An Unexpected Gift
Ellen Knight decided she would do something about the one in six Americans who deals with hunger every day. She would fight back—at least for the needy residents on the lower Delmarva Peninsula near Berlin, Maryland. She campaigned to start a food pantry at her church, Holy Trinity Cathedral, and the parishioners warmly welcomed the idea.
Most of the donated food items were transported to the homes of hungry area residents, and occasionally visitors would come to the church for help. No one was denied. When pantry shelves started to empty, Ellen would stand up and make an announcement, and the faithful people of God would bring in more bags and boxes of nonperishable items to share with the less fortunate.
One anonymous parishioner wasn’t sure what to bring in, so she purchased a gift card at a local grocery store and placed it in the box with a note that read, “Ellen, please use this to buy whatever is needed; God bless!”
Ellen held on to the card and forgot about it for several weeks.
Thanksgiving and Christmas were approaching with their normal emphasis on food distribution. Everyone tends to think about food when the holidays roll around.
Again the pantry was bare, supply and demand out of balance, and Ellen solicited donations. And although the people of Holy Trinity again responded, she remembered the gift card.
“Lord, what should I purchase with this card?” she prayed, only a week before Thanksgiving. She didn’t perceive an answer, but scheduled a trip to a chain store she seldom shopped at and trusted the Lord would lead her when she arrived. Ellen prayed daily and often, and she knew the Lord would respond sovereignly when the time was right.
After a busy day at work, Ellen headed home, exhausted and overwhelmed. Her mind was distracted. As she approached a busy intersection near the seashore tourist community of Ocean City, she sensed the Lord reminding her to turn at the light and visit the Food Lion storefront. She had forgotten completely, but with God’s prompting, she made the turn, and a flood of energy returned.
“May your will be done, Lord,” she prayed as she pulled into the parking lot.
Inside the store, she pushed the cart around, oblivious as to what to purchase. The building was busy with shoppers grabbing things off the shelves for the upcoming holiday. Finally she tossed in some boxes of Hamburger Helper, a few cans of vegetables and diced fruit, and some juice boxes for small children.
It wasn’t much, and the randomly chosen items probably wouldn’t expend the entire gift card.
“Why am I even here?” she asked herself, disappointed in her selections. Something didn’t feel right. The church pantry had looked well-stocked again when she’d last visited it after Sunday worship, and the purchases in her cart really weren’t necessities. Still she pressed on, looking for the exit to this spiritual maze she found herself in.
As she approached the checkout lines, she noticed a solitary woman in the express lane. Ellen’s cartload was small and qualified for the same lane, so she stepped in line behind the woman who apparently was shopping for her own Thanksgiving dinner.
The cashier scanned each item and slid it down for bagging—vegetables, frozen yeast rolls, a container of mashed potatoes, a box of stuffing, some macaroni and cheese, a frozen pumpkin pie, and a small turkey. The woman looked stressed, unhappy, and maybe even a little frightened. Ellen thought, She must’ve had the same kind of day I’ve had.
After the last item was rung up, the cashier announced the total: “Fifty dollars.” The woman seemed to balk, and Ellen suddenly felt a presence.
Again the cashier repeated, “That’ll be fifty dollars, please. Will you be paying with cash or with a credit or gift card?”
The woman made no movement to produce the cash or a credit card. In fact, she appeared forlorn, distraught, panicky. There was an uncomfortable silence for what seemed an eternity.
“I prayed this morning,” the woman finally said, pulling at a scarf wrapped around her neck. “I know this will sound crazy to you, but God answered my prayer. I asked for a Thanksgiving dinner for my family. We’re broke, out of work, but God told me very clearly to come here to shop and that He would provide.”
Ellen felt the presence of God nudging her; her mind and heart were racing.
“I’m sorry for your misfortune, ma’am, but I’ll need payment or I can’t let you exit with these groceries,” the cashier replied firmly.
“You see,” the woman started, “God said to come here and He’d provide a way. I came here in faith, but now I’m feeling a bit foolish . . . I am so sorry.” She began to cry.
“Here, let me pay for your groceries,” Ellen finally spoke. She handed the cashier the gift card, which was for the exact amount of the woman’s purchase.
The woman praised God quietly, and hugged Ellen for her kindness. Ellen wept. The cashier was shocked, but he accepted the card and completed the transaction.
“Thank you,” the woman cried as she held Ellen in her arms. “You are my angel, the answer to my prayers.”
“No,” Ellen replied with a smile, “I am quite sure you are mine.”