What do you make of this?

I (Kerry) had a really strange thing happen to me last week. Just had to share.

Back in February or so a friend of mine asked if she could borrow my carpet shampooer to get her house ready to move out of. I agreed and gave her the cleaner. About a day or 2 later I was in the basement and noticed a 4x4 inch piece for the machine sitting near the freezer. I made a mental note that my friend was going to need that piece in order to run the machine. What I did after that is a mystery. Sure enough, she called me a day or so later saying the machine wasn't working. I told her I had the piece for it and would bring it right over. Well... I couldn't find the piece--anywhere. I literally looked for that piece feverishly for weeks-- nowhere. I finally decided I must have accidentally thrown it away. My friend eventually returned the machine and borrowed someone elses.

Apart from being embarrassed I was also frustrated. How could I have lost that piece? Now I couldn't even use the $200 machine because of a tiny piece of plastic! For the rest of the summer I looked for that piece-everywhere. I even gutted and rearranged the corner I had last seen it in. Nothing.

So, last Monday I figured my carpets were desperate. I called the Hoover company and asked the man for the # for the piece. Keith was vacuuming upstairs so I went to the basement to make the call. The moment (and I mean the exact moment) I told the man to bill me for the piece I needed I glanced up and.... yep, there, sitting on the shelf not even 3 feet from me in broad daylight was the piece I had been looking for for over 5 months. The shelf it was sitting on was one I had reorganized only a few weeks earlier.... how? I think the man on the phone was convinced I was nuts--no affirmative comments please.

I am absolutely baffled at the possibility of this and can almost picture God chuckling away at a practical joke. I'm glad. I didn't have to buy the piece and my carpets are thanking me.... but, boy, that was just plain weird!

A Glimmer of Hope

Kristen and I had a bit of a "bad day" the other day and I challenged her on her behavior. Later Keith found this note taped to her wall. I was a great reminder that while this parenting journey holds plenty of responsibility for us as their parents.... ultimately, their hearts are His work. I just had to share this glimmer of hope!