Thursday, November 25, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Monies. Monies. Monies.
The last few weeks have been really tough. With so much uncertainty in my life I've been a little stressed. There's so much going on and it seems as if everything relies on money.
I work at a coffee shop. It's a tiny little store that not too many people know about. We might not have herds of people a day, but we do have a good amount of faithful and regular customers.
I've been working at the coffee shop since January and over the months I've become close to a few customers.
It's always nice to have someone come in, shout your name and ask you how Thomas is doing (James and Nancy). To receive cards, scriptures and knick knack's. I feel loved and cared for when a customer comes in just to talk to me cause they had a few free minutes.
And it means the world to me when these same customers worry about my well being. When Marty was having issues, customers gave me numbers to mechanics (a customer continually fixed Marty). When I've had to find new places to live, customers have brought in numbers and ad's they've found. When I was looking for Thomas, I had customers giving me tips what to look for. When I'm down and loosing hope, customers pray for me on the spot.
I love my customers. They're the reason why I'm still around.
There's a couple that comes in the coffee shop almost everyday. I sit and talk with them. We have our own private inside jokes. We can almost read each offers thoughts. I truly love this couple.
They came in one day and the wife demanded that I give her my purse. I looked at her suspiciously and asked why. She said: "Just give me the dang purse and don't ask me questions." I handed her my purse, she dug through the context and found my wallet. She opened it and pulled out large bills from her pocket. She placed them in my wallet and gave me back the purse.
I stared at her in shock. "What are you doing?" I stared at the purse not sure if I dared to take it back. "It's for you. We decided that you need some savings." She smiled and refused to argue.
A few days later another regular couple came in. The wife came to the register to order their drinks and hands me an envelope. I grab the envelope and ask her what's up? "I meet with a group of women from the community. Our goal is to help young women. Either through prayer, support or encouragement." She said with a smile. I open the envelope and inside is a very loving, caring and encouraging word. Along with some large and small bills.
The way tips work at our shop is that they need to be placed in our hand. I don't look at the tips when they're handed to me. I just take them and say thank you. At the end of the week I gather all my tips and deposit them into the bank.
Yesterday, I got off work went to the bank and began to count my tips. I pull the tips of the day out of my pocket and unfold them. I see a bill twisted up with a 5 showing. I smile and get excited as I think that a customer gave me a 5 dollar bill for a tip! I unfold the tip to also see a 0. A customer had tipped me a 50 dollar bill and I hadn't even noticed!
I sit in Thomas, in front of the bank freaking out!
In the last two weeks customers have blessed me with over $330 dollars. Just random gifts to show me that they love and care. Their way to show me. And Gods way to show me.
God continues to see my needs, fears, and wanting.
And He's still providing.
He hasn't left.
I work at a coffee shop. It's a tiny little store that not too many people know about. We might not have herds of people a day, but we do have a good amount of faithful and regular customers.
I've been working at the coffee shop since January and over the months I've become close to a few customers.
It's always nice to have someone come in, shout your name and ask you how Thomas is doing (James and Nancy). To receive cards, scriptures and knick knack's. I feel loved and cared for when a customer comes in just to talk to me cause they had a few free minutes.
And it means the world to me when these same customers worry about my well being. When Marty was having issues, customers gave me numbers to mechanics (a customer continually fixed Marty). When I've had to find new places to live, customers have brought in numbers and ad's they've found. When I was looking for Thomas, I had customers giving me tips what to look for. When I'm down and loosing hope, customers pray for me on the spot.
I love my customers. They're the reason why I'm still around.
There's a couple that comes in the coffee shop almost everyday. I sit and talk with them. We have our own private inside jokes. We can almost read each offers thoughts. I truly love this couple.
They came in one day and the wife demanded that I give her my purse. I looked at her suspiciously and asked why. She said: "Just give me the dang purse and don't ask me questions." I handed her my purse, she dug through the context and found my wallet. She opened it and pulled out large bills from her pocket. She placed them in my wallet and gave me back the purse.
I stared at her in shock. "What are you doing?" I stared at the purse not sure if I dared to take it back. "It's for you. We decided that you need some savings." She smiled and refused to argue.
A few days later another regular couple came in. The wife came to the register to order their drinks and hands me an envelope. I grab the envelope and ask her what's up? "I meet with a group of women from the community. Our goal is to help young women. Either through prayer, support or encouragement." She said with a smile. I open the envelope and inside is a very loving, caring and encouraging word. Along with some large and small bills.
The way tips work at our shop is that they need to be placed in our hand. I don't look at the tips when they're handed to me. I just take them and say thank you. At the end of the week I gather all my tips and deposit them into the bank.
Yesterday, I got off work went to the bank and began to count my tips. I pull the tips of the day out of my pocket and unfold them. I see a bill twisted up with a 5 showing. I smile and get excited as I think that a customer gave me a 5 dollar bill for a tip! I unfold the tip to also see a 0. A customer had tipped me a 50 dollar bill and I hadn't even noticed!
I sit in Thomas, in front of the bank freaking out!
In the last two weeks customers have blessed me with over $330 dollars. Just random gifts to show me that they love and care. Their way to show me. And Gods way to show me.
