I would like to start this post by saying it almost never happened. It's been a week since I last posted because I have been so reluctant about telling this story. Quite frankly, I didn't want to tell it. Here's why. When you tell people about something God did for you, and it's not something completely life changing, they tend to think negatively. Example: That's great Karen. God didn't save my grandmother from cancer, but he definitely gave you that brand new Prius. Can I be the first to say that one is not related to the other? Isaiah 55:8 says 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord'. Your experience with God, be it good or bad, had a reason. I can't tell you what that reason is, but I can tell you where to find it.
Now back to my almost never happened story, I have felt God bringing this story to me over and over, and I am finally conceding. This is the story of the blue bunny bucket.
As my family and close friends can attest, I have a certain knack for parties. It really is a talent when you can make a window look like Elsa touched it, in the middle of august. (pride really is the worst.)
A few years ago I volunteered to throw my sister Abby, a baby shower. This was for my niece Oakley who was set to make her appearance in May, and the baby shower was to be in April. The theme was April showers bring May flowers..see what I did there? I decided to have the centerpiece be a bucket with flowers. I set out looking for the perfect buckets. If you have been to one of my parties, you know that I get very caught up in every tiny detail, so I was indeed looking for the most perfect buckets. Easter was just over, so all of the wonderful decorations would be on sale. Jackpot! I found 2 buckets that were just perfect. One was green with a frog on it, and the second was purple with a flower on it. But there were only 2. I needed 4 because that was the number of tables I was using. So off to other Walmart I went. I'm not sure if you're aware just how many walmarts there are in a 50 mile radius, but I hit every one in the next few days. I found a third bucket! Only this one was pink with a butterfly on it. Things were getting complicated for a simple party planner. I had been to every Walmart I could think of and couldn't find any more of these buckets. Here I am looking for a fourth bucket, when I'm not even sure it exists. No one confirmed there was a fourth. Let's just say I had a little faith. Which by definition is an assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
I remember being sent to see a patient (I'm a hospice nurse) some place new. It could have been Lancaster or even Newark for all I know. I just remember seeing a Walmart and thinking, on my lunch break I was going to go, and look for the fourth bucket. My sister's baby shower was coming up quick, and I didn't know what I was going to do. I may have been stressed enough to have an eye twitch by then. I will never forget that search. I looked like a crazy woman on black Friday with a purse full of double coupons. Stuff was flying. I was quite literally crawling onto the shelves, hoping against hope that I could find one of these buckets. At this point give me another green one, or a pink. I'm now sitting in the floor surrounded by the wrong type of buckets, quoting Wizard of Oz (I don't think there's anything in that black bag for me.) I have a huge mess in the Easter clearance aisle. With nothing to show for it. I got up, stacked the buckets back up as nicely as I could, and walked away. I remember walking back to the bathroom, talking to God. I can't remember the whole conversation because I didn't know that years later I would be blogging about it. I do remember telling Him that I knew it was ridiculous how much that dumb bucket meant to me.
On the way out of the store, I walked back past the buckets. I don't know what I expected or why I went that way, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. There on the top of the stack of buckets, was the prettiest bucket I had ever seen. It was blue and had a bunny on it, and matched the others. It was the fourth bucket. The one I had never seen, but was searching for anyway. I know this is going to sound just as crazy as it sounded the first time I said it, but that blue bunny bucket was a miracle. It wasn't possible. I searched every single bucket there. It wasn't there. It wasn't in the next aisle over. I searched there too, just incase someone carried it off. Maybe someone returned it, and a worker brought it back over in the 3 min I took to go to the bathroom, but that doesn't make it any less a miracle.
Now I'm sure it's apparent why I didn't want to tell this story. And I'm honestly thankful that I can't see the eye rolls that may actually occur from reading it. It's also more apparent to me why I needed to tell this story. Luke 12:6-7 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows." God cares about the little things. We are His children, and I think sometimes we forget that. We forget that He is Abba. Most of us have children of our own, so we know how it feels to see their faces light up when given a gift. Why would we think that God would be any different?
