I have been looking for a  2025 planner for a few weeks. I’m a bit persnickety about my planners and so it has taken me some time to find just the right one. I’m old school and still write down all my appointments and tasks, although the reminders on my phone are pretty handy!

Despite being somewhat on the expensive side, I decided to head to Staples. As I perused the many choices, I felt a tap on my arm. Startled, I turned, and a woman handed me a five dollar coupon she wasn’t using. How cool is that? Because there was a minimum purchase to use it, I decided to “window shop” down the other aisles.

(Confession: I’m a bit of an office supply addict, so Staples is a verrryyy dangerous store for me!)

I picked up a few other items and headed to the checkout. I asked the clerk if I had any rewards. Since I hadn’t visited the store in a while, I suspected there weren’t any.

Wait for it…wait for it… The clerk checked my account and told me I had $12 in rewards! Woo hoo! He asked if I wanted to use them and I was like… “You betcha!” In a matter of minutes, I was handed $17 and I did nothing to earn it.

I think God likes Staples too!

Well, as you can imagine, this just put a huge smile on my face, and I sent up a “Thank you” to my Father in heaven. Isn’t this just like God? Blessing His kids when they least expect it?

Grace events such as these are evidence of how much God loves us. If we are smart, we will pay attention to them, write them down, and tell others. Why? Because it builds up our faith and trust that God is a good Father and He cares about us.

Here’s the amazing part of all of this. God knew I’d be at Staples at that very moment, and He arranged for that woman to be there so she could bless me. How cool is that! You see, God is always at work arranging people, places, and things so that He can bless us. Isn’t that what a good parent does? (Matthew 7:11)

We can sometimes forget how good God is if we only put our eyes on the things of this world. Yet, when we put our eyes on Him, woo eee!

Here’s what I’m learning:

God is a good, good Father. And here’s something else. God cares about everything in our lives – even little things like needing a new planner and saving a few dollars. I mean, look at what He did for me!

My planner is not only pretty, but it’s organized inside just the way I need it to be.

God wants us to be mindful of the many “grace events” He showers on us so that when we face tough times, we can look back at all of the good He has done and know that He’ll do it again.

This week, I’d like to encourage you to be on the lookout for the goodness of God in your life. Who knows where He’ll show up!