September 27, 2007
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Blessing in a Pretzel Size!
Our goal this week (other than helping my Mom out) was to get a lot of my packing list checked off for our adoption trip to Ukraine. Since I was unable to find most of the clothing items I needed for our family in town we decided to venture out to the city to the big mall an hour away. Big mistake! We just cannot afford prices at the mall to clothe our whole family. Do you know what kids winter jackets are going for at Sears or JCPenney’s these days?! $80 for an almost five year old’s jacket?! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!
After spending hours walking around, making the kids try on several coats for size and travel worthiness I became really discouraged with the price tags. Finally, I told Eric that this was just not going to do as we couldn’t afford it in our budget. Even if the kids did need the coats we were going to have to wait for something else to come along. Eric agreed and we started to walk out of the mall when several of us started to mention we were getting a bit hungry. Knowing the night was a bit discouraging we decided to go ahead and splurge on three pretzels for the six of us.
Here’s the neat thing…. the pretzel guy over heard Eric and I quietly discussing that we needed to share three pretzels to save on finances and then he said to us, “How about this deal? I will give each of you a pretzel for free.” Whaaaat? Did we hear him right? The guy counted how many were in our family, bagged up six pretzels and gave them to us for free!!
You should have seen the kids’ faces light up and heard the polite thank you’s they shouted as the man handed each child a whole pretzel! Eric was amazed and even admitted it touched his heart. I was in shock but then shared with the kids and Eric, “How neat is it that God would bless us like this in the little things?! We were faithful to trust Him for our needs and didn’t spend our money unwisely even though we really wanted those expensive coats. God knew just the encouragement our entire family needed tonight!” The kids immediately decided we should pray for many blessings from God for the man who graciously blessed us.
I know a soft pretzel blessing may seem petty to some reading this but to us, at that moment, it was like receiving the whole world. God knows and cares about the smallest desires of your hearts even if it’s only the size of a soft pretzel. It was a nice reminder that God is still in control of all things and you just never know who He is going to use to reveal Himself to you!
Comments (16)
How neat! Coats will go on sale soon. I try to buy for next year in the spring, when they are 70 percent off. I also hand down coats. I get sentimentally attatched to my kids’ clothes. Mr.M. wants to know about your van. What kind is it, do you like it?
What a precious story. God knows when we need an encouragement. It’s a good reminder that He knows about the coats too. I agree, $80 is too much for a kids coat. When is the trip scheduled?
Great story. And a soft pretzel is always yummy! Have you already checked at Wal-Mart and Target? Target is so expensive, too, though. I hate buying winter jackets for the kids. If you can get away without the kids (because you really have to search), you might try Goodwill. Or my favorite is the secondhand place near your mom. I think you probably know the place I’m talking about, but email me if you don’t. They usually have racks and racks of winter stuff. I even found pink snowpants for KB there one year.
My dil’s all shop at Goodwill stores and Once Upon A Child (secondhand) stores for their children ~ those places are SUCH a blessing! They really have nice things sometimes at tiny prices. It even makes it worth driving to a larger town to check out all their secondhand stores. Good luck. Tell us about your adoption plans ~ is your trip soon? Will you be there long?
How amazing! I find that it is the small blessings that I cherish the most. Because it reminds me that God is still thinking of me and watching over me. If he will bless you with a pretzel for your whole family, then I know he is going to bless you all with the perfect winter jackets!!!
Thank you so much for sharing!!!
Do you have a Steve & Barry’s nearby? I bought 2 heavy winter coats for my 2yr-old cousins there last year for $8 each, brand new with a NHL team logo on them. All of their clothing (brand new) costs less than $20 per item, and often much less. They started out specializing in sports paraphernalia, but have branched out into many other items, including a line of women’s clothing designed by Sarah Jessica Parker. If you can find one, I highly recommend!
Bless the heart of the man who gave you the pretzels! I’m so glad that even in times of inner struggle over money, blessings still appear! God is so good!
And bless your children for realizing what he did and praying to God!
What a sweet story. I love it when we get those little faith boosters. I am looking for winter coats as well. I have had the same sticker shock as you. I have been frequenting our local thrift shop, but they have not put out any coats yet. I will keep looking and praying for that perfect coat to keep my little one warm. In the mean time I will pass on what I have so that someone else can be blessed.
Have you heard any additional news about your adoption? I can only imagine how excited your whole family must be. I would have loved to adopt some special little angel….it has always been in my heart.
Have a great week and continued prayers for your mother.
Karen
That’s not petty at all, that’s huge! I surely can relate because it cost us $15 for pretzels the last time we were at the mall. I was shocked and I don’t think my kids were even appreciative! Your children’s sense of gratitude and God’s blessings is so much greater for what happened at the mall. What a nice man and it surely is a testament to God’s providence! Cool , really cool!
Praise Jesus! What a neat blessing!
PS-On an amusing note, I was eating pretzels when I opened your page and saw this. lol.
That is a wonderful story.
Oh, that brought tears to my eyes. God is always looking for ways to bless His children and to let them know that He cares about them and loves them. What a sweet gift and how sweet of the man to do that for you. Your children seem so thoughtful and loving. Have you tried some secondhand stores? I found some great coats last year from a kids resale shop here. Thanks for sharing this story. It made me smile.
Blessings on the man with the pretzels.
I use to buy a lot of the grandkids clothes at Savers which is like Goodwill, only they seem to keep their store neater and more organized. It is not worth paying full price for their play clothes and coats that they outgrow, sometimes in a matter of weeks if a growing spurt hits. I don’t shop for them that much now that they are getting older. I am never sure what size to get or with the older two if the “style” is something they would wear.
I looked at the Mall and all over town a couple of years ago for a dress to wear to a wedding with a Hawaiian theme. The only ones I found that would fit the theme were over $100 at the mall.. I refused to pay that for a dress I knew I would not wear again. I finally went to Savers and found a nice Hawaiian floral print shirt waist dress, in my size for only $14.95. I bought it.. wore it a couple of times and donated it back to the store for their charity.
What an awesome story!! Thanks for sharing that! God is so good!
Thanks for sharing your Blessing – it’s so cool to hear/see how God is working!!
God has done that so often for us lately. We had several GREAT BIG needs, some of which aren’t answered yet, BUT God just keeps sending us little love gifts here and there. Not only money, but also little things from others. I think these are the things that touch my heart the most. Because He HAS to meet our needs – His Word promises that He will do that. But He doesn’t HAVE to give us free pretzels!!! He does that because He just loves us so much! That’s the only reason.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Alesha