What's for Supper Wednesday - The Double Play

The Double Play 

I have learned the most effective, fantastic, fruitful method for buying a cart load of necessities for practically nothing, which is right in my budget! It is a two part process in which both parts must be followed. Otherwise, the results may be less than desirable. Have I peeked your attention yet? Fantastic!

Part one is this. Pray. No really, you must pray with a heart full of faith that the Lord will provide for you and your family. In return, promise to give Him all of the glory! There really is only so much that I can do. I need Him to carry me the rest of the way.

Part two involves shopping. There is a section in most grocery stores where the products that are about to expire, or that have been discontinued, are drastically reduced in price. In my favorite store, these treasure chests of shelves are just behind the cash registers. There are also markdowns in the refrigerated and butcher’s sections.

I quietly say a prayer as we walk into the grocery store, asking God to show me what it is that my family needs. Wants would be nice, but needs would be better. I scan through the produce section finding organic lettuce for less than a dollar and 5 beautiful orange bell peppers for the price of just one. We have had a shortage of fresh veggies since it is the middle of winter, so these specials were just that: special. We round up toward the meat cases where I find a whole chicken for just 56 cents per pound! Wow, that is way below my $2 per pound max. Then we head over to the dairy section. Each time we cart past it, my boys ask when they will ever get to have yummy yogurt again. Well, boys, today is that day! There were 2 tubs of vanilla yogurt marked down to just 50 cents each! I quietly thanked Him for this wonderful gift. Perhaps I should have shouted, “Praise God!”, but worry about scaring the dairy man. We found pints of milk for just 25 cents. The oldest boy got to use his new math skills to tell me how much it would be for 1 gallon of the discounted milk. After a little figuring, he informed me that it was just $2 per gallon. He approved of this discount after seeing that a gallon was marked $3.75!
This was all before we had even reached the dry goods section. I wound up filling my cart with groceries that we did in fact need for $35.

I share all of this, not to brag on myself and my shopping abilities. I share so that you can see that when we depend on His understanding instead of our own, then we will be able to see how he can bend the universe in order to take care of his sheep!