless me and my coupons that I may share more of Your blessings to others.