Something Greater

I've gotten to the point now that when I go to the grocery store, I'm not at all embarassed to take my 3-ring binder full of coupons. I used to just pull the ones I needed out, and leave the book in the car. Which is fine, until I end up making 3 or 4 trips through the store because I found another deal, and had to go back to the car to get the coupon. So, I got over that! But you'd be surprised that it's turned out to be a positive experience, and it has started many a conversation! Mainly with little old ladies! Just a few days ago, an old woman saw me flipping though the pages and said, "Honey, they've just about taken all the fun out of life, haven't they? I remember when I was 9 or 10, I used to walk down to the store and get a 10 pound bag of sugar for 40 cents. You know what that costs now?" Sweet gal. But it's true, these days you have to work a little harder for a buck, and it doesn't stretch as far.
When I clip coupons, I clip just about every one, even if I don't use that product or don't have dentures (not yet, at least), because you just never know. I blessed a lady at WalMart yesterday with a honking-big coupon, $3 off a bag of dog food that she already had in her cart. I don't use that brand, so I gave it to her. (Another thing that wouldn't have happened had I not gotten over my 'this binder is dorky' complex.) It made me feel so good! I had a stupid grin on my face the rest of my Walmart trip. Which apparently is not a big deal at Walmart, walking around looking stupid. In fact, it was kinda like camouflage!
My biggest blessing so far was at Reid's (South Carolina's Food Lion). There was a young Hispanic couple with a little girl about Andrew's age, looking at Huggies diapers and counting their money. I pulled up next to them, and handed them my $1.50 of Huggies diapers and 50 cents off Huggies wipes. I knew they didn't speak English, but they were so grateful! They kept saying "thank you" repeatedly. My lil' ol' heart just swelled. All I did was give them a coupon! And it really wasn't a sacrifice, we don't use Huggies, but I clipped it anyways. Who knows, maybe it was a Divine thing, God wanting me to clip them to give to this couple. I just wish I knew Spanish, then I could tell them that they could use the coupon on the larger size (that was on sale) and it would save them more money. But they coulnd't read the coupon, so just picked the diapers that matched the picture on the coupon. I need to learn Spanish.
I'm thinking that maybe this could be my ministry? I like to leave coupons that are about to expire on the shelves. Maybe somebody will pick them up? You never know who is going to need it, who needs the blessing.