Let's Get a Deal... or... God is Really in Charge



A couple of years ago, Tara and I went on a wonderful pastor's retreat in Holmes County, Ohio (home of a huge Amish community). On one of our day trips through Amish country, after coming to the conclusion that though Amish furniture is highly superior, we could not realistically afford it, we stumbled upon a wonderful furniture store with really decent prices.

We didn't have the money right at that time to buy anything, but we decided we'd be back. As we moved, we came to the conclusion that we wouldn't have space for our huge office desk (especially since I won't be keeping a designated home office), and since Pastor Dennis (my replacement at NK) didn't have one, we asked him if he'd like ours. Thus we didn't move that heavy beast of a desk, but we still needed something to put our computer(s) on (instead of Tara's craft tables)! We were also looking for two bookshelves, not wanting to (but willing to) settle for the el-cheap-o pressboard kind we already have.


Thus the whole GPS fiasco of last week, where we returned without having found the store or purchasing any furniture.

Now we figured that we knew where the store had to be, so we went back on Monday, only to come to the conclusion (after an entire day of driving, getting lost, and having the only positive being that we did find the P. Graham Dunn store and that we did buy two pieces of artwork at a greatly reduced price from their sale area) that this store is Brigadoon.

When we returned home, Tara decided to check out craig's list for furniture. That very day, someone in Westerville had listed two desks, two bookshelves, and a filing cabinet, all for $400. Can you say "deal"??? So we planned to get the furniture on Wednesday.

Wednesday morning, Tara reserved a rental truck so we could pick the furniture up.

Wednesday afternoon was when things started to get interesting.

After I'd come home from work, a family from church stopped by because while they were at a Christian bookstore, their eight-year-old daughter found an angel ornament with Tara's name on it, and she just had to buy it for Tara. We told them what we were doing later, and the mom said, "My husband has a truck that you could use."

Not only was it a truck, but it had an extended cab so we all could go (and not take two cars).

When we got there, we found the furniture was in excellent shape (the only thing wrong with them is that there are some scratches on the top of the desks, but that's my fault for forgetting to put a blanket between items when I loaded the truck). The couple is moving to Phoenix and selling off many of their (very nice) home furnishings. He even helped us carry the (heavy) stuff out to the truck and load it on. It all fit exactly in the truck.

We got it loaded and headed back for Millersport. Just as we arrived home, two women from church, out walking togther, passed by. They asked, "Do you want some help unloading that?" Shortly we were joined by five teenagers, all eager and willing to help us move. One of them even apologized that they were out of town when we moved in.

When they finished, they were debating whether they would go play basketball or just go for ice cream. They even refused my offer to give them some ice-cream money (I was holding money out at them and they waved it away).

The furniture was exactly what we wanted, and for a fraction of the cost.

Isn't God good?