Thursday, January 22, 2009

A penny, a planner, and a pint of cocoa

Sometimes, I forget to stop and enjoy life, rather than just live it.

Yesterday at school, God opened my eyes to some simple yet pleasing occurrences that really made my day. It wasn't anything spectacular, or even anything that most people - including myself - would think twice about.

This quarter, I am on campus 5 days a week. I'm also working 2 part-time jobs, and so my course load is heavy, and my work load is heavier. Thus, when I drag myself to school every day, it's always kind of mundane.

But yesterday was different.

Actually, let me start with October.

My car was burglarized on October 30th. Stolen items were: laptop, backpack, class notes, homework, textbooks, day planner, etc. I had to re-purchase all of it. Well, I was able to do so, thanks to the help of my dad and my fiance.

Long story short, I was not able to replace the amazing day planner I had to begin with. The University Bookstore had run out of them - all locations.

That brings us to Tuesday night.

I don't know why, but I just thought, "what if I just call the Seattle bookstore and see if they have them in? Couldn't hurt." So I did. They had ONE box of them left, and they shipped one to my school for me the very next day, free of charge AND 20% off!

So, I purchased my new/old planner from the bookstore between classes. It put a smile on my face, and brought to mind the realization that the Lord wanted me to be patient and adjust to a massive change. Sure, the day planner is part of that, but the big picture was my stuff being gone. (However, my laptop is worthless to anyone who has it but me, it's all locked down).

Then, as I was leaving school, one of the UW clubs was giving out cocoa and cider and chowder! I decided a cup of hot chocolate was just what I needed to lift my spirits. You wouldn't believe how much it made me so happy! It was nearly ridiculous, but I was just so excited.

More than that, I was worried that I'd not brought enough food with me for the day to school. During one of my classes, a classmate shared his crackers with me, and I kept finding more food in my lunch bag. The cocoa was just the icing on the cake. :)

As I hiked up the hill to walk 1/4 mile to my car, I stopped after I crossed the street. There was a penny in front of me. I was talking on the phone, so I waited until I was done, hung up, and picked up the penny.

I feel like it was God's way of telling me, "Well done, My child." I've been trying really hard to save more money and not spend it, and that penny just made me thrilled. (Last week I found a dime on the ground, too.)

Anyway, I just thought I'd share that with you all.

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