God continues to see my needs, fears, and wanting.
And He's still providing.
He hasn't left.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
CAH-CHING!
Conversations with my dad aren’t always enjoyable. I have a lot of bills that my dad is helping in paying for me. And at moments my dad likes to “remind” me of how much he cares for me by helping me out.
So when my dad mentioned to me that he could get me health insurance with his work I told him no ‘thank you’ cause I couldn’t afford it. My dad immediately goes into his rehearsed speech and run down of my debit he’s paying. I tell him thank you and how much it means to me.
I also mentioned to him that I am trying my hardest to help out, he pauses and asks how. I tell him that I’ve been paying a credit card bill.
There’s dead silence over the phone for a good 10 seconds before he responds: “So that’s where the money is coming from!” He laughs loudly as he gets excited. “You’re the one that’s been putting money into that account? Really?!”
Apparently he’d noticed payments had been made, but didn’t know where they were coming from. I can hear the excitement, joy and pride in his voice. He was over whelmed and moved that I was helping.
He’s in complete shock for the rest of the conversation and continues to ask me if what I told him was the truth. I smile and giggle as I tell him ‘yes.’
My dad can’t always see the progress I’m making on my own, thousands of miles away. But he can track my paper trail. And when there’s less and less showing up, I know he’s impressed.
My dad won’t always say it, but I know he’s proud of me. The proof is in his voice.
So when my dad mentioned to me that he could get me health insurance with his work I told him no ‘thank you’ cause I couldn’t afford it. My dad immediately goes into his rehearsed speech and run down of my debit he’s paying. I tell him thank you and how much it means to me.
I also mentioned to him that I am trying my hardest to help out, he pauses and asks how. I tell him that I’ve been paying a credit card bill.
There’s dead silence over the phone for a good 10 seconds before he responds: “So that’s where the money is coming from!” He laughs loudly as he gets excited. “You’re the one that’s been putting money into that account? Really?!”
Apparently he’d noticed payments had been made, but didn’t know where they were coming from. I can hear the excitement, joy and pride in his voice. He was over whelmed and moved that I was helping.
He’s in complete shock for the rest of the conversation and continues to ask me if what I told him was the truth. I smile and giggle as I tell him ‘yes.’
My dad can’t always see the progress I’m making on my own, thousands of miles away. But he can track my paper trail. And when there’s less and less showing up, I know he’s impressed.
My dad won’t always say it, but I know he’s proud of me. The proof is in his voice.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
wash-wash
I’ve been trying to get myself on a regular schedule. Get certain tasks done on a certain day, get things paid by a certain date, budget my money, etc. I’m trying my hardest to get myself organized.
One of the tasks of my life I’m currently trying to get consistency in is laundry. I’ve been trying to figure out what day is a good day, what laundry mat to use, what time has the less amount of people, etc. Everything is about timing. Not to mention skill and a balancing act. It’s ridiculous how much stuff I take with me into a laundry mat.
Today I walked into the laundry mat in one trip, I was pretty impressed. I place all my belongings down, I place the clothes into the washer, put in my soap, and then I walk over to the coin exchange. I walk back look at machine and notice that the number on the screen shows ‘1,’ meaning I only need to put one quarter in. I blink, step back and look at the other machines, they’re all showing ‘10’ ($2.50 a wash). I look back at my machine question it and then place in one quarter, the screen begins to blink, I lock the door and hit start, and my clothes begin to spin.
I smile as I watch my clothes getting washed knowing that I was greatly blessed. That’s another $2.25 I can save for next week’s wash. I’ve been a little worried about money lately. Like I stated, I’m trying to get my life in order, so with that I’m trying to pay off my debt. So I don’t have a whole lot of money lying around.
I go and sit as I smile and laugh to myself knowing that God see’s me.
He see’s my efforts, my struggles and my need’s.
He sees me.
And He’s more than happy to help - just to see me smile.
One of the tasks of my life I’m currently trying to get consistency in is laundry. I’ve been trying to figure out what day is a good day, what laundry mat to use, what time has the less amount of people, etc. Everything is about timing. Not to mention skill and a balancing act. It’s ridiculous how much stuff I take with me into a laundry mat.
Today I walked into the laundry mat in one trip, I was pretty impressed. I place all my belongings down, I place the clothes into the washer, put in my soap, and then I walk over to the coin exchange. I walk back look at machine and notice that the number on the screen shows ‘1,’ meaning I only need to put one quarter in. I blink, step back and look at the other machines, they’re all showing ‘10’ ($2.50 a wash). I look back at my machine question it and then place in one quarter, the screen begins to blink, I lock the door and hit start, and my clothes begin to spin.
I smile as I watch my clothes getting washed knowing that I was greatly blessed. That’s another $2.25 I can save for next week’s wash. I’ve been a little worried about money lately. Like I stated, I’m trying to get my life in order, so with that I’m trying to pay off my debt. So I don’t have a whole lot of money lying around.
I go and sit as I smile and laugh to myself knowing that God see’s me.
He see’s my efforts, my struggles and my need’s.
He sees me.
And He’s more than happy to help - just to see me smile.
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