Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Patio Furniture that Made Me Cry


It never ceases to amaze me the way God really does give us the desires of our heart, big or small, a need and even a want. Yet, I also understand that ultimately our desire is for Him alone, He is the desire of our heart, and in that He still shows us such sweet glimpses of His love towards us.
So when I get to experience God at work in ways that reflect His intimacy and thoughts and love towards me, I could just lay down and cry. This story I am about to lay out, may seem insignificant or trite to some, but I truly sit in awe of my  God...a God who sees me, knows me and gives me things that even I don’t deem as that important.

It’s springtime here in Ohio and when the weather's nice everyone and their dog, literally, is outside. In our new home we have a nice deck and a patio, however, we have no patio furniture as we had to leave it behind when we moved. Although we did claim one small janky table for four we picked up along the way but  has no chairs. Anyway, I thought maybe I could just buy some chairs to go with this small table so we could enjoy the outdoors and the fire pit that is on back patio. Aldi, is my store, and of course they had a great deal on some chairs. They were decent, and the first time I saw them I thought maybe I should just go ahead and buy these. Mind you, they were a good price and decent quality. But there in the middle of Aldi, I sensed God telling me no. Not going to lie, I may have argued a bit with God in the store as to why not...really...they are inexpensive. So I thought ok, I will talk to Bill, my husband about it first. Then we were both in Aldi not much longer after that and I showed him the chairs, and now they had cute adirondack chairs as well to choose from. Once again, nothing wrong with them, good price, etc, but still I just kept sensing God telling me to wait. Another small argument may have pursued once again as I questioned God because don’t  we all just love to wait! So I thought well maybe God was wanting me to wait because I should get them somewhere else. That was a negative as well. It was just this sense from God to wait, don’t jump ahead, be obedient in what He was asking.
Pause for a moment, we have a wedding that is coming in 6 months for our oldest daughter. While our son is married, we have yet to be on the other side as the bride’s parents. This translates, no spending, we have a wedding to pay for and 2 still in college! I tried to dismiss this want and I could justify the need of some chairs to sit in on my patio because after all we are going to be hosting a Young Professionals Home group soon.

Skip ahead about a week, as I had put the chairs in a holding pattern. Bill came home and I was on phone so he got ready to go ride his bike, but when I got off phone he could see that I really wanted to go on our walk as usual with the dog. Bless him, he changed out of biking clothes to go with me and Sadie, but he asked if I wanted to go over to neighborhood where Mary Allyson was going to get married at  the country club. It would be a praise walk, a thank you Jesus walk, as only God could put together this venue for Mary Allyson to get married. This is another story for another day.  On our way back from country club to home, our eyes locked on something set at the street at about the same time. Could it be, was that really a patio table and six chairs sitting at the curb? Why yes it was. I about broke out into a run. Just as we were getting there I could see that the table had cardboard and duct tape all over as if it had cracked or been broken, so my heart sank. Then about the time we got to this furniture on side of road the owner comes out and we ask her about it. She said it’s free, trash day is tomorrow. She continues to tell us it’s all good aside from some rust and that the table is in excellent shape, they just had protected it. Now I really did about break out into a run to bust a move home to get the “big ol burb” (aka suburban) to load this up. Bill and I laughed, because we said, if God has put that there for us, He’s going to keep it there until we can get back to load it. And realistically, there probably weren't many like us who have no shame but to haul free patio furniture from the street to their house. We don’t even wait to do it in the cover of the night, no shame for us we do it in the busiest time of the neighborhood with people coming home from work and kids being carted off to dance and LaCrosse.  

In the midst of this, I just kept asking Bill, how does God do this. And He does it in such a way you know it’s Him and what He’s giving is even better than what you were thinking. This is where I just want to lay down and cry and say thank you God. You truly know me, even these kinds of desires in my heart, patio furniture.  Let me say, God makes obeying fun, especially when we get to watch him work like this. This is when I was thankful I felt his nudging to wait because He showed up with so much more and in a way I knew it only could be from God. The other part of this story was Bill deciding to go on walk with me instead of bike ride and our decision to take a different walking route this time to thank God for his goodness in allowing for the wedding venue. Obedience and self sacrifice is key! We both got to see God at work and provide in only the way He can. As Beth Moore says, “There ain’t no high like the most high!”  I just get giddy watching God do things like this.  Side note, I am sure the neighbors got more than giddy as they watched me and Bill load the suburban with a round table and six swivel and rock chairs! Who knows, if they were videoing we may go viral!

If you’re waiting on something from God, whether it’s as small and what I thought insignificant to God, keep trusting, keep obeying, keep listening to His leading because what He’s going to give us is the “immeasurably more.”  The immeasurably more may come in that “thing” we are waiting on, but always in the way we get to see Him work! “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20

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