The Power of a       Little Prayer

In what seems like a lifetime ago, there was a period when my husband and I didn't have two dimes to rub together.  After my discharge from active duty, I attended college by night and worked at the local NBC affiliate by day.  Although my husband was in the Army, his salary combined with my barely-over-minimum-wage pay didn't last long when applied toward the daily demands of the economy.  Plus, we didn't make the wisest decisions when it came to spending and saving money. 

One morning before we went our separate ways for the day, we looked in our kitchen cupboard to find a lonely jar of peanut butter and a bag of dried Lima beans.  And, even worse, our refrigerator was just as bare.  With our next payday being about three days away, we weren't quite sure how we would stretch the few dollars we had.  Fortunately, I rode my bicycle to work, so that was one vehicle we didn't need to fuel.  Other than that, though, there was no other assistance in sight.  

Thinking my next few days were going to be Ramen noodle days, I arrived at the station and welcomed the sweet relief of forgetting momentarily our financial struggles.  I had uttered a short prayer on my way in, but gave it very little thought.  My faith in God back then wasn't what it is today and quite frankly I didn't fully believe in the power of prayer, especially coming from someone like me.  God knew what I needed before I asked for it so why bother Him with the details?  

On that day, my job was to shoot a commercial for a local grocery store.  When my partner, Mark, and I arrived on the site, the owner of the store had set out a display of every kind of food you could imagine!  There were fruits, vegetables, loaves of bread, snack items, canned foods, soft drinks, cereal, pasta, and the list goes on.  I remember thinking, "Wow!  It would be nice just to have half of this in my cabinets at home."  

We spent about an hour that day, arranging the food and taking video from various angles.  We circulated around the store as the owner talked on camera about the sales he had that week.  When we had finished and were packing up our gear, the owner approached Mark and me and told us that all of the food he had pulled off of the shelves to be in the ad could not be put back--it had been handled too much and we needed to take it with us.  It was all I could do to contain my excitement but I was screaming on the inside!  Of course, I needed to share with Mark, but Mark had this sixth sense about me and he always seemed to know about my problems without me ever telling him.  My coworker claimed he had just bought groceries the night before (I doubt it) and had no room for any of the food, except maybe a bottle of soda.  There was enough food to feed my husband and me for the next two weeks!

I reminisce over the early years of my marriage, remembering the challenges and struggles we faced so often.  But I'm thankful for those days, too.  I'm thankful to have been in situations that only God could have helped us out of.  I appreciate how the events of that particular day led me to believe in the power of a little prayer.