Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Bag of clothes

I have been in need of some time outside of the house without kiddos. It has been hard lately. My sweet two year old has been two handfuls. Shane gave me some time to get out of the house yesterday. As I was browsing through Old Navy it was like hitting the jackpot. I found 13 things that fit really well and were really cute.

Just for curiosity I took them up front and asked the lady to ring it all up. $131.00. She said she'd hold them until the end of the day. Pretty certain of the answer I asked Shane if I could get them. Not this month. Our money is already accounted for in the form of bills. Then as I was leaving Old Navy my eyes spotted a precious white and green lamp on clearance for less than $10 at the decorating store next door.

As I drove away empty handed I was pretty bummed. The thing I was striving for was to honor my husband and do a little thing God likes to refer to as "denying yourself."

All afternoon all I could think about was how I could get that bag of clothes into my hands. As I was walking to the mailbox I would not have been the least bit surprised if there would have been some kind of money in the mail from overpaying our Mortgage or something. We've experience God doing stuff like that all throughout our marriage.

Tonight we had prayer meeting. Psalm 119 was where I was reading. This is what He said to me. Choose the way of truth. I will strengthen you even though I know you are sad because you wanted those clothes and the lamp. Run in the path of my commands and I will set your heart free. Turn your heart toward my statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn your eyes away from worthless things. I'll preserve your life.

It was really sweet for God to tell me those words. So then as I was leaving there were 2 ladies in the parking lot and I stopped to visit. One was a lady I hadn't officially met so we introduced ourselves. Then a 3rd lady came. As the 4 of us stood talking I found out the new lady I met own's a really pretty clothing boutique downtown.

God used the three ladies to send a message straight to me, and they had no idea God was speaking through their conversation sending a message straight to me. One of the ladies starts talking about OLD NAVY clothing and how the quality isn't that great lately. The recent things she has purchased from there faded and looked very worn after only a few washes. The other ladies were in complete agreement that the clothes they had gotten from there only held up for a season or two.

Well, I got in my bus and laughed with God. That is so like him to put you in a group of women and talk straight to what is going on with your life.

God is such a sweet provider. He sees you. The gut wrenching painful things all the way down to the wants and desires of your heart.

He sees it all and you are not forgotten, nor are the desires of your heart.


(p.s. THE BLOG OF BUGS AND SUNSHINE STILL LOVES OLD NAVY CLOTHING AND REALIZES YOU CAN WASH ANYTHING IN COLD WATER AND LINE DRY IT AND IT WILL LOOK BETTER LONGER. THANK YOU AND HAVE A NICE DAY)

3 comments:

Page McKelvy said...

Girl, that was good! Thanks for taking the time to recount it on your blog. It was good for my heart to hear.

Gretchen said...

I'm proud of you for walking away. And honoring your man (with a good attitude).

Anonymous said...

What a great post! I may print it and tack it up several places. Contentment, contentment--why do you elude me?