Money is important!

It can buy you lots of things you need. It can provide a sense of security in tough times. It can make you feel as if nothing can touch you when others who don’t have it struggle so much.

I was thinking about my dad today. He’s been dead for 14 years, and I thought of something that happened right before he died. I wasn’t there, but here’s the story:

My mom and dad went to a restaurant after playing golf. A homeless man stood on the porch as they walked inside. During their meal, they watched the man go into the restroom, and come out cleaner, with combed hair. As my parents got ready to leave, the man singled out my dad, and asked him for money.

Here are a few things you need to know:

*My Dad was an Episcopal priest, and normally wore a collar. That day he didn’t have on his collar, so that wasn’t why the man approached him.

*My Dad always used cash. When he got paid, he cashed his check and put all the money in a clip in his pocket. He never checked how much he had left. He never left some of the money at home. He put it ALL in his money clip. He always trusted that God would somehow make the money last until the next paycheck. God always did.

*My Dad did not know this man. He knew tons of people. In fact, at his funeral, about 5 people I didn’t even know all told me he was their best friend! He called waiters by their first names. He remembered people. He didn’t preach at people-he became their friends.

*There was no reason for this man to pick my dad out of all the people in that restaurant that day, but he did.

He chose my Dad.

Why?

Maybe God nudged the man through the people and told him “stop, ask this one” right when he got to my Dad.

You know what my Dad did when the man asked? He emptied his money clip and handed the man whatever was left.

My Dad gave the man everything he had.

I don’t know where he was in the month. Maybe he had 5 days til payday, maybe he had 29. I don’t know. I just know he gave a smelly, dirty man he had never met before all the money he had.

In my adult life, I’ve lived through times where I had to watch every penny from paycheck to paycheck. There were times I couldn’t buy school supplies until the next paycheck. I learned to save several hundred dollars a month by clipping coupons, shopping sales, and going to several stores to get the best deals. I’ve also lived when money was plentiful. I didn’t need to count, because there was always enough. I’m in that phase now, and very thankful. It does reduce stress knowing there will always be enough.

But that’s not the point.

I’ve watched God provide money that wasn’t there over and over again. I’ve watched bills get paid, because a check came in that we weren’t expecting. I’ve watched people show up to clean my home when I couldn’t do it due to my insomnia. I watched God provide for other people in similar ways. We’ve felt the urge to give to others when they were in a desperate place, and it’s felt so great to be able to do that. Sometimes it’s us. Sometimes it’s other people. Sometimes I don’t even know how it happens.

I just know I don’t need to be afraid. I don’t need to worry about money.

Maybe I’m thinking about my Dad and money today because I have other worries. If God can take care of every bill since I’ve been alive, can I trust him with the other things too?

How about you?

Have you ever seen God provide for you in a financial way, that you just knew was Him? Please tell us about it in the comments below!

This post written by: Colorado Life Coach, Carrie O’Toole, M.A.