This is, from the outside looking in, a silly story. Of all the things for a person to go on about, I just spent an afternoon recounting finding a bucket. But I also just spent an afternoon recounting the Father, giving ordinary little me, a gift.
Now back to my almost never happened story, I have felt God bringing this story to me over and over, and I am finally conceding. This is the story of the blue bunny bucket.
As my family and close friends can attest, I have a certain knack for parties. It really is a talent when you can make a window look like Elsa touched it, in the middle of august. (pride really is the worst.)
A few years ago I volunteered to throw my sister Abby, a baby shower. This was for my niece Oakley who was set to make her appearance in May, and the baby shower was to be in April. The theme was April showers bring May flowers..see what I did there? I decided to have the centerpiece be a bucket with flowers. I set out looking for the perfect buckets. If you have been to one of my parties, you know that I get very caught up in every tiny detail, so I was indeed looking for the most perfect buckets. Easter was just over, so all of the wonderful decorations would be on sale. Jackpot! I found 2 buckets that were just perfect. One was green with a frog on it, and the second was purple with a flower on it. But there were only 2. I needed 4 because that was the number of tables I was using. So off to other Walmart I went. I'm not sure if you're aware just how many walmarts there are in a 50 mile radius, but I hit every one in the next few days. I found a third bucket! Only this one was pink with a butterfly on it. Things were getting complicated for a simple party planner. I had been to every Walmart I could think of and couldn't find any more of these buckets. Here I am looking for a fourth bucket, when I'm not even sure it exists. No one confirmed there was a fourth. Let's just say I had a little faith. Which by definition is an assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
I remember being sent to see a patient (I'm a hospice nurse) some place new. It could have been Lancaster or even Newark for all I know. I just remember seeing a Walmart and thinking, on my lunch break I was going to go, and look for the fourth bucket. My sister's baby shower was coming up quick, and I didn't know what I was going to do. I may have been stressed enough to have an eye twitch by then. I will never forget that search. I looked like a crazy woman on black Friday with a purse full of double coupons. Stuff was flying. I was quite literally crawling onto the shelves, hoping against hope that I could find one of these buckets. At this point give me another green one, or a pink. I'm now sitting in the floor surrounded by the wrong type of buckets, quoting Wizard of Oz (I don't think there's anything in that black bag for me.) I have a huge mess in the Easter clearance aisle. With nothing to show for it. I got up, stacked the buckets back up as nicely as I could, and walked away. I remember walking back to the bathroom, talking to God. I can't remember the whole conversation because I didn't know that years later I would be blogging about it. I do remember telling Him that I knew it was ridiculous how much that dumb bucket meant to me.
On the way out of the store, I walked back past the buckets. I don't know what I expected or why I went that way, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. There on the top of the stack of buckets, was the prettiest bucket I had ever seen. It was blue and had a bunny on it, and matched the others. It was the fourth bucket. The one I had never seen, but was searching for anyway. I know this is going to sound just as crazy as it sounded the first time I said it, but that blue bunny bucket was a miracle. It wasn't possible. I searched every single bucket there. It wasn't there. It wasn't in the next aisle over. I searched there too, just incase someone carried it off. Maybe someone returned it, and a worker brought it back over in the 3 min I took to go to the bathroom, but that doesn't make it any less a miracle.
Now I'm sure it's apparent why I didn't want to tell this story. And I'm honestly thankful that I can't see the eye rolls that may actually occur from reading it. It's also more apparent to me why I needed to tell this story. Luke 12:6-7 "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows." God cares about the little things. We are His children, and I think sometimes we forget that. We forget that He is Abba. Most of us have children of our own, so we know how it feels to see their faces light up when given a gift. Why would we think that God would be any different?
This is, from the outside looking in, a silly story. Of all the things for a person to go on about, I just spent an afternoon recounting finding a bucket. But I also just spent an afternoon recounting the Father, giving ordinary little me, a gift.
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