My God Purse

Ok so I confess, I am a gadget geek and lots of those infomercials for items guaranteed to make your life easier, definitely attract me. In fact, I have thought about starting a newspaper column. I would purchase and try out these "if you order in the next 3 minutes you will get not only one for this outrageous price, but two complete sets" and then report to the public whether or not they really work. Of course it is still in the some day stage, as who has the money to invest in all those gadgets.

One night a couple of years ago, the perfect item came on the TV and I knew then that this was indeed the smartest and coolest idea I had seen yet. I am a typical woman in some ways; like when it comes to matching your purse to your outfit. It has appealed to me and I have tried to do it, but after shoving all the items in one purse and into the other, I found this form of typical wasn't for me. That is until I saw the Miche Bag infomercial. I was glued to the set. This intelligent woman had come up with the idea of a lifetime. Instead of taking all your items out of the bag, you simply change the cover of the same base bag. The ideas for the covers are then endless. I loved it the moment I saw it, problem was I didn't have the money to buy it.

Fast forward two years later, when out of the blue I decide today is the day I am buying my Miche Bag. This was just a few weeks ago and I did it even though I still didn't have the money. I was excited the day I ordered it and even more so the day it arrived; complete with four shells. I discovered almost immediately, I needed a couple of accessories to go with it, but that would have to wait.

Two weeks later, payday came again. I briefly contemplated getting my accessories, but I knew it was house payment payday and that probably wasn't wisdom.

I went to Starbucks, had coffee and visited with my pastors. After I came home, I accessed what I needed to get done, since I was gone all morning. First, I would need to check my computer. As I started to open it, I heard the Lord say, "Go to Hallmark and get your accessories."

Um, I am thinking my flesh is talking to me now. "Lord, I can't really do that. I haven't even paid my bills yet and it just isn't a good time to do it with all the work that I need to get done."

"I want you to go to Hallmark and get your accessories."

Ok, I know the Lord's voice and really I don't even want to leave the house. After coming home hot from Starbucks, I was enjoying being in my cool home; yet I somehow felt compelled. "This sure isn't what I would think you would say Lord but ok." I grabbed my new Miche Bag and headed over to Hallmark to pick up my accessories.

I picked up the accessories and thought; I should go over to the card aisle and get an anniversary card for our 30^th anniversary this weekend. It is not unheard of for me to forget to buy a card for such an occasion, so I am thinking I will be ahead of the game on this one.
I head over and started browsing through the cards. One after the other and nothing was really speaking to me. I could see a lady out of the corner of my eye and then before I knew it she was standing right next to me. In another second she had moved to my left side and just starting talking to me about her upcoming wedding on the following day. I congratulated her and we chatted for a few more minutes. I said God bless you and went to the cashier to pay for my three items.

As I stood there handing over my debit card, I heard the Lord again. "Go back and pray for her."

Of course I didn't argue a bit and said, "I will do that right away, Lord." Not. I said, "Lord, I just left her and that would be awkward."

"Go back and pray for her."

This time I picked up my bag and headed straight back to her. "Excuse me, what is your name?" She told me her name and then I asked her if I could pray for her.

To my surprise, she said I was the second person to ask her that in two days. She then asked if she could tell me a story and of course I was eager to hear it. She told me how she had attended a Christian church and had lots of friends until she got divorced. At which time they all abandoned her, and she had been deeply hurt. I apologized and said I was so sorry that had happened to her. Now she had grabbed my neck and was hugging me. I prayed for her, broke off the judgments, asked the Lord to heal her heart and free her to enter into her new union. God was surely present in that aisle of the Hallmark store. I had the opportunity to share how precious she was to Jesus and how much He loved her. We exchanged numbers and then I left.

As I was walking out the store, I marveled at God and how He would use my Miche Bag to get me out so that I could minister to this lady. It made me wonder if He put that desire for this purse in my heart two years ago, knowing that this woman would need ministry on the day before her wedding. I also marveled at how free I had become in Him to allow Him to move me in a totally non religious way. In the past, if I had heard Him speak to me like that, I would have assumed it was the devil tempting me to be irresponsible. I don't live under that legalism anymore and as a result, a woman's heart was touched for eternity. O and I have a really cool story to go with my God purse!