Is $.30 Worth It?

I have written before about the sweetest, elderly lady who was our neighbor in Michigan.  She has been sending our children birthday cards with money in them.  She also includes jokes for the kids as well.

We sent her Valentine’s and birthday cards last week including a box of chocolates.  She responded to those cards with great gratitude.  She also wrote of her failing health. As we read this letter, Tyson’s eyes grew watery.  (Tyson is the one who broke down the barriers and gave her the first hug a few months before we moved away.)  He truly loves this lady.  We do too.

She also sent us $25.00 to spend on treats for the children at the beach. 

In honor of this special gift, we decided to drive to a nearby state park to see the West Indian manatees in the wild.  Every winter the manatees come to this spring because the water temperature remains at a warm 72 degrees for them. 

These manatees are endangered.  What a special experience it was for us to see these gentle giants in their natural habitat.  We also saw bold alligators, fearless armadillos, 3 snakes, friendly squirrels, and big fish in their nests.  It was a perfect day!

Can you see the manatees?  They're the large, tan masses in the water. :-)

The squirrel stayed right next to us while we fed him lots of crackers.  The kids even named him Jake.

We had never seen fish nests in the wild like this before.

After our visit at the state park, we bought food at Burger King with our friend's money; and as requested by our friend, we stopped at the grocery store, Publix, to also buy treats for the kids.

The children picked out a box of Drumsticks.  I specifically picked out the variety pack because it was  $.30 cheaper than the regular.  When they rang it up at the cash register, they charged me the full price. 

I told them my concern about the overcharged Drumsticks, and they sent me to the customer service desk for my refund.  I had 2 children with me, and the others were waiting out in the car with Abe.

There were a couple people in line before me.  I wondered if I should just not worry about it and leave.  It was only $.30!  However, on our drive to the store, Abe and I had been talking about being good stewards of our money.  We talked about always spending wisely even if we have an abundant amount of money.  I felt silly waiting so long for $.30, but I wanted to be a good steward of my money and not to take anything for granted.

When it finally became my turn, I almost told the lady how dumb I felt for waiting for such a small refund.  Something inside me told me to keep quiet. 

She rang up my refund and handed me $7.40!! 

She saw the shock on my face and said, “That’s Publix’ policy.  If we ring something up wrong, you get the full amount back.”  Of course we all gave her HUGE amounts of gratitude.  Tyson and Mariah even ran back into the store a second time to thank her.  She knew we were only expecting our $.30.  What a fun moment for all of us.  I sure am glad the Spirit reminded me that $.30 was worth the wait.  Hooray!  We will be eating treats another day too! J