Shopping with God

I've been saving up my pennies for a couple of months now, needing a few pieces of furniture. I shop thrifts - or I should say THE thrift since Houghton Lake only really has one of any size. The St. Vincent dePaul store is very large and I can spend hours just wandering around that place, but whenever I've wanted something specific I've not had much luck there. But Pete had to go to work at 2:00 so I got up early (for a Saturday, my only day to sleep in all week) for a planned outing to St.V's that I'd been planning all week. I was SO hopeful to find at least one of the items I needed, for a decent price...

So we got to St. V's right after they opened. I walked in the door to the furniture side of the building and saw it right away: the loveseat of my dreams. Actually it is for Casey, as the chairs in our living room aren't made for lounging in and cuddling a baby. Small living room, the 2 recliners that Pete and I sit in, and 2 other "company chairs"...when Casey moved back home there wasn't a cozy chair for her. Since the room is too small for a sofa, Casey has wanted a nice cozy loveseat for herself and her baby to cuddle in.

So right there, just a few pieces from the door was a cozy overstuffed loveseat. My living room has a rose carpet and I use sage, beige, and wine colors with it. It was sage. Nice fat arms so she could lay her head on them comfortably, and the baby can tuck into the corner. Little indentations at the ends for her head. Very VERY comfortable-looking. Then I started to jiggle it to make sure it was as sturdy as it looks...and it ROCKS! She can even rock Leelan on it! Amazing, I couldn't have ordered one more perfect!

Something else I needed: a table for my keyboard. It's sitting on a table that my mom gave me but my sister needs back to complete a set. It's about 2" too high anyway, for comfortable playing, at 29". I measured it so that I could try to find the right height this time...but of course then I forgot to bring my tape measure. When I saw a table that would be ideal (not only the right size, but sturdy, and has casters!), I realized I had no way to measure it. But for $15 I thought I'd get it anyway since it was perfect in every other way...got it home, and guess what? It's 27" high!

Also needed a small table or very small desk for the new (used) computer I just got to use with my keyboard, that would fit in the small area next to it. Yup, found it. A rather large, taller-than-normal end table. Perfect, without taking up too much space. Perfect color of wood too, it blends right in.

And I didn't have any hope at all of finding a stool to use with whatever table I'd find. But there it was, right at the end of the aisle, a good sturdy, strong stool...with a wine-colored seat that matches my other living room accents!

I was hoping to find just one of the things I needed...but found all 4, and it was like every single one of them was made specifically for the purpose I needed it for, and in the perfect sizes and colors!

The loveseat, being used, had some small blemishes on the seat and on the back, nothing too worrisome but I thought a twin sheet would cover it. On the other side of the store, where the household items are, I glanced quickly at the twin flat sheets, and there it was: a beige sheet with a rose, wine, and sage colored subtle floral pattern! No WAY! For 75c I snatched it up!

We also, of course, looked at the toys. A couple of days ago Casey mentioned that she wanted to get Leelan one of those big floor toys that, when you step on different places, it plays music. Well, they had one there. A nicer one than I've ever seen, very colorful, lots of different instruments represented, etc. In like-new condition. So I grabbed it. For a buck.

On the way out, a chopper, like I use for herbs and things. Since mine just developed a crack in the lid I've had in the back of my mind that "sometime I'll have to get another one". There was a very nice one on the shelf, a Cuisinart which is much better than my previous $10 Walmart special, for $2.50. That completed my purchases.

I love shopping with God :). He always makes my paths straight and supplies my needs, but today He just made it really obvious!