$122.47

That was actually the discounted price if the payment was received by July 31.  I’m quite certain that Don Cargo wrote that check on time, saving himself $6.45. 

The invoice that details this transaction is tucked in the front of my Bible.   It’s from Virginia Municipal Hospital in Virginia, Minnesota.  Specifically, the bill covers five nights in the hospital, nursing care, laboratory fees, medicine, and a few other miscellaneous items. 

These are the expenses for the birth of Mary Christine Cargo. 

The exercise in cost comparison is fascinating, as is the length of stay for both mother and newborn in days gone by… but that’s not why I keep the invoice in a prominent location. 

Perhaps I’m overly nostalgic, but there’s something powerful to me about these expenses.  There is something revealing and compelling about knowing what it cost my mother-in-law and father-in-law to bring their third child home from the hospital.  A humbling gratitude washes over me every time I examine the expenses.

“…for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
~ 1 Corinthians 6:20

And the verse above is exactly why this invoice belongs in my Bible.  $122.47 propels me toward the cost for my inclusion into the family of God. 

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” ~ 1 John 3:1

God paid this bill.  Expensive beyond words. 

Any and every reminder of this sacrifice is precious to me… and yes, a humbling gratitude washes over me every time I examine the expenses.

Thanks, Don and Eunice…
Thank you, Heavenly Father…