When my husband, Mont, and I had been married for about 6 months, we moved to Nashville. I taught school for a year, and then I started having babies. I had 3 children in less than 3 years. Later, I had two more and adopted one, but the spacing was a bit more manageable. Mont was in residency at The Vanderbilt Medical Center and worked all the time. We didn’t have any family in town, and we were very broke. Needless to say, most days I felt like I was “in over my head”.
One particular trying day, Mont came home from a long shift at the hospital. Overwhelmed, I said, “I have got to get out of this house.” So we put all the kids in their car seats, and headed to my favorite store–Big Lots. I still love Big Lots! We couldn’t afford to buy anything, so we just pushed the kids around in the cart and walked the aisles, looking at all the wonderful, needless plastic items. We had been there just a few minutes when Mont’s beeper went off. It was the Vanderbilt Hospital operator reporting that the police had called and the alarm at our house was going off. Mont left the kids and me at Big Lots to go check it out.
When he got there, the policeman was looking in the windows, with his gun pulled.
He said, “Looks like you’ve had a robbery.”
Mont unlocked the front door, and the policeman went in first. Mont followed.
The policeman said, “Yep. The place has been ransacked!”
Mont looked around and realized that it was just as we had left it. He quickly had to explain, “My wife has had a really bad day.”
Our hearts are often referred to as a home for Christ. Often, we have times that feel like our spiritual house has been ransacked. Maybe is it because of a too-busy life, or a tragedy, or just apathy. We usually just want to close the door to our hearts, and not deal with the mess of it. But God wants to lovingly and patiently help us to put in order our spiritual homes, our hearts. We all get weary sometimes. But the Lord will refresh our souls—and clean up our hearts—if we turn to Him.
Thank you! I needed this today for sure!
Such a wonderful reminder to “not sweat the small stuff”. Thank you.
I so enjoyed this short story that had a huge meaning! Thanks for the reminder and sharing it with your readers.
Love you sweet Sara!
This is a beautiful reminder that we should embrace all God has to offer everyday. So happy for you all…such a blessing to so many!
I love this, Sara. Thanks for sharing this with us.