My Cart Runneth Over
Patti Thor
The orphans benefited each time the discounts grew. The department store near us was closing and they were gradually reducing the merchandise beyond their normally low prices. A group in town was putting a large shipment together to send to an orphanage in Belize and I had picked up some clothing for the children. When the discounts grew to 50% and more, I decided that this was great opportunity to "sow" even more clothing into the lives of others.
~~~~~
Sowing and reaping is a principle that I had already learned and put into effect with our family food budget and seen miracles take place. I "sowed" food regularly by giving to the local food bank, to individuals and to families. Raising four young children, I did not have the time to clip coupons or even read the weekly sale flyers. Each week I made a meal plan and corresponding grocery list. Many times I felt "inspired" to shop at a different store than my normal store. The new store would "happen" to have the items on my grocery list on sale - even "buy 1 get 1 free". This happened more times than coincidence would dictate. Our cupboards soon became stocked to overflowing as the buying power of our small food budget increased.
~~~~~
Being a quick study, I decided to sow so many clothes that my family would never be in want of clothes. When the discount had reached 70%, I was shopping for items for our family plus the orphanage and a local charity - the Crisis Pregnancy Center. While pushing my cart up the aisle, I overheard a security guard talking to another man. He sounded mumbled, like the teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons, “wha-wha-wha-wha-wha.” Then I heard him say this phrase as if he were using a loudspeaker, “the store is closing on the 23rd and everything will be 90% off.” Then, “wha-wha-wha-wha-wha” again. It was odd because I didn’t hear anything else of their conversation but that phrase, which was shockingly distinct.
Does it make sense to go to the 90% off sale? I wondered. After this trip, we are pretty well stocked for home although there are a few things we could use. We got some nice clothes for the kids in Belize and for the babies who are helped by the pregnancy center. But, there are 42 kids in the orphanage and moms and new babies come in all the time to the center. Both places could always use more.
I made a list of what we needed, figuring that it was wise to try to get them at 90% off. I prayed over the list and asked the Lord to release angels to protect those items I had asked Him for (laugh if you want). “Thank You Lord for all of the great stuff we got already. Thank You for letting our family help so many people. Please send angels to keep the things You are saving for us. Please keep me from getting caught up in the ‘feeding frenzy’ or being full of greed. And help me not to spend more than $20.00. Thanks.”
I was planning to go out early in the day on the 23rd, but felt the Holy Spirit restrain me. Instead, I took my four young children swimming: home-schooled second-grade twins, a preschooler and a toddler.
Around 3:00 P.M., our schedule was freed to go, but I thought it was too late in the day and we were all tired from swimming. I pictured angels in the store and remembered my prayer that the items I asked for would still be there when we arrived, so I decided to go with all four children.
When we went into the store, there was a total peace on my children and me, no one was pushing or grabbing anywhere near us. Our family and the shoppers around us were actually helping each other find the sizes and colors we wanted.
After a short time, five winter coats – the ones we wore to the store but no longer needed to wear inside – got to be quite heavy as somehow I, Mom, ended up with all of them. The children and I looked many times for a cart, but they were impossible to come by. Eventually, we were stalking people as they came through the registers. “Are you done with your cart?”
One lady had only a small bag in her cart. She saw me with the mound of winter coats and four young children and offered, “Here, take mine. You look like you need the help.”
I smiled as I thanked her. We stored the small number of items we were buying plus the armload of coats and one tired toddler. I thanked the Lord for lightening the load.
We pushed our newly found shopping cart toward the back of the store for one final sweep of the great bargains to round out my $20 budget. From the right side of the aisle, I overheard the same security guard from the other day talking to another man. The conversation sounded mumbled, like Charlie Brown’s teacher, “wha-wha-wha-wha-wha.” A clear, “…doesn’t make sense to me either, but it’s his store.” Then, “wha-wha-wha-wha-wha”. Once again, I didn’t hear anything else of their conversation but that phrase. It was as though it had been said over a megaphone directed at me. I thought it strange that I heard just that phrase, then shrugged and kept going.
Just as we were finishing our shopping, that same security guard got on the (actual) store’s loudspeaker and said; “Now here’s the deal, if you have a cart, you can put anything in the cart that you want for $20.00. That’s right! Whatever you can put in the cart, as long as it doesn’t fall out on the way through the checkout, it’s yours for $20.00. If you don’t have a cart, well, that’s just the luck of the draw. Anything left after closing is going to the Salvation Army.”
We were near the children’s section. Immediately I said to my children, “BELIZE! CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER!” We were so excited. We ran to the racks and grabbed clothes for the orphans. After putting things in into the cart with the hangers on, we realized we could get more in without the hangers. Once the cart was pretty full and we couldn’t stuff any more in from the top, the children started threading clothes in through the wires of the cart. It looked as if the cart was pretty full and we had gotten our money’s worth when this 'thought' occurred to me, "if we left things on the hangers, we could hook them over the handles and around the edges of the cart." At one point, eight-year-old Stephen was laying on the floor under the cart weaving in clothes. He said, “We could even hook stuff under here.”
