She Spilled the Beans

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Matthew 6:7-8

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:28-29

I took eddabody (the way most of our kids have pronounced "everybody" as toddlers) for a big grocery run the other day. Lately, I've taken to going on weekends so that BB can watch a few (or all) during shopping runs. We were WAY out of food, after our Christmas trip east, and even though it was one of the coldest days we've had, it was obviously necessary to venture out. Oh, I AM a cold-weather weenie!


The girls did well, and it was a long endeavor at our gi-normous "super" grocery store. Near the end, I was losing it though, energy wise....pushing that heavy cart pretty slowly and praying silently for some extra strength and endurance. The combination of early pregnancy and lunchtime nearing made for weak and tired me!


As we grabbed one of the last few items on our list, it happened. MK had been tossing a bag of dry black beans up in the air and catching it (I just wasn't paying attention - trying to find some Cetaphil!). And, predictably, at some point she failed to catch it and it split open on the floor there in the health and beauty aids section. Inside, I was grrrrr, about to say, "See, you ought not be tossing a bag of beans because this is what will happen!" But, the Holy Spirit made me bite my tongue, thankfully. I rather ignored the accident, except to carefully slide the beans aside so no one would trip on them.

Getting a new bag of beans meant slogging (that's how it felt at this point) to the other side of our it-must-be-10-acres-big store. We needed the beans, though, so off we went.


Beans acquired, the five of us head toward checkouts. This meant passing what I'll call the "gourmet chef sampling station." For real - a chef cooks up amazing 3 course "meals" and hands out small portions of each on little plates. Do you see where I'm heading here? During my time with the Lord the next day, He made me see: the spilled beans were an answer to prayer, a sovereign act of my God, which resulted in giving me the energy I needed to finish the shopping. The chef gave us plates with crazy good marinated chicken, beef and noodle soup, and green beans. What the kids didn't like/want, I ate. And it really was exactly what I needed, when I needed it. Perked the little ones up, too. (I can only imagine how I looked, standing there near the cheese department, scarfing down several tiny servings of food....)

This little situation taught me a lot. Mostly, I think it encouraged me yet again, that if God is sovereignly in control of something like a broken bag of black beans, I can rest easy knowing that the bigger difficulties are also part of His plan and His desire to conform me to the likeness of His Son.

May it be so, Lord, may it be so!

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Photos - taken December 17. We do not have a typical fall here. There's rarely any fall color to be had...rather, we just kind of drift from hot-as-blazes summer into cool, monochromatic winter. Anyway, a few times these trees behind our house have been pretty as winter came on, but this year, they glowed - and right before Christmas, too! By Christmas day, the trees were completely stripped. Those radiant trees were a blessing to us all in our rather colorless fall/winter. Thank you, Lord.