Where to begin...

It amazes me how quickly the time flies by, yet how some journeys seem to take longer than others. My student teaching has come and gone, and while I THOUGHT about writing several times throughout that experience, I didn't actually do it. I wish now that I had. I wish that I had recorded my thoughts and feelings while I was experiencing them, instead of having to play catch-up. Nonetheless, either way gives you a different and valuable perspective. In short, the last 6 months for me have been very busy, but now things have slowed way down. Many turns and forks in the path have come and gone along the way, but I am very content with the present, so I think I'm where I am supposed to be. I plan to write more about that later... Today I just want to share a small anecdote from the day.

Before church, my mom and I decided that we should take a shopping trip today for new boots, as they are on clearance in the stores and ours are in "sad shape." So, after church, my mom, sister, and I loaded up and headed out on a "quick" shopping trip. We had an evening committment that gave us a schedule to stick to. (Easier said than done, but we did pretty good!) During the journey my mom was telling me about some of the things that she's reading in a book written by Max Lucado; he questions whether we are actually praying when we pray and my mom used some examples from the Bible to explain what the author meant. When a whole town would get down on their knees and fervently pray to God for a specific request, they were humbled with answers and sometimes angels. When we pray, it is oftentimes more of an ongoing conversation with God throughout the day. We don't necessarily get into a kneeling position with our hands folded and turn all of our thoughts to God. Perhaps there is a difference in the way that God responds? I'm not sure, but it's something to think about.

I mention that conversation because I believe that it prompted the events that followed shortly after that topic had turned to another. As we were almost to town, my mom put her hand halfway between us and suggested that we pray for our shopping trip. An interesting idea, as it was not something that I ever remember doing. However, I liked the idea, and I took the lead. I gently grabbed her hand and held onto it as I asked God to help us to have a successful shopping trip, to help us find what we were looking for, and to use our time and hard-earned money wisely. We ended the prayer with an Our Father.

As we stopped at the first 4 places, we did not find what we were looking for and our attitudes were being tested because the clock ticked on and the mission was not yet complete. Mom suggested the 5th place, and there we found 2 pair of boots; one for my sister and one for my mom. While they weren't screaming at us for their low price and perfect match, we purchased them and went on to our final stop. However, we got sidetracked by Goodwill (which normally would not call our name, but we were going to drop off some donation items) and went quickly inside. Within 3 minutes, my mom had found a pair of boots for half the cost of the ones she had just purchased and decided to buy those and return the others. The line was not short, so she glanced over at the jackets and asked us if we could find a nice, long coat to replace her dress coat which she just told us earlier today has been missing for a while. Excited by the quest and the spontaneity, we wandered over and almost immediately found a striking coat in good condition. We did not find a size, so we took it over to my mom and she tried it on. It fit nicely, and when we did find the size it was just her size! She decided to buy it along with the boots, and between the two items paid just a dollar or so more than she had paid for the original pair of boots. After that, we went to our final stop to finish the grocery shopping and returned home 5 minutes later than planned.

I know that God did answer our prayer. He led us to boots that are nice and warm and that were a reasonable price, and the side stop at Goodwill was the best, in my opinion. We spent a very short amount of time there and used our money very wisely, buying recycled items instead of brand new. I believe we were right where we were supposed to be.

To add some more thought into this, would our trip have been different if we had REALLY prayed, or prayed in a different manner? Would we have found just what we were looking for at the first stop, paid very little, and returned home earlier than planned? Would Goodwill have been our first stop and held 3 pair of nice, inexpensive boots and a jacket? Am I trying to figure out how God works through these questions and thoughts? Hmm, I'm not sure. But I do know that He works in mysterious ways, and I am grateful for the ways in which he worked today and led us to what we were looking for while keeping us safe and timely.