So I love a good bargain. It gives me a thrill to find something for nothing. I love yard sales, thrift stores and the bargain bin at Goodwill for just that reason.
I especially love when I find something I had already been dreaming and thinking about it. Like when I had been thinking about getting a new rug for my living room and then go to Goodwill and get a brand new rug from Target for only $11.97. Yes, that makes me so happy. And I feel almost as if those special bargains are little love notes from God. Because He knows about the little things. He knows the Big desires of my hearts but also the little things that make me happy.
So we have had this blue couch sitting in our living room. And for the past two months since we have gotten our new
couch I have debated what to do with the old one. It is a love seat that was one of my brother and sister in laws first new pieces of furniture they bought when they married 15 plus years ago. Their family with four kids used it for many years and then passed it on to us about 5 years ago. The color blue has faded to a gray dingy color with spots on the arms where little children have wiped off greasy hands while enjoying movie and popcorn nights. The stuffing is coming out in several holes in the cushions where eight different children have enjoyed jumping and dismantling them into forts. It is the velveteen rabbit of a couch...it has been well loved. I love the shabby chic look but this was beyond that and it was an eyesore.
So I had debated possibly slip covering the couch and even looked for one online and craigslist but then decided it was not even worth the money. Burn pile?
So Monday while rummaging at the Goodwill Bargain Room I found two couch slipcovers including one for a love seat and when i took them to the register the grand total was $2.12. I was giddy. I came home and tried it on....and I like it. The $1 transformation worked.
Well as I was sitting in my newly arranged living room with my $1 slip covered couch I was thinking about the different things I had looked at online or design blogs and then found at Goodwill. I was thinking how it is crazy that happens. Then I started thinking about the Big dreams and desires I have. What if I spent as much diligence pursuing them as I do thrift hunting. What would happen!? It is exciting to think about. I have seen God fulfill desires of my heart both big and small recently. But I also realize how too often I don't let myself dream or even acknowledge the desires of my heart. It is fine to get excited and step out in a $12 rug or a $1 slipcover because there is not much at risk. But can I be real and get excited about the big things...the deep desires?
Yes, and I must. Because God has a huge "Bargain Room" in Heaven waiting to bless me. And it is not second rate or second best. It is good because He is good. I say "
God is good" but then sometimes the way that I approach God and life says otherwise.
But I want to know that in my heart and walk in that knowing "He is Good. He is LOVE. He delights in His children."
I want to not hold back my dreams and desires for fear of being disappointed. That is no way to live.
I am excited to sit on my new couch and dream....
