Sticker Shock

Yesterday after church my mom and I went to BJ's to get gas for the car. All of the gas stations around us were charging $3.68 and up to $3.74 for gas. When we got to BJ's they were selling gas for $3.67, sadly a bargain. My mom with a look of chagrin and shock on her face announced when she got back in the car that she had never paid $60 for gas to fill up her tank until that very moment,setting a precedent. In case you're wondering my mother drives a 2005 Toyota Camry which usually might take $25 to fill up back in the days of gas under $2. It is wild to see the climbing, overnight, prices up and down the street. I can remember a time in the '90s when gas was $.99 and in some places as low as $.97. It seems like a dream now. To add to the sticker shock I was later sent out on a grocery shopping errand. I decided to divide up our shopping list between Trader Joe's and Harris Teeter. I went to Trader Joe's first where I picked up some food, some milk, some juice and some toilet paper (you can't beat 12 rolls for $3.99, really). When I got to the counter I found that I had spent about $19. Which was what I had estimated with my handy calculator that accompanies me on my shopping trips of late. I thought, "Great! I have another $21 to spend at Harris Teeter and will have accomplished all the shopping!" Wrong! I go over to Harris Teeter and I pick up the things that are on sale bottled water, detergent, lunch meat, paper towels, juice, body wash and soap. I got everything on the list that mom and I had made except for the ice cream that she had requested. I made sure to hand over my VIC card that thankfully I still have attached to the same key chain that I have had since college when Harris Teeter was the store I always shopped at. I saved on every item that I bought excluding the soap and somehow I saved $6 and still had to add another $7 of my own money to complete the order. I was just amazed and I guess I really shouldn't be. I have known for a long time that the prices on things have been going up. I have been staying up on the latest news about soon to come food shortages and increased costs for simple commodities like milk and bread. I guess I was so in shock because the most expensive thing that I bought last night was Northland juice, my mother's favorite juice brand which can be blamed on me since I introduced her to it. The juice is normally a little over $4 a bottle but they had it on sale for 2 for $7 a steal right? Everything else that I bought was under $4. I was amazed that at the end all of my $40 shopping money was gone and still had to be added to if I wanted to take the items home. I haven't worked steadily in a little while therefor I haven't done major shopping for a home in a while so I guess that's why it takes a whole blog post to come to term with these feelings. Also I live in New Jersey where there is no sales tax on most necessary food items, a luxury that I have become more than accustomed to. Recently I temporarily relocated to North Carolina where there are two sales taxes to pay for food items. But on the way home I was reminded that there are more important things in life than the cost of food. As I was driving away from Harris Teeter a deer ran across the road in front of myself and another approaching car as well. Fortunately for both of us and her she crossed and escaped into some trees before either of us was close enough to come into contact with her. I have never had a deer cross in front of me before but I was so glad that all she did was cross and not stop!

Today also was a reminder that even during times of economic strain and uncertainty God will provide. Today I caught the end of Breakthrough with Rod Parsley. He was speaking about the Lord pouring out blessings on people who have been in a famine and are in a dire situation. I read the verses that he referred to this morning in my personal Bible study. He was speaking of a famine in the land that was so great that people were eating their own children. The prophet Elisha told the King of Israel that by the same time the next day that the same things that were all but gone in their own land would cost them mere pennies the next day. They couldn't believe it and in fact the man whom the king leaned on for support didn't believe that it would happen but it did. The next day there was flour and barley that cost only a few shekels and the people had more than enough. I believe that God is about to open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on His people. I believe that in times when things will look bleak and desolate that there will be an abundance of rain for His people. I believe that it is time for the barren, cold, winter seasons in our lives to become sweet summer seasons with ripeness and bounty. But it requires perseverance to make it to the sweet summer season because you don't know when it will happen. Elisha was able to tell the king the exact date that his breakthrough would come and many of us are waiting for our breakthrough and have thought that it would have come a long time ago. But it is important to keep hope alive during these hard times and to believe that if God said it He will do it. It gets hard sometimes but it is worth it in the end.

Another interesting thing that happened today was that in addition to reading the story about Elisha and the famine, I also read the story about Elisha and the ax head. There was a prophet working on a shelter near the Jordan River and he lost the head of an ax he had borrowed. He told Elisha about it and he prayed to find it and the heavy iron ax head floated to the top of the water. I watched a brief portion of a telecast of the late Dr. Lester Summerall this evening and he was talking about prayer and what we should pray for when we pray. He used the example of the ax head and Elisha to demonstrate that sometimes we can pray strange prayers about things and have them happen. This prompted me to look around and say, "Hello?" Often times I am alone when these moments happen but I think that they are really God confirming His word to me. I don't think anything is an accident or coincidence and I think that the Lord is just telling me, "Hey there I am with you. I know what you read today and I just want to let you know that I know." It's pretty cool when you think about it. All the people on the earth that want some of God's time and attention and He will spend time with each individual that calls on Him and let them know that He hears them. Maybe I should rephrase that and say that I am not alone in these moments but hearing from God and He is letting me know that He hears me and sees me.