Christmas, 1974, found me wishing I had more money. Being in college meant I didn't have as much time to babysit, and I hadn't been as careful with my money as I should have. It was kind of fun, driving myself to school and being on my own schedule, because it meant every now and then I could treat myself to a strawberry shake from McDonalds without explaining to anyone why I thought I deserved it.
I finished my Christmas shopping by the first of December, so I hadn't worried about spending money on myself until we got a letter from my older brother, Keith. He was serving a two year mission for our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Oregon. In his letter he asked if we had an extra copy of the Children's Song Book we could send him. On Sundays he helped the Primary children, and he needed a song book. I would gladly have sent him my copy, except I was the Primary Chorister in our ward and I needed it. Mom had already bought and sent Keith's Christmas presents, and I knew she had used her whole Christmas budget for the family, so I thought it would be neat if I bought a song book and sent it to Keith, until I looked in my wallet and found it nearly empty.
We got the letter on Monday. The day before I had given my tithing money to our Bishop, $5.00. As I drove to school Tuesday morning, wishing I had the cash to buy Keith the book, I couldn't help thinking about that tithing. I was pretty sure I'd get some more babysitting jobs before Christmas. If I had waited until next Sunday to pay my tithing I would still have had that $5.00 bill, and I could have bought Keith the book, then paid my tithing with the money I would make later. It would be too late to wait and buy Keith's book after I went babysitting. There wouldn't be time for it to get to him before Christmas.
As soon as I thought this I felt guilty. I knew I should pay my tithing first, and then trust the Lord to bless me with what I needed, but I figured something like wanting to buy Keith an extra Christmas present wasn't exactly a need, it was more a nice desire. Anyway, I decided it was a good thing I had paid my tithing before we got Keith's letter, because I was pretty sure I would have made the wrong choice if given the chance, and I really did want to do what was right. I was just week-willed sometimes.
I had a two hour break between classes on Tuesdays. It was foolish to drive all the way home and back during that time, so I usually went into the Student Union and studied or did homework. On this morning I had finished most of my work, so I took out book to read. I was just opened it up when someone tapped me on my shoulder. I looked up to see a guy I had never seen before. He was holding some sheets of handwritten paper, and looking really embarrassed.
"Do you know how to type?" he asked, without any introduction or small talk.
"Yes," I said in surprise, wondering who in the heck this fellow was.
"Would you mind typing my term paper for me?" he asked anxiously. "It's due in two hours, and I can't type and I don't know anyone who can."
"I guess," I answered in surprise. "I mean, I can try."
I had taken a class in typing a few years earlier, and it was one thing I could do rather well. There were typewriters scattered around the Student Center, so I could certainly find one to use. The young man grinned in relief, handed me his papers, and went off to study at one of the tables. I took the sheaf of papers, picked up my bag, and went off to find an empty type writer, still a little stunned at what had just happened. I didn't know this kid from Adam. Why on earth would he choose me to type a paper for him?
It took me about an hour to type up his report, his handwriting was a little hard to decipher, but I got it done in time for him to turn it in. When I handed it to him he grinned in relief, then reached into his pocket and handed me a $5.00 bill. Now I was really startled. I had thought it was a little cheeky of him to ask a complete stranger to do him a favor, but I hadn't supposed he would pay me for it. Cool. I said,"thank you," but he was gone before I could say anything else.
Wow, $5 for an hour's worth of work. I wondered if I could find a way to advertise and get more desperate students to pay me for my skills. Then it hit me. I had $5.00! I could stop on my way home and buy Keith's song book, and get it mailed to him in time for Christmas. This was so cool! And then I thought of something else. Maybe Heavenly Father cared about things I wanted, too, not just about the things I needed.
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