Belize – children’s shorts, pajamas, socks, shirts, dresses, cargo pants. Then for the pregnancy center – onesies, rompers, sleepers, shirts and dresses.
We were able to get some more children’s items and then I thought of maternity wear. They had many beautiful tops, jumpers, shorts and pants, all on hangers. We scooped up scores of them, still leaving many for other shoppers, and hung them all around the outside of the cart.
As I pushed this very heavy cart through the aisles, it was quite the oddity. Masses of clothing compressed into every nook, stacks of clothes and winter coats heaped two feet above the top of the cart, and with the clothing on hangers attached to the outside of the cart, now it was running over. I pondered that I was truly living Luke 6:38 kjv. "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over…"
I asked the Lord repeatedly as I was shopping if I was being greedy. I felt assured that I wasn’t because I was not keeping all of this for myself; I was reaping this harvest for His Kingdom. The thought that “The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.” from Proverbs 13:22 soothed my anxious thoughts.
I can tell you this: the whole experience was very humbling. Many people scorned and judged, mocked and ridiculed as they saw me walk by. To continue with the deluge took encouragement from the Lord and delight in His harvest! After all, Jesus promises a 100-fold return with persecutions (Mark 10:30).
Just like David experienced in the 23rd Psalm, the Lord preparest a feast in front of mine enemies and my 'cart' runneth over*.
When we were finally ready to go. I realized that it was going to be tough to get all this and four tired young children to and into the van. While walking out of the door, I announced to the incoming crowd about the $20.00 per cart sale. I also asked if anyone wanted my cart. One lady out of about six came to me. I told her she could have it if she would help me unload it. After about ten minutes, we got it unloaded. She said, “How did you get so many things into this cart?” I think it was "angelic compression". The bounty filled the entire back portion of our van from floor to ceiling.
All the way home, the children and I shouted, sang and praised the Lord for this harvest. We were delighted in the abundance of His provisions. We thought we would have some fun with my husband, Jim, and tell him how much money we “saved” him at the 90% off sale.
After pulling into the driveway, I laid a tablecloth on the ground by the tailgate of the van. The children and I gave Jim the honor of opening the door. We laughed at the look on his face as clothing and other items came tumbling out of the van and onto the tablecloth. We smiled and said, “Guess how much we saved you at the 90% off sale!” He knew me well enough to know that it did not cost him what it looked like it should have cost him. But even Jim was floored to hear that it only cost $20.00. That's twenty dollars - the amount that I had limited myself to spending.
This was an answer to another very simple prayer. I had asked the Lord for one of those shopping trips like the radio station does where you can go into a store for a preset amount of time to get anything you want. It was a pleasure to tell the children they could have whatever they wanted, that price was no object.
Afterwards, we took the items to the crisis pregnancy center downtown. The director was there, and she was amazed because the clothing looked like new! I assured her that it was and that it was a gift from the Lord. She had tears in her eyes as we felt the presence of the Lord confirm it. It is truly more blessed to give than to receive.
Another revelation was that this was an example of the reaper overtaking the sower. We dedicated the clothes from the previous trips to be sown into His kingdom. But before those could be sown, I reaped nearly two laundry baskets full of clothes for my own family, plus more ‘seeds’ to sow plus the harvest of a tax deduction, which paid for both trips with some to spare! God is so good!
The Lord also showed me that He was letting but a drop of His good pleasure fall on me and that He needed all of the other people in the store to help contain the blessing. He would like to pour that kind of blessing on all of those who love Him and keep His commandments.
* Psalm 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
~~~~~
Sowing and reaping is a principle that I had already learned and put into effect with our family food budget and seen miracles take place. I "sowed" food regularly by giving to the local food bank, to individuals and to families. Raising four young children, I did not have the time to clip coupons or even read the weekly sale flyers. Each week I made a meal plan and corresponding grocery list. Many times I felt "inspired" to shop at a different store than my normal store. The new store would "happen" to have the items on my grocery list on sale - even "buy 1 get 1 free". This happened more times than coincidence would dictate. Our cupboards soon became stocked to overflowing as the buying power of our small food budget increased.
~~~~~
Being a quick study, I decided to sow so many clothes that my family would never be in want of clothes. When the discount had reached 70%, I was shopping for items for our family plus the orphanage and a local charity - the Crisis Pregnancy Center. While pushing my cart up the aisle, I overheard a security guard talking to another man. He sounded mumbled, like the teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons, “wha-wha-wha-wha-wha.” Then I heard him say this phrase as if he were using a loudspeaker, “the store is closing on the 23rd and everything will be 90% off.” Then, “wha-wha-wha-wha-wha” again. It was odd because I didn’t hear anything else of their conversation but that phrase, which was shockingly distinct.
