Five Dollars

Five dollars has such significance in my life because it reminds me of episodes from the past. I have always had a habit of placing money in my bible. I am not talking about large sums of cash. It was usually five one-dollar bills. Ones always made me feel like I had a lot of money. I used to jokingly tell my roommate that this was holy money and was to only be spent in the case of an emergency. So, what constitutes an emergency? Hunger.

Years ago, my roommate was also one of my college classmates, and we understood that the “struggle was real.” We had been roommates for two years and considered ourselves real adults because we had jobs and were paying bills. We were the epitome of mature, young professionals with jobs in retail and publishing. In our apartment, we shared what we had until we didn’t have anything. Yes, we learned to share nothingness! We found ourselves without money one night right before payday, and we had a hankering for McNuggets from McDonald’s. Our mouths watered, and we were saddened that nuggets were not going to find their way into our apartment. Sheer sadness! (Keep in mind that I always kept five ones in my bible.) Here’s the problem: I forgot about the money because I switched bibles.

My roommate and I continued with our Thursday night routine of cleaning the apartment before the weekend. I picked up a bible that needed to be placed on the bookshelf. I shook it to make sure that there were no church bulletins left in it. To my delight, five, crisp, one-dollar bills fell to the floor. The apartment erupted with squeals of joy because those McDonald’s nuggets were coming home for dinner. These were the years when five dollars would get a pack of 20 nuggets and a large fry. We got in the car, got the nuggets, and returned home. My roommate fixed some sweet and sour sauce, and our feast was ready. It was the holiest and most appreciated meal we’d ever eaten.

What happened now that the five dollars were spent? I put another five dollars in until the next emergency. As I got older, I graduated from the five one-dollar bills to a simple five-dollar bill. My roommate moved to New York, and we continued to laugh through the years about our great five-dollar McDonald’s meal. To this day, I still keep five dollars in my bible. Five dollars in my bible has been the source of boiled peanuts at the lake on a Sunday afternoon with my mother. Five dollars has been a Happy Meal in a pinch. Five dollars has just been ice cream or slush with my mother. Five dollars has been the start of a conversation at church when people want to know why I have money in my bible. Five dollars has served as a bookmark in my bible. Understand, five dollars has a purpose.

Today, five dollars will not buy much. And today, my roommate and I would not be purchasing nuggets from McDonald’s. While my roommate is no longer here, I continue to celebrate our greatest meal by carrying five dollars in my bible. It is symbolic of provision and good times. Five dollars.

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