How I dread grocery shopping alone with my girls.<\/p>\n
I will put it off. I will avoid it. I will find excuses not to do it. But the day comes when I look in the fridge and I realize with a sinking heart that I have to.<\/p>\n
Today was one of those days. I had to go shopping with my 18-month-old daughters. And I had to go to two different places, which made my heart feel even heavier.<\/p>\n
So I made istikharah, coaxed them into the car, and off we went, with my mind imagining every scenario possible and thinking of how I would deal with the situation. What if there isn\u2019t a double-seater cart? I\u2019ll take a regular one and make one sit in it while the other walks behind me. What if they both refuse? I\u2019ll let them walk behind me, but keep my eyes on them while I try to shop. What if they start playing hide-and-seek? I stop thinking at that point and just pray for the best.<\/p>\n
When I get there, both girls are asleep. I put one in the basket of the cart, and ball the other up into the front of the cart where she\u2019s supposed to sit, but can\u2019t, since she\u2019s sleeping. I wish I have a camera with me. I start rolling my cart down the aisles. I finish shopping. The kids are still asleep.<\/p>\n
Alhamdulillah. What a small thing to happen \u2013 they fell asleep, but what a huge burden lifted off my mind.<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s time to head for the whole-sale center, and I make sure I have all my coupons with me. I\u2019m holding one coupon especially tight: $3 off a large lasagna. I\u2019m hungry, and my mouth waters at the thought, but my heart tells me I shouldn\u2019t be buying this: it\u2019s not essential, since I can easily cook other things, so it\u2019s wasting money on things I don\u2019t really need; it\u2019s not the healthiest food to buy, with all the fat it; and in the end I\u2019m just buying it to indulge my stomach\u2019s desire. Not the best reason to buy something.<\/p>\n
But I decide anyway that I will buy it, and push the guilty thoughts to the side. While I\u2019m shopping, I take a look at my coupons, and realize the lasagna coupon isn\u2019t there! What? I just had it in my hand! I look furiously for it, searching my purse for it, going through my pockets, looking on the floor behind me \u2013 perhaps I dropped it. But it\u2019s no where to be found.<\/p>\n
My heart has a sad face on it now, but I continue shopping, with both girls wondering what Mama\u2019s looking for so carefully. I finish shopping, with both girls on their best behavior, thankfully, and go back to the car. As I\u2019m unloading the cart into the trunk, I lift the last package, and what do I see under it?<\/p>\n
The lasagna coupon.<\/p>\n
For a second, I feel great regret. Why didn\u2019t I look for it better when I was in the store? I\u2019m not about to go back in now with both girls just to buy that. But after getting in the car and driving away, a strange new sensation befell me. What a Wonderful, Caring, Kind Lord I have. I felt Allah was taking care of me, by making me lose the coupon. Perhaps I would have gained 5 pounds after eating it, and He knows how I hate gaining weight. Perhaps one of my daughters would have had an allergic reaction to something in it, and He knows she\u2019s had so many already. Perhaps He\u2019s helping me save my money for more important things.<\/p>\n
Such a small thing to happen \u2013 losing a coupon, but what a happy feeling it gave me. I felt cared for, looked out for, and loved.<\/p>\n
Asiya Akyurt<\/p>\n
Asiya Akyurt lives in Virginia with her husband and twin daughters. She is an active MAS member with an ijaza (certificate) in Qur\u2019anic recitation and tajweed, and enjoys teaching, interpreting and translating.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How I dread grocery shopping alone with my girls. I will put it off. I will avoid it. I will find excuses not to do it. But the day comes when I look in the fridge and I realize with a sinking heart that I have to. Today was one of those days. I had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1572,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motherhood"],"yoast_head":"\n