Liz Cobos had separated from her husband. She was emotionally
devastated, and the reality of keeping her two preschool
daughters fed and cared for had all but shattered her spirit.
She believed in God, but where was He?
She felt so alone. Reluctantly, she decided to file for
financial aid, until she could find a job.
However, the paperwork would take some time, and a few days
later, Liz realized that she had no money, and no food in the
cupboards. She checked her purse and pockets just in case, but
there was no money anywhere, no way
to buy even a small bag of groceries. "I sent the girls next
door because I knew my nice neighbor would feed them," she
recalls. "Then I sat on the couch and cried." God, please, just
a little help...just enough to buy some
groceries for the next week. As Liz wept, five-year-old Crystal
came back into the apartment. "Mommy, what's the matter?" she
asked.
Liz didn't want Crystal to see her crying. "Nothing, honey. Why
don't you go outside and do something?"
"Like what?" Crystal persisted.
"Oh." Liz wiped her eyes. "Why don't you take out the garbage?
That would be a big help."
"Okay!" Crystal took the garbage bag and headed out the door and
down to the apartment complex dumpsters. A moment later, she was
back. "Mommy, can I keep this plastic egg that I found in the
dump? I can put my Barbie doll
clothes in it."
"No, honey," Liz murmured absently. "You're not supposed to
bring things in from the garbage. It might be dirty."
"It's not, Mommy. Please? I'll keep the egg and you can keep the
money in it."
Liz's heart seemed to stop. "What money?"
"Here," Crystal said, and she pulled four twenty dollar bills
out of the egg. Liz stared at the bills. The dumpsters were
huge---there was no possibly way she could find the owner of
those bills. Did God mean them for
her? Hadn't she asked? "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
The comforting words from the Bible washed over her, and she
understood.
"The money bought us groceries until my aid came through," Liz
says. "I found a job, and things are much better today, but I've
never forgotten that miraculous moment, and the reassurance it
brought me." It wasn't so much the money itself, she says, but
the certainty that God was near and caring for her, answering
her prayer in His own way, in His own time. "Nothing is
impossible with Him."
(C) 2002 Joan Wester Anderson
www.Joanwanderson.com
Readers: there was a discussion after this story was published.
Some people felt Liz should have gone through the apartment
building complex, asking if anyone had lost money. This
would have set a good example for her children.
The other group felt that the complex was too large, and Liz
could never have found the rightful owner. Instead they felt she should
use the money for her immediate needs, and when life became
better, she should "pay it forward" to another needy person.
What do you think?
(C) 2003 Joan Wester Anderson
www.joanwanderson.com |
