I am Selfish

Today I was reminded about how truly selfish and ungrateful I really am.

I had to go out and see an old client this morning and as an afterthought, I brought her several bottles of dish soap. When I arrived at her house, we caught up on what was going on in her life and how her granddaughter was doing in school. I finally gave her the wal-mart sack to show her what I brought for her.

It was nothing. It was soap.

When she looked into the sack and saw what was placed so haphazardly in there, her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped. Thank you, Ms. Dana she said.

She then went on to share with me that she had run out of dish soap three days ago and she had been unable to wash any dishes because they did not have the funds purchase the soap. This lady has a yard sale every day and the money that she collects from her yard sale helps get her family through the winter. The day before I brought the soap she said she made $2. $2. She was worried about how her family was going to make it through the harsh winter and she was afraid that their lights and heat were going to be turned off if she did not make enough money with her yard sale. Her son has been digging through trash to find scrap metal. I am not making this up. He has found a place where people are illegally dumping their trash and he seeps through other people's junk to find metal to help take care of his family. He has gotten bitten by a tick and his foot has swelled up, but he is more scared that someone will make him stop than his foot falling off.

The night before I brought the soap to their house, they were discussing prayer and how God works. The son told his mother, some people say not to pray to God for the little things because He already knows our needs, but I think that we should be able to pray for the little things. That night his mother and himself got down on their knees and prayed for soap so they could wash their dishes. They prayed that someone would come shop their yard sale and that an angel would bring them soap to wash their dishes.

My sweet-hearted client told me,"You are my angel from God." I'm not telling you this story to make you think that I am so wonderful that I can sense my client's needs and that God uses me. I'm not that great. God worked through me today, but He also taught me something in the process. Today I am thanking God for soap.

I have never prayed for soap, toilet paper, or clean clothes. There have been times in my life where I have been overdrawn in my bank account due to unwise decisions, but I have never hungered nor have I ever had to pray for something as small as soap.

I can count on one hand the number of times that I have cried in front of a client while doing my emotionally charged job. This time my right eye failed me as a tear sneaked through my tear ducts. She told me that she was blessed. She told me that she knew that God was at work in her life and she still had joy even though they continually struggle financially. How many times have I looked at my closet and thought that I have nothing to wear or glanced in my stocked cabinets and thought I have nothing to eat? Too many times.

I have a nice house, a great car that runs, my bills are payed every month, and I know that God is taking care of me. All of my worries seem so small now. I know that I will probably forget this moment in my life, but God used a sweet older lady in a nightgown with stringy unwashed hair to show me that my Lord is still in the business of caring.

Great Week!

Today is Monday, which is wonderful because that means that tomorrow is TUESDAY and Tuesday means one thing only to this girl: WICKED!!!!!!! I'm so excited about it. I love love love musicals, but this is the one of the most popular musicals that I have never seen. I have been excited about it since I saw that it was coming to Memphis. Everyone I know that has seen it loved it and I can't wait!

Friday, I am leaving for a Women's Conference in Tupelo, MS with my church group. I was excited about it because I love being with the women. I was also excited because Chonda Pierce will be there. I've heard that she's funny and I will also get to worship with MercyMe. Those are both very exciting, but I found out something even better will be there Friday night. Two Words. DAVE BARNES!! This will be the 3rd time I'm seen him and I'm planning on seeing him again in November when he comes to Union.



Enjoy!

No updates in a month?

I have been MIA from my blog. Why? I don't really know. Here are some quick updates:

• Andrew got his diploma in the mail!! We paid too much money to both of our diplomas frames and we will put some track lighting about his, just to illuminate it like a Thomas Kincaid. Completely kidding about the track lighting.
• School started back for me. I am slowly realizing that I need to love and appreciate this semester because the class that is a year ahead of me is going to have a stroke because they are so swamped with school work. On the negative side, I am in class for 6 hours straight on Monday nights.
  
• We got a new puppy. Her name is Paisley and she a an adorable yellow lab. Portia thinks that she is a little toy. I can't wait until Paisley is bigger than her and can give Portia a run for her money.
  
• I broke my toe when I decided to ride my bike to a carwash. I KNOW that I should not have been wearing flip flops, but we used to wear flip flops all the time when we were little AND I was going to a carwash for goodness sakes. It wasn't just a normal broke toe either. I was swollen and bruised and sore for weeks.
  

That's pretty much the update. Not much as gone on in the Hampton House. We are starting the Dave Ramsey money system and we are really excited about it. We aren't bad with our money, but it will be interesting to see how much we can save. Our first goal is to pay off my car. After we pay off my car the only bill we will have will be Andrew's student loans. We need to get crackin' on that because after I graduate with my Masters Here Come Mine!