A Loud Thud
(Author: C. Dee Adair)
In the second year of my marriage, we lost our apartment. The company that owned the
apartments decided to tear them down and reconstruct new and more expensive apartments,
and we had very little time to move. Having few financial resources, our search was made
that more difficult.
There were few apartments in our price range, and we found nothing even close to the
price or size of our old apartment. Many apartments would not accept children. This was
very difficult, as we had a daughter who was nearly 2-years-old at the time.
We finally found a second-floor apartment that was much too small, much too expensive
. . . nearly double our old rent. Since our daughter was still considered a baby, the
management let her sleep in the same room with us. They "allowed" us to rent
from them for seven-months.
We were cramped, our king-sized bed did not fit in the bedroom, so we sold it for a
song. We put blankets and pillows on the floor since there wasn't room for our bed and our
daughter's, too. We realized we both would have to take two jobs each before we'd be able
to move into a bigger place we'd be able to afford.
It was painful to put our daughter in a daycare center, even though it was run by
Christians, but we had no choice. It broke my heart to leave her, as she cried and grabbed
at our legs each time we left her in the care of strangers. Little by little, she got used
to staying there, but it was still difficult to leave her.
The week before Thanksgiving, I received a call from the daycare center. I was at
work, and the center director told me to stop by her office when I came to pick up my
daughter that evening. I was nervous because I couldn't think of why she wanted to see me.
The way things had been going lately (my daughter bit someone at the daycare the week
before), perhaps she was going to ask me to find another daycare provider? Could things
get any worse?
With much trepidation, I stepped into the director's office.
She sat me down and said, "Congratulations! We're giving your family a
Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings!" Next she presented me with a HUGE frozen
bird and a box filled with all kinds of goodies!
I was in shock, how could this be? With the state of our finances, I had not been in
the "holiday spirit" and I really hadn't even thought of celebrating
Thanksgiving.
The director smiled warmly, saying "We drew the names of families from each
class, and your family won in your class."
I was so choked-up I could barely speak. I expressed my appreciation as best as I
could, then quickly hauled the huge box out to the car.
Once I got home, I excitedly called my Mom, sorting through the items in the box as I
put them away. I pulled out the huge turkey first, and shared with my Mom all that was in
the box . . . stuffing . . . cranberry . . . rolls . . . green beans . . . various pickles
. . . cake and pie fixings . . . pumpkin . . . seasonings for the turkey . . . and a
gallon of milk for the baby!
The only thing lacking to make it perfect were potatoes. Being from an Irish family, a
meal wasn't complete without potatoes. Since we wouldn't have any spare cash until the
following week, I knew we'd have to wait to have potatoes, yet that knowledge paled in
comparison to this marvelous surprise!
As I unpacked the box, I heard a loud "thud" on the balcony. Being all alone
with the baby, my imagination started running away with me. What if it was a burglar? I
whispered to my Mom to stay on the phone while I put the baby in her crib, cautiously
peeking around the corner to the balcony.
I knew it was improbable that someone was out there because we were on the
second-floor. The third-floor apartment above us had a German Shepherd, and he would have
barked if anyone had been on his floor. In addition, the apartment below had no balcony,
only a patio.
When I realized nobody was out there, I decided to figure out what made the noise.
Right in the middle of the pile of boxes we'd used to move in with was a small grocery
bag!
I asked my Mom to continue to holding the phone, as I wanted to go outside and
investigate what was in the bag. I went to the balcony door, slowly opening the
sliding-glass door to get a better look.
It was just an ordinary grocery bag, yet I could see something was inside it. Inside
the grocery bag was a brand-new, unopened bag of potatoes! How it got there, I don't know.
I looked over the edge of the balcony and could see no one anywhere near the building.
Apart from my Mom, no one but God knew of my desire to have potatoes with our
Thanksgiving dinner! I believe He delivered those potatoes on our patio that day in a way
that only God can do!
Needless to say, I was very thankful, and our family had the best Thanksgiving ever,
praising our wonderful God, the supplier of all our needs . . . and many of our wants as
well!
"And my God will meet all your needs
according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever
and ever. Amen." Philippians 4:19-20 (NIV)
To reply to a nasty remark with another nasty
remark
is like trying to remove dirt with mud.
"A soft answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger."
Proverbs 15:1 (NKJV)
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Thank you!
