A penny for my thoughts...

              I was standing in line at the grocery store, trying to get a few things that we've been needing.  We the clerk rang me up and I ran my card through, I found out that I was a bit off, and needed to take some items off.  I had a few dollars in cash, and when I had taken enough off I told her to go ahead and ring me out.  I realized though, that I still came up a penny short.  Embarrassed, I rummaged around in my purse, just praying that I'd happen upon a forgotten penny.  I asked the clerk if she could ring me out, and I'd run out to my car to get the penny.  I would do it too, because I wanted to be honest, but for some reason she said she wasn't sure if she could do it.  I didn't understand why she couldn't but by this time I was really embarrassed because I was holding up the line.  So I said a quick prayer that Heavenly Father would help me find a penny.  Right after my prayer the lady behind me said, "Go ahead and just add the penny onto my bill."  She paused for a moment and then added, "...and while you're at it, add the stuff she took out of her basket onto mine, and put it back into hers."  All I could do was just stand there and stare, not knowing what to say.  Before I walked away, I went up to her, still not knowing what to say.  I just took her hand and said "Thank you."

                There were two things that really blew me away from that experience.  The first was to encounter someone who would randomly be that kind.  I just love to see it because it makes me feel better about our mentality today.  She could have just asked them to add the penny, wanting to move through the line, but she didn't.  She asked to pay for the items I had to take out.  I think it was the way she said "...and put them back in her cart."  As if it was wrong that they had to be taken out...

                 The other thing that I realized was how The Lord answered my prayer.  Here I was praying to just find a penny, a mere fraction of the price of anything you can buy nowadays.  It hit me.  Isn't that how he answers many of our prayers?  We have our own thought on how our prayers need to be answered.  But when we ask in faith, he answers with so much more!  I prayed for a penny, and got all that I thought I had to give up in order to pay the price.

                 Such a simple experience.  But that one experience will be burned into my memory forever, because of the very simple but SO POWERFUL message my Father in Heaven gave me that day!  He's taking care of me, and he's showing me how I am to be by showing me who he is.

                 So my dears... as we make our quiet sacrifices and maybe get a bit discouraged because you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel, or know whether someone knows what you do and sacrifice, please remember this:  Your Heavenly Father knows.  and he's ready and waiting for you to ask for that penny so he can give you so much more!!  Remember what it says at the top of the penny...

"IN GOD WE TRUST"