The Little Things

I am always amazed by the things God does.  From the colors He paints in the sky and earth, the birth of babies and the animals He has created, all are so intricately designed that I am caught up in the wonder of it all.  However, rarely do I think about how He plans even the smallest things, and how they bless our lives. 

This year has been particularly hard for everyone.  I have not been excluded from that list.  Even though I am retired, I find that between working part time, running to the nursing home on a daily basis to take care of Dad’s needs, and taking care of my own needs and those of my family, I cannot seem to find enough time or energy to finish everything I have to do.  Add to that the deaths of some very special people in my life, and this last two weeks, the severe illness of my brother and the need for a trip to Colorado to sit at his bedside, and you have the recipe for a human meltdown. 

When I got home from Colorado last Monday, I felt like I had been run over by a semi-truck.  Tuesday was a little better, maybe just a run-over by a Volkswagen Bus.  Wednesday was a definite improvement, just a VW bug, but then the reality of everything began to hit home, and I felt overwhelmed by all that had to be done, and my lack of energy to do it.  Laundry for Dad and his never-ending shopping list, plus his “quality time” which consists of sitting with him, no matter what, and all the other things he has requested, sometimes makes me feel frustrated and lacking in ability.  One of those things included making a curtain for a cabinet that my son was “requested” to make for him, was on my long list of to-do, and the thought of having to finish this left me almost not caring enough to do anything.  By the way, if you haven’t noticed from the preceding paragraph, Dad is mostly a very demanding person.  He still hasn’t gotten over being a Marine Sergeant, even though it has been some 65 years since he last was one.  It appears sometimes that I was born to be one of his “grunts.”

I can’t get around to everything, and last week, on top of my grief and exhausted state, I had reached the “I don’t care anymore” mode.  Then, I received a call from my son and daughter-in-law.  He had finished the cabinet for my dad, and had sent me pictures of it.  I was not really enthusiastic about looking at them, for all I could think of was that I now had to dig out the sewing machine, go to the store to find the right fabric (which Dad is very particular about) and then measure, cut, sew and install the thing. 

When I opened the picture, I was amazed.  There, in front of my eyes, was the cabinet, finished, WITH THE CURTAIN INSTALLED IN THE APPROPRIATE FABRIC, PERFECTLY FITTED!  

I nearly cried.  I asked Amy if she had made the curtain, and she said she hadn’t.  It seems that some “pillow cases” that my other daughter-in-law had asked Amy to hold for her 5 years ago when they were moving from their first house turned up a year ago.  Amy had diligently held on to them, until last year, when she asked Judy if she wanted them back.  Amy was holding yard sales to get rid of stuff, and Judy told her just to keep them to sell.  Which Amy thought she had done.  However, last week, while going through things, she found them and took them to her sister, who she thought might need some pillowcases.  When her sister opened them up, she found that they were not pillowcases after all. It was one curtain.  Only one-half of a set.  Amy took it home, and later wondered if it would fit the cabinet.  To her amazement, it fit perfectly, even though the cabinet opening is not a standard size.

Here is where the minor miracle became apparent.  God had foreseen, 5 YEARS AGO, that I was going to be in a terrible state this last week.  He had carefully hidden that curtain away, so it would not be given away or sold.  He knew exactly when I would need something to give me encouragement, He knew just what it would be down to color, texture and size, and He knew just whose hands to put it in.

God has planned for the needs and wants we will have in our lives, down to the minutest of things.  Of course, He does great sunsets, fantastic wonders in the earth, and amazing big things, but He also does curtains.  
Copyright © 2011 by Susan Linn-Gomez. All Rights Reserved.