Yes, I prayed for furniture

Last month I shared my hopes of changing a few things in our apartment to be better organized and maybe even add some "decor" to our living space. I started praying for these things shortly after that post; praying the Lord would guide our decisions and our budget as we looked at different options, praying that we would find something that would work in our limited space and meet our needs. I hope that doesn't sound silly, but this was a source of anxiety for me and I felt I needed to bring it before the Lord to bring peace to my soul as well as guide me as I was looking to spend our hard earned savings (something I actually hate doing).

Well, last Thursday I came across a listing on Craigslist for a china hutch with the perfect dimensions. It would actually fill the space I needed to fill and it looked very similar to what I had been hoping to find. There were a few things that I didn't necessarily love, but overall, it would work great. And it was less than what I had budgeted for!

The downside was it was an hour's drive outside the city. I was headed that direction on Saturday anyway (more on that later) so I thought I should stop and take a look and see if it really was what I wanted before dragging my husband out there with the truck. Sure enough, it was perfect.

I made arrangements to pick it up on Sunday with Chris and the truck. We had a nice drive and were thankful the rain didn't come as was predicted. Chris was very meticulous in how he secured the hutch in the truck; this took a while but I tried to be patient and know that he was really trying to make it safe and secure as we would be driving on the interstate.

The drive back went perfectly and we arrived home and called friend to help take it up the one flight of stairs. I had left Chris to manage the heavy lifting and went upstairs to get the space ready. A few minutes later, Chris rushed in the apartment and said something about the hutch falling and the glass cracking. I ran out the door behind him to take a look myself.

My spirit was crushed.

The glass on both doors of the hutch had cracked in multiple places and a chip was taken out of the wood. I was stunned and speechless. Chris apologized and told me how it happened and I just stood there thinking What do we do now? I started to think Why even try to find something we can afford if we just break it? or Why be so careful in transporting it just to have it break in our garage? I could have let my mind go to much harsher places, but I tried to nip those thoughts in the bud. I didn't want to be angry about a mistake, something no one wanted to have happen. I forgave him. I was sad . . . but I forgave.

We took the doors off and set the hutch up in our apartment and will use it as it is until we can get the glass replaced. It fit perfectly in our space and I think it will work out great for what we need it to do. And once we get the doors back in place, I know I'll just love it.

We were both reminded not to put our hope in the treasures of this earth, but in the Lord who is the provider for everything. Even though I want our place to look nice and use the space well, I have to remember that possessions really aren't important. My marriage is. How I responded to my husband in forgiveness matters. So, yes I prayed for furniture . . . but more than that I pray for our home and our family and the people who come into our space, that all would be blessed and covered by grace.

I promised a before photo in my early post so here is what we had as our "pantry" for the past three years:

 

It really wasn't bad, but I was a little tired of my collection of canned goods being on display whenever we had someone over.  It was a bookshelf we found at a neighborhood garage sale the first weekend we moved in. Only $30.

And below is what we have now. Doors to be installed at a later time.

 

We moved our dishes to this hutch and are using our cupboards in the kitchen for our pantry goods. I hope we find space for everything but so far, it seems like a good change.

Last month I shared my hopes of changing a few things in our apartment to be better organized and maybe even add some "decor" to our living space. I started praying for these things shortly after that post; praying the Lord would guide our decisions and our budget as we looked at different options, praying that we would find something that would work in our limited space and meet our needs. I hope that doesn't sound silly, but this was a source of anxiety for me and I felt I needed to bring it before the Lord to bring peace to my soul as well as guide me as I was looking to spend our hard earned savings (something I actually hate doing).

Well, last Thursday I came across a listing on Craigslist for a china hutch with the perfect dimensions. It would actually fill the space I needed to fill and it looked very similar to what I had been hoping to find. There were a few things that I didn't necessarily love, but overall, it would work great. And it was less than what I had budgeted for!

The downside was it was an hour's drive outside the city. I was headed that direction on Saturday anyway (more on that later) so I thought I should stop and take a look and see if it really was what I wanted before dragging my husband out there with the truck. Sure enough, it was perfect.

I made arrangements to pick it up on Sunday with Chris and the truck. We had a nice drive and were thankful the rain didn't come as was predicted. Chris was very meticulous in how he secured the hutch in the truck; this took a while but I tried to be patient and know that he was really trying to make it safe and secure as we would be driving on the interstate.

The drive back went perfectly and we arrived home and called friend to help take it up the one flight of stairs. I had left Chris to manage the heavy lifting and went upstairs to get the space ready. A few minutes later, Chris rushed in the apartment and said something about the hutch falling and the glass cracking. I ran out the door behind him to take a look myself.

My spirit was crushed.

The glass on both doors of the hutch had cracked in multiple places and a chip was taken out of the wood. I was stunned and speechless. Chris apologized and told me how it happened and I just stood there thinking What do we do now? I started to think Why even try to find something we can afford if we just break it? or Why be so careful in transporting it just to have it break in our garage? I could have let my mind go to much harsher places, but I tried to nip those thoughts in the bud. I didn't want to be angry about a mistake, something no one wanted to have happen. I forgave him. I was sad . . . but I forgave.

We took the doors off and set the hutch up in our apartment and will use it as it is until we can get the glass replaced. It fit perfectly in our space and I think it will work out great for what we need it to do. And once we get the doors back in place, I know I'll just love it.

We were both reminded not to put our hope in the treasures of this earth, but in the Lord who is the provider for everything. Even though I want our place to look nice and use the space well, I have to remember that possessions really aren't important. My marriage is. How I responded to my husband in forgiveness matters. So, yes I prayed for furniture . . . but more than that I pray for our home and our family and the people who come into our space, that all would be blessed and covered by grace.

I promised a before photo in my early post so here is what we had as our "pantry" for the past three years:

 

It really wasn't bad, but I was a little tired of my collection of canned goods being on display whenever we had someone over.  It was a bookshelf we found at a neighborhood garage sale the first weekend we moved in. Only $30.

And below is what we have now. Doors to be installed at a later time.

 

We moved our dishes to this hutch and are using our cupboards in the kitchen for our pantry goods. I hope we find space for everything but so far, it seems like a good change.