When Placemats are profound

One of the things that I like most about God is that He is flexible in how He approaches us. For example: I am stubborn and hard-headed - I KNOW total shocker! - and yet God seems to find a way to get through to me as long as I am listening. Sometimes though, I stop listening. I think that I am listening and praying but what I really am doing is pouting and whining. And lately I have been doing a lot more than usual!

I been wrestling with God about a lot of different things ( see previous posts) , one of the main things I have been wrestling with is the fact that I am not seeing hopes and dreams fulfilled. A prime example of this is my state of singleness. It is no secret that I would like to be married. So often I have looked at my life and said "what more do I need to do?" And there are no answers. My heart says that He has the timing, my mind asks when. My heart says "He knows the desires of my heart" ; my mind says "am I good enough, or has God forgotten me?" I had begun to list to God all the ways that I felt He had failed me. I remembered all the prayers that seemed to go unanswered.

In the middle of all this there was a party for my birthday!! An amazing woman named Nel passed me a card that said a gift was in the construction phase and that I would be recieving it soon. What a blessing! Someone was making something FOR me!

Time passed, and the curiosity built, and others who also knew her would see my gift in process and drop little remarks to me about how beautiful and amazing it all was. I didn't ask, I didn't push, and each time Nel mentioned the gift, I would smile and say that anticipation increases the enjoyment! It would cross my mind occasionally as I tried to imagine what it was that was being delayed by "technical dificulties"!

And then it happened! Nel approached me and said that the day was coming soon, it would be 10 days! All the waiting would be over! 10 days later....... nothing........ another week went by ..... nothing. Each time knew I would be seeing her my hopes raised a little.

Meanwhile in completely unrelated events, I kept whining. I kept harrassing God and whoever else would listen that I was tired of waiting to see the deepest desires of my heart fulfilled. I didn't have any strength left to continue waiting. It felt like God had never met any of my needs and that I was not welcome at the table of His abundant life. To top everything else off, I remembered the gift. Not asked for, not specified, I didn't even know what was coming my way, but all of a sudden, this gift became the "smoking gun" in my case proving that I had been wronged by God. It felt as though even the insignificant things were not even worth His time for me.

Often in the past God has used everyday moments to illustrate to me profound truths. I suppose in the same way that Jesus talked about seed to farmers and fish to fishermen. I like that God knows me well enough to speak to me in that way. In this case though, I spoke to Him with an everyday parable about my disappointment!

As I walked in to church on Thanksgiving Sunday I saw Nel's husband. He said I should make sure and find his wife! With a smile I went and found her. Inside the beautiful wrapping were STUNNING embroidered placemats for my new home, so beautiful it took my breath away!! I was taken aback at how extraordinary they were, each one so obviously invested in with time and energy. I was blown away that someone would spend all that time crafting something just for me.

And then it happened! Right there within about 1 minute of seeing them for the first time, I heard it. That quiet, smiling- not gloating, - voice of Holy Spirit, saying, "amazing, more than you could have imagined, made with Laura in mind, beyond the scope of your imagination to even dream up much less hope for something so beautiful! What does that sound like??" And of course I knew. God had used those Placemats to remind me that He has all the details worked out for my life and He has the timing!!

Even though they are different than I would have thought I wanted for my kitchen, these placemats are the perfect colour. They are of a design that I don't think I would have liked in concept but LOVE now that I see it. There is a set of 8 with two different designs-if you know me well, you know that is PERFECT for the way I like to decorate!

To top it all off, later that day I remembered some cloth napkins that I had bought a year ago on vacation. I like to have a full set of whatever I am buying, so I bought 8. What I didn't think of though is a table cloth or placemats. I try to use the napkins wherever I can to add a little colour, but on Saturday I said to myself, "I really wish that I had SOMETHING to go with these napkins. I should keep my eyes open for a table cloth or something" Guess what goes with my placemats!

So I am reminded that there is nothing that is out of God's hands and keeping. That if He has taken interest in even the smallest details of my life, then surely the multi-layered perfect fit approach to answering my prayers will translate to the bigger things - like those hopes and dreams...... and a husband!!

Just in time, God has rescued me from myself and provided a much needed injection of strength to run this race in His timing.

For that I say to Him "Thank You".... and I'm sorry for all that other stuff I said!