Marisol stood beneath the fluorescent lights of the grocery store, her cart rolling quietly as she paused at the end of the aisle. She checked her banking app one last time, hoping the number might somehow change. It didn’t. The balance was small, final, and very real.
There would be no full cart this week. No extras. No comfort buys. Just enough — if she chose wisely.
She slipped her phone away and whispered a simple prayer: “Lord, You see this too. Help me make it stretch.” It wasn’t dramatic. It was honest.
Instead of freezing, she began moving with purpose. A bag of rice replaced frozen dinners. Canned beans instead of pre-seasoned meat. Carrots, an onion, and one whole chicken — the kind her mother used to stretch into soup, broth, and leftovers. At checkout, her cart looked bare compared to others, and for a moment embarrassment crept in.
But something steadier replaced it.
That night, the smell of chicken simmering filled the kitchen. Her kids hovered nearby, smiling, asking for seconds. Marisol taped a note to the fridge: “Not less. Just wiser. God will provide.”
She realized resilience wasn’t pretending she had more than she did. It was trusting God enough to work wisely with what was already in her hands. Provision didn’t always look like abundance. Sometimes it looked like peace, creativity, and just enough — for today.
That was just doing life.