I was at the commissary last night, counting up every penny I was spending because we have a little over $300 to last us till the end of the month...and that has to include getting TWO vehicles down to Florida...and behind me, a single soldier with his weekend ration of junk food stepped into the express lane. The commissary manager walked up to him and asked to see his ID card, then said "The commissary would like to give you a $25 gift certificate for the holidays. Merry Christmas!" Very wonderful, even I agree with that. It's great that any agency would be looking to honor our active duty servicemembers with Christmas "bonuses", but what he did with it turned that fluffy moment into something that churned my stomach. Like other active-duty families around me, I was sitting there scrimping and calculating whether we could have seconds on salad last night....and this single soldier used his gift certificate to buy......cigarettes.
Yes, it bothered me. I'm not going to deny that. Momentary jealousy? Eh, maybe. More so that there are so many people hurting financially this year, it's just hard to see gifts that generous used on something so....oh, I don't know, wasteful?
I spent a good amount of time immediately and afterward praying about my own attitude, knowing that somehow, God would take care of things. He always does. Well.....Pete came out of the office today with an envelope today at lunchtime from the installation chaplain....full of commissary gift certificates for TWO HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS!
Yep, I'll eat crow. And I bought nothing wasteful, I'll have you know!
6 comments:
No cigs for you, eh? :-) God provides so well, doesn't He? Blessings on your trip!
Wow! That is just fantastic!
Maybe I should pray about my attitude and God will send Donnie a job???
Hey, Kris, thas is so wonderful!
I can't tell you how much I agree...
I am actually going through something like that and I am still praying about my attitude 'cause with me it is not only "a cigarette moment" with a stranger.
I think God wants to take out all the bad roots and I suspect mine go extra deep down so it's a longer process that is still lasting :-(
I am awed and humbled by just how well the Lord knows us and knows exactly what we need. Even when it's a painful lesson... it's always followed by some kind of blessing. Enjoy your holiday and don't overdo things. This is a time to rest when you can and just relax with the Savior! Godspeed... ~ Tiffani
God always seems to do that. We see someone else getting blessed and here we are struggling along and we get jealous or a little spiffed and then God turns around and blessed us in ways we never imagined.
Then we hit the floor and repent of our attitude and praise Him for providing.
It always goes like that...lol..
Rejoicing with you about your monetary blessing!!! \o/
May you and your family have a safe and happy weekend!
~Dawn
When are you getting back to blogging? It's been ages!
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