Your Money or Your Life

It was a hot summer morning and I was ready to collapse. My husband and I had been shlepping around for hours buying school supplies for our two youngest daughters. They were hungry and cranky and we all needed to get out of the sun.

A minute later we stood outside a nice dairy restaurant and studied the menu. Everything sounded delicious and I wanted to go in. My husband did not. “Look at these prices!” he said, “I’m not spending that kind of money on spaghetti; we can eat that at home.”

“That’s not the point,” I argued. “It’s nice to go out once in a while to a proper restaurant.”

Those were the days when our date nights were a falafel and a walk around town. But my husband stayed firm and after whining for another minute I sulkily gave in.

We went next door and ordered pizza. I sat on the stool feeling sorry for myself. The school supplies had cost a fortune, and as usual we never had extra to spoil ourselves. I knew my husband was right but I felt entitled to a bit of self-pity. Why was God so hard on us? How many more years would we have to struggle for every shekel? We both worked hard but with nine kids it wasn’t easy.

Feeling like a real martyr I silently ate my slice. It took us ten minutes to finish our pizza and then we walked out of the Bell Tower on King George Street in downtown Jerusalem.

As we stepped outside, I suddenly heard the loudest, most deafening noise of my life. It sounded as if a tall building had collapsed. After a few seconds of total quiet people began screaming and running in all directions. Sbarro Restaurant, the place where I had desperately wanted to eat, had just been blown up by a suicide bomber!

A man staggered outside dressed in a white hat and apron, but it wasn’t spaghetti sauce that was all over him. He was unable to talk, just stared at us blankly when we asked him if he was okay. Ambulances, police and soldiers were everywhere, people were crying and it was hard to get through the crowds.

It took us hours to get back to our home in Gush Etzion. Traffic was crazy. I remember holding my girls close to me and thanking God over and over.

The next time you feel as if you are getting the raw end of a deal, you might just be getting the bargain of a lifetime. If we had more money, we would have been eating at Sbarro. It was as simple as that.

I was angry with God for not taking me out for lunch. He made sure I would still be around for dinner…