Monday, January 5, 2009

God flirts with me.


I once had my friend Jenna tell me that God was flirting with her. I’ll be honest, I was a little in shock. Flirting? The Creator of the Universe? I wasn't so sure. But now, I get it.

See, this weekend, God sent me flowers.

Saturday night, Jordan and I were in Publix. We’re on a fairly tight budget. (Who am I kidding? We’re hanging on by a thread.) We were headed to dinner with my parents, and my dad needed a head of lettuce and some tomatoes. I didn’t know exactly how we were going to pay for those two items, but I also knew we were getting a free dinner out of the deal, so I set out to fulfill my dad’s super-simple request.

So we went to Publix, armed with a teensy bit of cash.

As we were perusing the aisles for the necessary items (and feeling a little depressed that we couldn't afford $2.99 donuts), I found a Publix gift card in my purse. I just knew we had found an answer to our prayers! Until Jordan burst my bubble.

“I think that has about 50 cents on it,” he said.

“Are you sure?” I said, still clinging to my dream (the one that included donuts).

“Pretty sure. I think that’s the one my work gave me, and we’ve already used it.”

Great. “Well," I said with the enthusiasm of Pollyanna, "We’ll use the 50 cents anyway.”

We continued our trip through the store, and were just about ready to face the music when out of the corner of my eye, I saw them: the fresh flowers section.

I am a firm believer in the power of fresh flowers, remember? And as host of this week’s Bible study, I feel kind of responsible for making my home a little lovelier for my guests. Plus… I just wanted them. I wanted their color in our apartment: all the yellows, purples, reds. And for $4.99, it felt wrong not to take them.

So I did.

Even though I knew our gift card was worth 50 cents.

As we neared checkout, Jordan smiled at me, the “my-wife-is-crazy-but-I-love-her-despite-it” smile, the smile that says “we-barely-have-money-for-lettuce-but-let’s-get-the-flowers-anyway.”

I quickly assured him that these flowers would bring our little abode much happiness this week. I think he believed me. Maybe. If he had any reservations, he wisely hid them.

So we got ready to pay. Lettuce? Check. Tomatoes? Check. Fresh flowers for living room pitcher? Check.

“That will be $8.50,” the cashier told us.

I swiped the gift card, secretly praying that the little piece of plastic would be worth more than 50 cents.

It was.

It was worth $30, to be exact.

Jordan and I cheered. The man behind us grinned. The cashier smiled politely, and informed us we had about a $20 balance remaining on the card.

We celebrated with relief and in confidence.

See, this is how I know I’m going to be okay: God brought me flowers on Saturday night. And in this small gesture, He reminded me exactly who He is.

In complete love with me.

1 comment:

jenna said...

I hate that I have been gone for a week without internet! I am so behind on reading my favorite blogs! I love this -- and those flowers are beautiful!! Yay for our God that pursues us... a God that flirts with us! :)