Answered Prayer...

Having just created a blog last week, still being a "new-to-you" kind of thing, I find that as things happen I think, Oh! I should blog about that! And of course, I'm always busy at the time, but when I eventually do get around to blogging about my interesting occasion, I've forgotten about it, or perhaps it doesn't seem all that interesting after all. And pretty soon, I'm talking myself out blogging all together.

But then something really awesome happens that doesn't lose interest over time!

Sam and I had recently been painting the upstairs of the house, and put in a new bathroom floor--it needed it badly! The better things got to looking, with the new coat of paint and floor, the more we noticed those things that weren't looking so good and they suddenly seemed to look even worse than before. One of these things was curtains. I know, nothing major--certainly not life and death here. But still, they were looking pretty hideous. And many of you know Sam--he has an amazing appreciation for beautiful things. Just had to remind you of this. :) Being the upstairs--a guest bedroom--we both decided that we weren't going to spend a whole of of money on this, and that a pair of "decent" curtains would do. (one set of curtains for the guest bedroom, the other for the sewing room)

Sam's top priority with most things is usually: What does it look like? While mine is: How much does it cost? So you see, we're a perfect fit.

Keeping my priority in mind, I went to WalMart. :) There, I found four, plain white panels sold in two's for $10. Would have cost only $20 plus tax for the four. And they were the only ones there I would have paid for. I'm usually a pretty easy, "anything-goes" type person. But, as all of you wives know, you're no longer just thinking about your priorities. You've got his to think about too. After mulling over just what "decent curtains" meant, I turned them down, thinking he would not like just plain white panels. When I got home, I told him about what I found (and showed him a couple pictures I took with my iphone) and surprisingly he said, "why didn't you get them?" BAH! You think you know them so well....

So, I decided to go back the next week and pick them up. Next week comes, and sure enough, they were gone. At walmart.com, it showed that they had them in stock in the Fort Campbell WalMart. So that Sunday, I toodled my way up there. Nope. Nothing. So, I went on to Oakgrove, KY, the next town over. There they were! Plain, white panels. I was so excited, till I hung them up and took a step back. Ugly. Terrible. No valance. Just two panels. I was surprised that I was being so picky. Me? The used-to-be Sarah Ellis. Everyone knows she doesn't care about this kind of thing, does she? She does now, because she hated those curtains!

No surprise, Sam did not like them either. That meant another trip back to WalMart.

 In the meantime....

A couple weeks ago, I realized that I'd been sticking my head in the sand about a certain something (no details, please!) and I finally got serious enough to get my head out and face the issue. I prayed and prayed and prayed about it.

At the end of my prayer--and I hadn't planned it this way--but I ended up praying about the curtains. I told God about both Sam's and my afore mentioned priorities and then went on to say how this seemed silly after praying about such a serious thing; that these curtains certainly aren't a need. They're not important. We don't NEED them. How silly. And I ended up resolving, "if You provide them (the curtains), what an incredible blessing. If You don't, thank You for helping us be patient with it." Like I said, I almost felt a little rediculous praying about the curtains after such a serious issue at hand.

It just so happens, that day, Sam asked me to go to a couple different stores to look specifically for curtains. I even had a 20% off coupon for one store--I thought for sure I'd find something there.

As it turns out, every store I went to had curtains that just weren't practical for our guest bedroom and for our budget. Lastly, once again I found myself at good ole WalMart. I figured I'd look one more time. You never know. Going down the curtain isle, I found two sets of curtains, identical, each including two panels and a valance. Perfect. But they seemed to be misplaced, as they had no price on them. They were an ivory colour, and pretty. Again, I thought, you never know, so I picked them up and decided I would get a price check on them. As I left that isle, I peeked down the one right next to it, not really anticipating anything when RED caught my eye. Could it be? 

So, I detoured down the isle and yes, it was! A clearace isle! They've never had a clearance isle here before!--I've scouted them all out. And don't pretend you haven't done the same! ha ha! (In fact, I went back just last week to see, and it was gone!)

I began rummaging. Pillows, sheets, blankets, tablecloths....curtains! And several selections! But there were two that caught my eye that were perfect! And only $10 each (for a set--two panels and a valance). How incredible! I almost put the other curtains back when a Wal Mart employee came through the isle with a price gun. What. Okay, I just had to check the price. They too were only $10. That was four pair--two more than I needed. Not only did God provide the curtains, He provided options!

The amazing part of all this was that in providing even what we didn't need, I realized just how much more assuredly will He provide the things we do need. It was quite an incredible lesson and an answered prayer in more ways than one!

Here's one set of curtains we got.