{This post originally appeared on my other blog, Thrilled by the Thought, in 2015.}
It’s been a rough year and a half. If I don’t say that here very often (but I think I do), I say it at home enough to now be sounding like a broken record. From health problems to finance problems to unemployment to depression, we’re pretty worn out.
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You know the saying, “Whenever one door closes, another door opens”?
Well, in our lives, someone got the door order wrong. It’s flipped so that: Whenever one door opens, another closes. Just as we fix a problem, there’s a new HA-UGE problem waiting in the wings, bursting at the seams to make its grand entrance.
And when it steps onto the stage all proud and fat, we’re like, “Hey huge problem, you’re not part of this play.”
And it’s like, “I don’t ca-are,” in its best sing-song voice.
And we tell it, “No really. You’re not even an understudy. Why are you here? You don’t belong.”
And it’s so unaware of how obnoxious it is that it sings, “I belong wherever I want to belong! Neener, neener, neener.”
And we just sit there, watching its hideousness unfold. We shake our heads at how inappropriate and rude it is as it tap dances (very poorly) and pushes aside all the parts of the play we were really enjoying.
Sometimes, in our lowest moments, we feel God hates us. Even though we know that’s not true.
But yesterday, I remembered that without a doubt, God does love me. And He cares about little things.
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My sweet 4-year-old Emma desperately wants footie pajamas with a snap over the zipper at the top. She has a pair of froggie footie pajamas she’s loved so much her toes are poking little holes through the footies. She will frequently ask me throughout the day with a little bit of alarm, “Mom! Where are my froggie jammies?” Quite often, she’s so worried about them, she’ll need them on her body — stat. And even if it’s 2:00 in the afternoon, you’ll find her ready for bed, clad in footie froggie jammies.
But there’s one drawback to her froggie jammies. They don’t have a snap. Oh, how much she wants and needs a snap. I’ve looked for footie jammies with snaps in her size, and they just don’t come with snaps at this age anymore. I keep telling her this, and she keeps insisting on her need.
Would you believe it — I’ve actually prayed to find some footie jammies with a snap for my sweet girl for Christmas because she wants them so bad.
Right now, there’s no room in the budget for anything “extra,” which only makes the task of finding something so specific that much harder. I’ve had to get creative in our shopping. Yesterday, I went to a second-hand kids’ clothing store and began browsing through the 4T jammies. No snap. No snap. No snap. No snap. This wasn’t my first search, and I was getting discouraged.
Then, on the last pair, I found the one and only pair of footie jammies with a snap. And its design?
Polar bears and penguins — Emma’s two favorite animals. (Aside from a hyena. But I’m not sure anybody makes hyena jammies.)
And they were only $5.
I cried right there in Kid 2 Kid because — really, how could that have worked out more perfectly?
The only way it could have been more perfect was if I could find a pair of jammies with a polar bear or penguin for Lydia (who is also obsessed with the two animals).
And I did.
God does loves me, and He loves my penguin/polar bear loving children.
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