Hey- I hope you had a great break over the weekend and you took some time to reflect and be thankful for the blessings in your life. Our family took the time to drive to Idaho and spend some time with my grandparents. It was a wonderful visit.
I've never been a black Friday shopper. Its not my thing. I don't even enjoy regular shopping, so why would I subject myself to abuse on the most shopped day of the year?
Well, being the wonderful husband that I am, I agreed to go with my wife to the 'doorbuster' at Toys r Us. It opened at midnight on Thanksgiving Day. Quite early, or late depending on your point of reference. The reason we were going there, was that we wanted to buy a present for our son that was about 40 dollars cheaper during the sale.
It was Thanksgiving day, it was a toy store, and we were in Spokane Washington, so we figured that there wouldn't be anyone there. We decided to drive over near the store a bit early, grab a cup of coffee and sit in our vehicle and wait for the doors to open.
When we arrived at the store, there was a sea of people that extended farther than my eyes could see. They were all the way down the multi-store building and around the corner. Literally, there must have been over 1000 people waiting in this line. We were amazed.
We parked our vehicle and sat and looked at the line and thought, 'do we really want to go and wait in that line'? It was enormous, and the reality was that even if we waited in the line, we would not have a guarentee of getting what we wanted. Honestly, I was so surprised that there were this many people lined up in the middle of the night at a toy store.
We waited to see what was going to happen at midnight when the doors opened. What happened angered me. Right at midnight, as the line started to move, dozens of people came out from the darkness and attempted to push their way to the front of the line.
You should have heard the screams of the people in line. We were in a closed vehicle and it was loud. They were mad that these people were cutting, and so was I. I hadn't even waited in the line and I thought that it was lame what those people were doing. I can appreciate that they didn't want to wait in that line. I was right there with them. I didn't want to wait in that line either. It was long. It was cold. It looked painful.
As we sat there, we were wondering what we were going to do. Wait or go. Wait or go. I wont go into extended detail because I don't want to divulge our benevolent friends, but this is what I will say- We didn't get in that line. Didn't get out of the vehicle, and God made a way for us to get that present for our Son.
Its amazing how the Lord works to bless us. Someone called us while we were sitting there and we told them what we were doing and they went online and bought us that present for our son so we wouldn't have to wait in that line. It was so surprising. So amazing. So unexpected.
As we were driving away, I couldn't help but think of those line jumpers. I wondered if they realized that God blesses people. That you don't have to crowd someone else, or cut in a line because of fear of not getting what you want.
I know God knows where I am and what I'm doing. It was awesome to receive a tangible blessing without having to crowd a line, or wait in a line with a crowd.
Allow the Lord to bless you this season. Don't get worried. Don't get angry. Don't push to the front of the line. Put your hopes and dreams in His hands no matter how big or small and watch what he does. You'll be surprised.
Have a blessed week.
matt
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