Soap and Silverware

Nothing earth-shattering here but just had to take a second to praise God for little things like soap and silverware.  Last Friday night we had a group of friends over from church. It was my first time hosting a group in our little “making do” apartment here, and it definitely took some creativity.   Thankfully a friend let me borrow a frying pan, so I had a frying pan and a saucepan.  We didn’t have enough glasses so a few people used mugs and water botttles, and the 8th plastic flork shattered while trying to shred the chicken, so were one utensil short.  Half of us got real plates and half used paper, and since I don’t have a cutting board I used Dutch’s placemat (which is now ruined), to chop everything for the salsa.  All in all it was a blast, and I couldn’t imagine a more easy-to-please group of people (See Rend the Heavens, right).  It was great.

And here’s an example of how God takes care of the details–I got the plastic fork prong, thank goodness. When it shattered, I had to pick the pieces of plastic fork out of the chicken. Well, I thought I got all four prongs.  Apparently I only got three.  Because while I was digging into my chicken lime soft taco all of a sudden–ouch!–I knew immediately what it was and tried to covertly fish it out of my mouth. Woops.  Thankfully no one else got plastic fork prong in their taco and everyone left with full bellies and happy hearts.  But I think to myself, “Hm, plastic forks are not that fun.”

So Sunday, Jeff and I rolled up our sleeves and thought we’d at least try to unearth some of our kitchen boxes.  I didn’t have much hope, as things are stacked ceiling high in the back of my dad’s shop, and each box has several labels on it, crossed out and labeled again because of so many moves. But guess what we found?  Silverware! AND, pots and pans. Not only do I now have my own pot, I have TWO frying pans, TWO sauce pans, and a great big spaghetti pot. Oh yeah.  This morning I ate cereal with a REAL spoon–oh glorious day!  We even have oven mitts. I know.  Lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Other little things that I’m so thankful for: soap.  Ok this is weird I know but I refuse to buy soap, like the kind you use in the shower.  It seems like we always get yummy kinds of soap or shower gel and so forth for birthdays and Christmas, so I just insist on using it up and never buying any.  Well we ran out, and our stash of gift soaps was in storage.  So Jeff had to use the cherry blossom shower gel I got for my birthday. 🙂  Well guess what else we found in a box? Soap! Yup!

I also wanted to start potty training Dutch, but the little boy potty seat we’d bought on sale was…yes, in storage. Did we find it, oh yes we did!

I’m sure this seems totally ridculous to many, but I’m so thankful for how God led us to just the right boxes. We only opened three boxes, and there are dozens and dozens that were inaccessible. But just the right ones were there, and now we’re set for the summer.  This reminds me of a story I know, about sparrows and God’s perfect provision (Matt 6).  God can situate the boxes just right so we can find what we need.  So today I’m thankful for little things, like soap and silverware.