Pennies from Heaven

Last night I found a $100 bill. Yeah- how often does that happen? K and I were out for an evening stroll to stop by the night drop at the library and we usually circle around and walk through a little funky shopping center by my house. We were walking along and chatting about how much we like the weird little indie businesses in the center when I noticed a scrap of paper lying on the ground a few feet away. I thought at first it looked like a coupon of some sort but as I got closer it seemed to look like a dollar bill. I told K to wait just a sec and stepped over to pick it up. As I reached down I realized it was not a 1-dollar bill but 100! I was floored. I scampered back over to K and whispered 'Oh my G-d'. It's a hundred dollars!' It was pretty obvious there was no way to return it to the person who lost it. The lot was abandoned and the bill was loose in the lot. My first impulse was to present it to K. She quickly refused, saying it was mine and I should keep it. I argued that G-d dropped it for me but it was a gift and didn't belong to me. I wanted to give it to someone who had less resources and since K had just been reduced to 1/2 time at work I thought she could use it. She still refused so I started thinking about other options. I then thought of my friend D who just 2 days ago smashed up her car and incurred $1000 in repair bills. I called and left a message for her to call me and that I had good news for her. When she called back I told her I wanted to give her the money. She laughed for a moment and told me I was the sweetest person she knew but that her parents were paying for the repairs and she could not take the money from me.

Damn! I never expected it would be this much trouble giving away $100!

We ultimately thought of an idea. She said there was a child at her school that was going through some surgeries and maybe we could find a way to buy a gift card for the family and a gift for the child while in the hospital. I thought this was a great idea since the school is in my neighborhood and the money would be put to use close to where it was found.

So, that's the plan. I'm glad I can be a good steward for money that Heaven rains down.