If you wear an “Orphan” shirt you get clean clothes.
A story about God's
attention to details.
Have you ever had "one of those days"? Well last
Thursday was "one of those days" for me.
It was definitely not a normal day. It reminded me of a couple of
my favorite children's books; If you give a mouse a cookie. or If you
give a moose a muffin. The premise of these books is: once you do one thing
then something else will happen causing another event and so on. A
"snowball effect" if you will. Well that is how last Thursday went.
The following was written last Thursday night, August 21st, 2014
and summarizes that days events.
It all began the previous Friday (August 15th) when we were packing
up our Orange Park home and traveling to High Springs to "close" on
our new home. (We never got to "close" on our home until Wednesday,
August 20- but that's a story for another day). We ended up leaving a bag of
dirty clothes at our Orange Park house. A friend in OP took them to their home
and she washed them for us.
Now jump forward to Wednesday, August 20. We closed on our High
Springs home. Wednesday night we stayed in our new home.
Now on Thursday, August 21 at 7am Pastor Derek, Big Bob, Little
Bob and Darren came to help us unload a trailer full of our gear into our
garage. I cleaned up and hit the road to Jacksonville. I had been planning for
months to attend a Jacksonville Baptist Association workshop on Preaching with
the guest speaker H.B. Charles Jr. I was very excited to attend and to learn
from an excellent preacher and communicator. On my way to Jacksonville I
received a phone call from our friend and OP realtor Jenny Mosley. She informed
me that a LARGE limb had fallen in the backyard of our OP home. When I say
LARGE I mean over 20 feet long and a diameter of eighteen inches at the widest
part. Based on the preliminary inspection, no damage to the home could be seen.
The only damage she could see at this point was to our playground jungle gym,
our metal picnic table and chairs and our zip-line were all now trash,
flattened, totaled by the limb.
I debated if I should skip the preaching seminar and go straight
to my OP home and begin working. After speaking to Tricia we decided that the
tree limb was a distraction by the enemy and it was best for me to go to the
seminar. (I am soooo glad that I did!) I was truly blessed and inspired during
the workshop. I was challenged and encouraged. Following the workshop I went to
my OP house. I pulled up just as the tree guys arrived. After their initial
assessment they began to remove the LARGE limb. As they began to remove the
limb we discovered not one but four punctures into the roof with one
penetrating all the way into the ceiling of our play room.
So by now you are probably wondering when I will get to the
"clean clothes" part. "Hold your britches" I'm getting
there! (Shelvin, that little joke was for you- miss you buddy). Anyway, as the
tree guys began working I left the house to return a trailer that was loaned to
me by a friend. On my way I passed "Papa" Jim Garner. I swung around
and met up with him. He is a friend, mentor, prayer partner, advisor and all
around great guy! Anyway I meet up with him and he gives me a box of clothes that
"Granny" Alice Garner had washed for us. (See where I'm going with
this?) Ok, so Papa Jim joins me in my adventures for the rest of the day. We
ended up not being able to return the trailer at that time so we head back to
the OP home again. As I walk out back to see how the work is progressing I
overhear one of the workers say to Jenny, "My Uncle is a roofer and if you
want we can do the job today for $. As I walk up this tree guy and Jenny turn
and face me and we discuss the repair options and agree on a price. The
tree/roofer guy tells me that my job is to go and get the supplies (this will
save him time and me money). So, he provides me with samples of the roof
material that I need to match and gives me a list of supplies needed. Papa Jim
and I head to Lowe's with the trailer still on my car (luckily I was not able
to return it earlier). Lowe's does not have what we need and neither does Home
Depot. We were referred to a roofing supply place in Jax. So I call them up and
discover that I have one hour before they close. Papa Jim and I look at each
other and we both say, "It's gonna be close." It was a little after
four by this point and they close at five. The store we need to travel to is
Jax, over on Phillips Hwy, it is about five miles from where I was this very
morning for the Preaching workshop. We take off. We get to the roofers supply
place by 4:30ish- no I did not speed- get the supplies and get back to our OP
house by 5:15ish. Not sure how we did all of that but we did. If you know
anything about Jax traffic this was a miracle in itself this time of day. Thank
you God! We hit almost every green light between Orange Park (Blanding &
Kingsley) all the way to Jax on Philips and back over the bridge and to the
house. It was truly a cool God thing. Every light we came to Papa Jim would say
"You got another green, how are you doing that." We would just smile
at each other and say, "Thank you God."
