Looking out for each other...........

Our economy has everyone in a stew. Even people who thought their jobs were secure are loosing their jobs. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been during the depression years. Being born in the fifties, the depression was on its way to recovery so I can’t say I remember much of it. That’s not to say we weren’t poor when I was growing up, I just didn’t know it because everyone else was poor too. We didn’t have much of what we wanted but most of our needs were met. Even if it was hand me down clothes and the very basic food items, canned vegetables, dried beans, potatoes, eggs, etc.

I was at the grocery tonight and got really stirred up. Memories of poverty were as fresh in my heart as if it were yesterday. I saw a family of four in the grocery. My heart really went out to them. The children were all under six or seven. They were asking for the usual things kids ask for when you take them to the grocery. Mom was doing what she could to pacify them without just saying no. It didn’t look like mom had much money but the need seemed plenty. I watched her for several isles while trying not to stare by going on about my business. I couldn’t get those kids out of my mind. They were all three very well behaved. When the mom told them they couldn’t have something, they didn’t throw a fit like most kids do, they just gave it back and moved on. I wanted to put back what I had and give my money to her for her children.

I moved on and tried to finish up as I figured I couldn’t do too much with the situation at hand but pray. As it turned out, I ended up in line behind them at the check out. Mom had what looked to be about thirty to forty dollars worth of food. Nothing fancy, couple boxes of cereal, milk, few canned goods, a couple packs of meat, some flour, sugar and a loaf or two of bread. I did see one box of little debbie cupcakes. Her bill rang up to $38.56. She had $32.00. She started telling the clerk to take this and that off, I handed the clerk a ten dollar bill and told her to use it for the balance. I was glad the lady didn’t protest but just looked at me and said God Bless and thank you. I told her I was really glad to help.

I know six or seven dollars don’t seem like much, but it can be an awful lot if you running short. Raising my own daughter, I can remember seeing how far I could stretch twenty or thirty dollars sometimes. Somehow, with God’s help, we managed but sometimes not without the help of prayer. God is so good.

Now, I’m not writing about this to tell you how great I am because I don’t feel great at all. I’m writing this because due to the economy, there are a lot of people out there having a lot more problems than we realize. Let’s all look around and do what we can to help each other, even if they don’t ask. There is a lot more we can do than we are doing.

God Bless