HIDDEN BLESSINGS

As I previously told you, I am in the midst of a Winter Purge.  My entire living area has been transformed by the attention I have given it and I am feeling very proud of my accomplishments.  This is one "stay-cation" that has not been a total "waste of time".  However, there have been some unexpected blessings from my labors.

I expected a cleaner abode and a more organized filing system.  I expected to find "lost" pictures and cards or letters from unexpected sources.  I expected to locate souvenirs and mementos from my travels that I'd forgotten about.  What I didn't expected to find was all the dust!  Just kidding.  What I didn't expect to find was monetary blessings in various forms and in sundry locations.  

In a pencil case holder, I found fifteen (15) silver certificate dollar bills.  According to Internet, these dollars bills were issued for a limited time period and were backed by silver bullion, as opposed to our current currency which is backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. Government.  Further research shows that there is a small premium paid for these dollar bills over their face value - if they are uncirculated and in good condition.  Current wisdom is that I take them to a coin collector and get them appraised for value.  In two separate places, I found $2 bills totaling over $20.  And in two other places, I found over $30 in golden dollars, Susan B. Anthony dollars and JFK half dollars.  I guess I like to hide money from myself.  I also found gift cards from Target, Starbucks and SpaEnvy, totaling over $75.  But the biggest surprise find was a cashiers check sent to me for the Christmas holiday in 2016 for $50.  I guess I never made it to the bank and then forgot about it.  [I'll be headed to the bank first thing in the morning!]  All in all, I had almost $200 just stashed around the house, hidden and forgotten.

Now I know you must be thinking, "what kind of person has that much money just hidden in her house that she forgot about?  She must be rich!"  Trust me when I tell you, that is NOT the case.  With the $2 bills and golden dollars, there is an explanation.  There was a time when, as a way to "save" money, with each paycheck I received, I would buy $2 bills and golden dollars from the bank, in increments of maybe $10 at a time.  The golden dollars would then be passed on to cousins, nieces and other young people in my life on their birthdays as a "one to grow on" gift.  And the $2 bills would be given whenever a baby in my life turned two.  So, there was a method to my madness ... it's just that in time, I either paused in doing this, or hid the money in a different place and then forgot about the original hiding place.  Rest assured, with this Winter Purge [almost] behind me, all the money has been gathered together in a single "hiding" place and won't be forgotten again.

All this got me to thinking though:  there have been times in my life when I was "strapped" for cash - waiting for payday or some other monetary windfall - eating beans and rice and ramen noodles - forgoing outings with friends or meals outside the home because money was "tight".  And all the time, the money was there - in the house, in my reach - available to me if I'd only remembered where I'd placed it.

How many times have the blessings of the Lord been available to us if we would only have the faith we need to "remember" where they are located.  By this I mean, if we only remember how He had blessed us in the past, we could have then reached out in faith to take the blessings that are waiting for us.  How many blessings do we receive every day and take for granted - not only life, physical and mental health, strength, food, shelter and clothing - the things that (I hope we) pray for on a daily basis - but the "unseen/hidden" blessings of safe travel to and from; a job that not only pays the bills, but provides for some of our wants on top of all of our needs; friends and family who pray for you, support you and love you in spite of; and just the blessing of God's love for us, which is confirmed for us each day that we open our eyes from sleep.  

The amazing thing is that there are blessings that God has waiting for us that we cannot even imagine.  1 Corinthians 2:9 tells us that, But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  One of my favorite Christian writers tells us that, when we get to heaven, God is going to show us all of the blessings that could have been ours if we had just believed and asked.  I don't know about you, but I think it's time that we ask God to open our eyes to see what He has for us.  He has not hidden His love, grace, mercy and blessings.  We just have to accept them into our lives.  My goal for 2018 is to open my eyes and be more receptive and open.  What about you?

Be blessed.

© 2018 Kristina E. Smith

PS:  Photo taken by me when I found the second stash of $2 bills.

$640 Million Dollars of Crazyness

There’s a madness going on across the country as I write this. In 43 states (plus the U.S. Virgin Islands), for the cost of a $1.00 ticket, people are purchasing a chance to win $640 million dollars – or a portion thereof. A CHANCE, not a guarantee to win, a CHANCE. Foolishness, if you ask me. But, tune into the local or national news, log on to Facebook, or turn on your cell phone to check your tweets on Twitter, and the #1 topic of conversation is, “did you buy your ticket?”, “what would you do if you won that much money?”, or the pleas from those who are not buying tickets to be remembered by the friends who are buying tickets – you know, just in case they win.

I call it foolishness because while there is the potential that SOMEONE (or a group of someones who have pooled their money together so that they can have access to a larger number of potential winning tickets) will win the money – the greater reality is that NO ONE will win, and we will start the foolishness all over again, for a larger jackpot, on tomorrow evening. I mean, the jackpot didn’t grow to $640 million with winners along the way – it grew that large because NO ONE has won it in a while. I will make a confession here – when the lottery hits the $200 million dollar mark, I usually buy a ticket or two, but with the full knowledge that my purchase more than likely will be a donation to my state’s education program (the Hope scholarship) as opposed to a life-changing windfall into my personal bank account.

And don’t get it twisted, THAT MUCH MONEY – yeah, it will change your life, your family’s life, your friends’ lives, the people who want to be your new best friends’ lives, and on and on and on. People will look at you differently – “relatives” you never knew about will crawl out from under every rock in your garden – people will want to help you spend, invest, and waste your newfound fortune – and just for the record, you will become your own worst enemy because unfortunately, the reality is: if you don’t know how to handle the few hundreds of dollars that flow through your hands twice a month (if you are blessed to be working), you truly ain’t gonna know how to handle $640 million dollars if it were to come your way. We have all heard the stories of the millionaires who are broke in a year because they didn’t know how to manage the funds they were “blessed” with.

I don’t mean to be a pessimist, but I am a realist. The cold hard facts are that money is not the great equalizer we all seem to think it is – in reality, it can be a curse more than a blessing. I am convinced that one reason God didn’t/hasn’t blessed me with great fame, wealth and fortune is that I might not be able to handle it in a way that adequately represents Him and His character. I am already enough of a “don’t worry, I got this” kind of girl – and that is on a Kool-Aid and soda budget. Can you imagine how off the hook I might become if I had a champagne and caviar kind of budget? Yeah, I am sure that is why God is keeping me humble, and I thank Him for it.

For the record, I am not condemning anyone who buys a ticket for tonight’s drawing. It is my prayer that God’s will be done. If one of my friends wins, I will be happy for them and will strive my best not to treat them any differently than I treat them now. (Which means, if I ain’t never asked you for money to help me pay my rent, don’t expect me to come to you now with hand out asking for help. Not gonna happen.) And if you don’t win, I’ma still love you the same way as I do now.

Thanks and be blessed.

© 2012 Kristina E. Smith