We drop off the roofing supplies at the OP home then we go and
deliver the trailer to my friend. We spend a few minutes talking with him, have
a cool God conversation then onto grab a bite in the drive through and get back
to the house. We begin talking to the roofers and find out that the reason this
guy had mentioned to Jenny about doing the roof was because he had read my
shirt (One of my favorite shirts-all about caring for orphans in Christ name)
and saw that I was a believer. He knew it looked liked rain and he did not want
me to be stuck with water damage. Both he and his Uncle had worked very hard,
physically demanding jobs all day and by now it was 7:50pm. We continued to
have a great dialogue about Jesus and I got to share my "story" with
them. They finish the roof and ask me what to do with the extra (left over
supplies) I tell them to take them and use them to help someone else. They say
that they know just the right person. They tell me about a person in their
neighborhood with a trap on their roof. It's about 9:30pm and they leave. I
head to Papa Jim's to take a shower and crash for the night with clean clothes.
You see God knew way back on that Friday that I would need clean
clothes on this Thursday. He allowed us to forget them and for me to be able to
have them when I needed them. God knew that I did not need a hole in my roof
but He knew that someone else needed their roof fixed. It would have been very
easy for me to get mad at God and others that day. I could have become very
depressed and frustrated over the money and time and change of "my"
plans from the events of that day. Here is the reality- God is always at work
around us. Most of the time we miss it. We get so wrapped up in "our"
plans that we may miss what He is doing. No way around it- this day was
"YUK" in many ways BUT I choose to look for the good in the fog of
the junk going on around me that day! God allowed me to share my story to
several people that day. Who knows how many people were watching me and maybe
saw a little of Jesus in me. God was at work in the details and I am blessed!
Remember, take time to look for God all around you! Listen for opportunities to
share your story!
So- here is a fun If you give a Mouse a Cookie style wrap
up!
If you close on the house then you sleep at the new house.
If you sleep at the house then you have to unload the trailer
into the garage.
When you unload the trailer you will need to travel to
Jacksonville.
When you travel to Jax you get the call about the tree limb.
When you get a call about a tree limb you go to the preaching
workshop.
When you go to the preaching workshop you go to the house and get
there just in time to meet the roofing guys.
When you meet the Roofing guys one of them sees my orphan shirt.
When one of them see my Orphan shirt he thinks I am a believer.
As he is thinking I am a believer I try to return the trailer.
As I try to return the borrowed trailer I see Papa Jim and turn
around.
As I turn around to see Papa Jim I get a call that i can't return
the trailer at that time.
Because i can't return the trailer I go back to my house and
overhear an offer to fix my roof.
As I over hear an offer to fix my roof I realize I still have the
trailer.
Because I still have the trailer I go get roofing supplies
(travel to Jax and back in record time)
After getting the roofing supplies I go to the house and drop off
supplies.
After I drop off the supplies I deliver the trailer and have a
God conversation.
After the God conversation I go back to the OP home and talk to
the roofers.
While talking to the roofers I get to share my "story".
As I share my story we get to talk about Jesus and blessing others.
As we talk about blessing others I get my roof fixed before it
rains for a great price!
Because I wore a shirt taking about Jesus I get to bless someone
else with a roof.
Because I kept my focus in the middle of the storm I see Jesus.
Because sees the BIG picture I Have clean clothes to wear after a
long, weird, not planned day!
Thank you God for one crazy day and for clean clothes to wear!
Always remember- God has the plan. We just have to choose to
follow!
Now, let's see what tomorrow holds!
Blessings!
Skipper
Children's books referenced: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Moose a Muffin by
Laura Numeroff
