A One Dollar Bill

God can use the smallest of items to lift a guy’s spirits sometimes.

I’m quite open on this blog about my struggles. Financially I’m a mess right now…and that’s an understatement.

I’ve been driving and painting and painting and driving just to keep my head above water most weeks. Sometimes it’s not enough but I just keep treading water as long as I can.

Last week I left for work on Sunday afternoon and didn’t return home until Friday evening. Since I don’t have anybody to come home to it just made more sense to remain in the sleeper berth of the semi I drive than to burn the gas it takes to drive over 50 miles round trip.

I wasn’t driving the entire week. There were a couple of days I had to simply wait. I took a load of king-sized mattresses to a motel south of Dallas on Wednesday morning then had to wait for my next load to finish five hours later before I could leave with it.

On Thursday I was making good time with my deliveries in northwest Arkansas and hoped to start back that evening. Instead I had to wait til Friday morning to make my last delivery of eight items in Springfield, Missouri before I could deadhead back.

That meant I had from three o’clock Thursday afternoon until eight o’clock Friday morning to sleep and kill time.

Since I had a nearly empty wallet in my back pocket I decided to patrol the perimeter of the truck stop for paper dollars that might have escaped somebody else’s pocket.

The weather was a chilly 40 degrees with a stiff south breeze. I had my extra layers on so I could be out for the duration of the mission.

There was a lot of trash strewn around that particular parking lot. None of it was US legal tender though.

On the north boundary was a cattle pasture. The cows were a few hundred yards away from me so I felt comfortable patrolling their property from my side of the wire fence.

I walked all the way to the road with no success. I turned around and made my way back toward the middle of the property so I could cross to the other side. Fortunately I kept searching for filthy lucre.

The bill was crumpled to the point I could only see about a quarter of it, but the green ink gave it away as a keepsake I could trade for food. I reached through the fence and discovered I now possessed a one dollar bill.

From the looks of the amount of dirt on it I guessed it had been owned by those cattle for quite a while. They didn’t pay me any attention so I suppose they’ll never miss it.

Now, you can’t buy much with a single dollar bill these days. That’s true.

But, you never know what will lift a guy’s spirit until he picks up something that means so much in so many ways.

I have found larger bills on previous excursions, but I don’t remember any of them putting a bigger smile on my face than that filthy dollar bill. No, I don’t know exactly why I felt such joy over such a small discovery. I just know I did.

I think I felt this was a sign from God that things are turning around from this point on.

There have been some indications of some money drains ending and actually reversing. I know God is still in the resurrection business. Why not with my finances.

I scoured the other two-thirds of the truck stop perimeter with no success, but every time I touched that particular bill in my pocket I felt joy.

Two days later I received a text from my brother Mike. There’s a legitimate offer on the buildings and part of the family farm property they set on.

The sale could be completed in two and a half weeks if all goes well. Mike waited to tell me about this until it looked like a pretty sure thing.

Somehow I wasn’t surprised.

It will still take some time for me to dig out of some of the mistakes and risks I took. Now there’s a brighter light at the end of that tunnel.

I spent that dollar along with some other money I had to buy enough groceries to get me to Friday of this week. With all the driving and waiting I did this week’s check should be fairly healthy compared to the ones I’ve been getting.

God has been good to me along this rough road I’ve been traveling. Some week’s I’m surprised by how I get to the end with no negative balances in the bank. Other weeks I have to pay insufficient funds fees. But I’m still breathing and glorifying God as best I can.

Currently it looks like there will be such fees to pay before Friday, but I still feel that same joy when I think about that single, filthy dollar bill.

God is good all the time.

I’ll see you later. Wade