If you are not into reading a long post you can scroll down to the end to read my miracle. The story below details my drama of why I even needed a coffee miracle to begin with. :o)
My Coffee Miracle
Each month I get an allowance. Usually I run out of money before I run out of month. I try to budget my money, but it always seems to get away from me. To try to figure out his phenomenon I decided to try to track where my money disappeared to. It’s amazing how fast it can go. Upon investigation I found that probably 80% or more of my allowance goes to snacks. You know a soda here, a coffee there, maybe a hamburger or fries at McDonald’s. Rarely do I have anything to show for my money at the end of the month, except for some extra pounds.
I figured I usually go to Starbucks every other month or so, and when I do it’s $4, so we’ll say $2 a month goes to Starbucks. Really $2 a month isn’t a big deal. It’s the rest that’s a big deal. If I only stopped at 7Eleven twice a week for coffee, and to be honest maybe a donut or a hotdog (yes I do like hotdogs at 7:30 in the morning!) I’m spending about $6.50 a week at 7Eleven or $26 a month! For a while I was buying a soda every day during my planning period at work. In a four week month I was putting $20 into the soda machine! No wonder I never had any money!!!
When I realized this, I made a decision. I was going to learn to make coffee at home so that I could save money. I made a special trip to the grocery store to buy coffee, creamer, and filters for my coffee maker. I own one, but didn’t own the things to go with it. In the morning I woke up and made some coffee, as it brewed I dreamed of the manicure I would get with the money I was saving… After it finished brewing I added ice to my cup and mixed it like I do at 7Eleven. I breathed in the aroma, mmm… I took a sip. Yuck!! What went wrong!?!?! Well, I had noticed that the filter was too small for my coffee pot, so maybe that’s what was wrong, I would go out and buy the right size filter. Off to 7Eleven again, no money saved.
That night Isaac was dragging my coffee carafe around the house. He picked it up to set it on the counter and when he did, he broke the carafe. Oh well, I’ll buy a small coffee pot, one that makes just a few cups. Craig doesn’t like coffee anyways. I headed to Target a few days later and left $20 lighter, but thought of all of the money I would save at the end of the month, and the months after that. I even paid extra to get the metal carafe so that Isaac couldn’t damage it. J
However, when I got home I realized the filters I had purchased were cone shaped and my new coffee pot needed the old fashioned round filters. So, I had to go back to the store and there would be no coffee from my new pot the next morning. Finally I had the right filers to go with my pot. I followed the directions to make my coffee. The aroma wafted through the house as I helped Isaac get ready for day care. When he and Craig left I eagerly went to the kitchen to prepare my iced coffee. I took a sip, YUCK!!!
On my way to work I stopped by the grocery store to pick up lunch and a soda. I was too upset to try to make my lunch and decided a Coke would help ease the pain of another failed attempt at making coffee and called my mom. “Mom! I don’t understand! Why can’t I make good coffee?!?!” I was frustrated, I mean I started out on this coffee making endeavor to save money and be more frugal. I figured that I’m not being a good steward with my allowance and I wanted to fix it. Why can’t I make coffee??
Well, I had all but given up on coffee. This week I was really bad. I stopped by Chick-Fil-A twice for breakfast earlier in the week and today I decided I wanted a milkshake or a smoothie or something for breakfast. My throat hurt and I wanted something cold. I pulled into the parking lot for Planet Smoothie, walked in ordered my smoothie and walked out to my car to head to work. I know, I know! What does ordering a smoothie have to do with becoming a better steward of my money or a coffee miracle? Well, I’m getting there!
As I put the car into drive I noticed a coffee cup sitting on the sidewalk further down the row. I thought, “well isn’t that odd?” There is a Barney’s Coffee further into the little mall area and I thought, “Hmm… Maybe their business is slow since the new Starbucks opened and they are trying to drum up business.” However, as I drove closer to the coffee cup I saw the word McDonald’s on it. As I got closer I could see that the cup said, “Take me to McDonald’s” then under that, “SERIOUSLY.” I thought what is this!? I parked my car, got out and walked over to the enormous coffee cup. It was about 3 ½ feet tall. On the cup it said that I had found a hidden cup and I was to take it to the nearest McDonald’s and to claim my prize of free Frappe’s for a year. I hadn’t even heard of the contest.
I looked around because I thought I might get arrested for picking this coffee cup off of the street. I tried to wrestle it into the backseat of the car, but it wouldn’t fit, so I put it in the trunk. I drove to McDonald’s and toted the cup into the store. The cashier knew about the contest and had to explain it to one of the managers. They took pictures and everything. It was so cool!
So, I left the restaurant and called my mom. She said, “I guess God answered your prayer. You don’t need to learn how to make your own coffee now.” We had a good laugh. When I called my husband he said the same thing. So yes, God does care about the little things. He even cared enough about my desire for yummy coffee with plenty of sugar and sweetness. He knew I have a hard time making coffee and to show He cared he lead me to a giant coffee cup and I won free coffee.
