By Cosette Snarr

It was just a normal day. I sat down, like I often did, to go over our budget and pay a few bills. It was routine. But for some reason, on this particular day, the weight of our credit card debt hit me differently—it hit me hard.

For years, I’d gotten into the habit of charging things when there wasn’t quite enough in the checking account. It was never anything extravagant—at least not often. And I always paid more than the minimum. Wasn’t that enough? Apparently not. That reality came crashing down on me that day.

I went over the numbers again and again. We had enough in the bank to cover the bills, but not enough for the essentials we’d need over the next two weeks—groceries, gas, and a few other things I couldn’t avoid. I asked myself if this was really the right time to make a change. But deep down, I knew I couldn’t keep doing this. It wasn’t sustainable. It was only going to get worse.

So, reluctantly but sincerely, I bowed my head and prayed:
“Heavenly Father, I’ve made a mess of things. I know I haven’t been the best steward over our finances, and I’m seeing the results now. I really want to do better. I commit right now that I’ll never use credit cards again, but I need Thy help. We need groceries. Please help me figure out a way to keep my commitment to Thee and get the things we need.”

After that prayer, I went on with my day. I decided to clean and organize my mother-in-law’s closet. At the time, she was very elderly, had Alzheimer’s, and was living with us. We had aides who came in daily to help care for her, but let’s just say tidiness wasn’t their strength.

I slid open the closet doors to find everything jumbled and thrown onto the shelves. As I began organizing, I noticed a small tin box tucked in among the clutter—about the size of a recipe file. I figured it was just another one of her little boxes filled with old trinkets or keepsakes.

But when I opened it, I was stunned. The box was full of silver coins. Real silver.

I rushed to the office, counted the coins, and looked up the price of silver for the day. To my amazement, it was just enough to cover exactly what we needed until the next payday. What a blessing!

And right then, I felt a nudge of conscience. As much as I wanted to believe this was a direct answer to my prayer, I also knew that money didn’t belong to me. It was my mother-in-law’s, even if she had no use for it now.

I felt sick at the thought of telling my husband. I worried we’d have to share the money with his siblings, and then we wouldn’t have enough. I even thought for a moment, “Would it be so bad not to tell anyone?” But deep down I knew—I would know. And I couldn’t live with that.

When my husband got home, I told him everything: about our financial situation, the coins, and the promise I’d made. I also said I believed we needed to call his brother—the one in charge of their mom’s finances—and ask what he wanted us to do.

What happened next surprised me. His brother simply said, “Spend it wisely.” That was it. The coins were ours to use as needed.

The next day, I took them to a coin shop and exchanged them. That moment changed everything for me. I’ve never gone back on my promise—not once. I’ve used credit cards since then, but never to carry a balance. And as I’ve stayed true to that commitment, we’ve been blessed in more ways than I can count.

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