When Change Blew In
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles & Divine Intervention
By Loretta Morris

Each day offers us the gift of being a special occasion if we can simply learn that as well as giving, it is blessed to receive with grace and a grateful heart.
~Sarah Ban Breathnach

It was not a good year. In 1999, I was newly divorced and trying to keep up with a mountain of bills. In the past, weekly trips to the grocery store involved a bulging cart and a credit card. Now, forty dollars in cash, a calculator, and crossed fingers were the new normal. My two children, ages six and nine, received birthday-party invitations by the dozens, but the required gifts were proving to be such a strain on the budget that I had to RSVP “no” to all except the closest of their friends.

Lots of people helped in small but much-appreciated ways. After hearing of my difficulties, my church graciously waived the fee for the kids’ religious education, a neighbor fixed our lawnmower, and a friend dropped off a box of gently used clothes, all in my children’s sizes. Still, despite my salary and the child support I received, the bills piled up: mortgage, car payment, insurance, legal fees, daycare, and on and on. (Keep reading)