To be Embarrassed or Not to Be?

I can remember a time when I didn’t really tell people or even talk about the fact that I did coupons.  I admit I was afraid of the stipulation that it put on not only me but on my husband and how we provide for our family.  Thank goodness I’ve grown, and so has my family.  Through couponing I have been able to save on our family budget.  I have been able to show my kids how God can bless through honest work and preparation and answered prayer.   So the reasons for my couponing have changed quite a bit over the years.  Some of these reasons are: Because God has given me the ability and resources to be a good steward of our income. Because it still does help the family budget. Because my kids are learning how to stick to a budget, and more importantly how God answers prayers.  Just to name a few.

Why am I lumping couponing with God answering prayers? I’ll give you a couple of examples. We recently found out about a need in our community.  But at that point in our lives, going and giving a lump of cash was going to be a little difficult.  After asking God how I could I help, He sent an idea while I was cutting out coupons.  “Put together a couple of meals.”  Once we arrived at the grocery store my oldest daughter and I prayed that God would help us find some really good sales to fulfill this need.  God answered the prayer in a huge way.  We were able to put together more than we thought.  My child saw that God is in the business of answering prayers, and what a little faith in His answers will do.  I saw how God is concerned even about the small things, and that if I will simply ask Him, He will show me how to share what’s already His.  I also saw that God pursues and wants my children to know Him.  The blessing was the look on my daughter’s face when I explained what a good deal we had found!

Now, we are on a new endeavor with our church in our community, and recently I had prayed that God would help me be brave and establish relationships with people that I could share His love with.  That very day, two different women stopped me in the grocery store to ask about my coupon book.  One of them I see often in the grocery store, and we are now on a first name basis. I’m praying that God will further establish that relationship.

So am I embarrassed about my coupons now? Absolutely not!  Would I love to not need to do them at times?  Absolutely yes! But I wouldn’t take anything for the people that I have met, who have said “Please show me how you do that.” Apparently God has a different plan than my just learning to be good at using coupons.

I must clarify that I am not the best couponer.  I know people who save much more than I do. But I will say that I will continue trusting the Lord that His plan is not just about my budget or my learning to be a steward, but about sharing His love with a lost and dying world.