Does it make sense to go to the 90% off sale? I wondered. After this trip, we are pretty well stocked for home although there are a few things we could use. We got some nice clothes for the kids in Belize and for the babies who are helped by the pregnancy center. But, there are 42 kids in the orphanage and moms and new babies come in all the time to the center. Both places could always use more.
I made a list of what we needed, figuring that it was wise to try to get them at 90% off. I prayed over the list and asked the Lord to release angels to protect those items I had asked Him for (laugh if you want). “Thank You Lord for all of the great stuff we got already. Thank You for letting our family help so many people. Please send angels to keep the things You are saving for us. Please keep me from getting caught up in the ‘feeding frenzy’ or being full of greed. And help me not to spend more than $20.00. Thanks.”
I was planning to go out early in the day on the 23rd, but felt the Holy Spirit restrain me. Instead, I took my four young children swimming: home-schooled second-grade twins, a preschooler and a toddler.
Around 3:00 P.M., our schedule was freed to go, but I thought it was too late in the day and we were all tired from swimming. I pictured angels in the store and remembered my prayer that the items I asked for would still be there when we arrived, so I decided to go with all four children.
When we went into the store, there was a total peace on my children and me, no one was pushing or grabbing anywhere near us. Our family and the shoppers around us were actually helping each other find the sizes and colors we wanted.
After a short time, five winter coats – the ones we wore to the store but no longer needed to wear inside – got to be quite heavy as somehow I, Mom, ended up with all of them. The children and I looked many times for a cart, but they were impossible to come by. Eventually, we were stalking people as they came through the registers. “Are you done with your cart?”
One lady had only a small bag in her cart. She saw me with the mound of winter coats and four young children and offered, “Here, take mine. You look like you need the help.”
I smiled as I thanked her. We stored the small number of items we were buying plus the armload of coats and one tired toddler. I thanked the Lord for lightening the load.
We pushed our newly found shopping cart toward the back of the store for one final sweep of the great bargains to round out my $20 budget. From the right side of the aisle, I overheard the same security guard from the other day talking to another man. The conversation sounded mumbled, like Charlie Brown’s teacher, “wha-wha-wha-wha-wha.” A clear, “…doesn’t make sense to me either, but it’s his store.” Then, “wha-wha-wha-wha-wha”. Once again, I didn’t hear anything else of their conversation but that phrase. It was as though it had been said over a megaphone directed at me. I thought it strange that I heard just that phrase, then shrugged and kept going.
Just as we were finishing our shopping, that same security guard got on the (actual) store’s loudspeaker and said; “Now here’s the deal, if you have a cart, you can put anything in the cart that you want for $20.00. That’s right! Whatever you can put in the cart, as long as it doesn’t fall out on the way through the checkout, it’s yours for $20.00. If you don’t have a cart, well, that’s just the luck of the draw. Anything left after closing is going to the Salvation Army.”
We were near the children’s section. Immediately I said to my children, “BELIZE! CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER!” We were so excited. We ran to the racks and grabbed clothes for the orphans. After putting things in into the cart with the hangers on, we realized we could get more in without the hangers. Once the cart was pretty full and we couldn’t stuff any more in from the top, the children started threading clothes in through the wires of the cart. It looked as if the cart was pretty full and we had gotten our money’s worth when this 'thought' occurred to me, "if we left things on the hangers, we could hook them over the handles and around the edges of the cart." At one point, eight-year-old Stephen was laying on the floor under the cart weaving in clothes. He said, “We could even hook stuff under here.”
Belize – children’s shorts, pajamas, socks, shirts, dresses, cargo pants. Then for the pregnancy center – onesies, rompers, sleepers, shirts and dresses.
We were able to get some more children’s items and then I thought of maternity wear. They had many beautiful tops, jumpers, shorts and pants, all on hangers. We scooped up scores of them, still leaving many for other shoppers, and hung them all around the outside of the cart.
As I pushed this very heavy cart through the aisles, it was quite the oddity. Masses of clothing compressed into every nook, stacks of clothes and winter coats heaped two feet above the top of the cart, and with the clothing on hangers attached to the outside of the cart, now it was running over. I pondered that I was truly living Luke 6:38 kjv. "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over…"
I asked the Lord repeatedly as I was shopping if I was being greedy. I felt assured that I wasn’t because I was not keeping all of this for myself; I was reaping this harvest for His Kingdom. The thought that “The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.” from Proverbs 13:22 soothed my anxious thoughts.
I can tell you this: the whole experience was very humbling. Many people scorned and judged, mocked and ridiculed as they saw me walk by. To continue with the deluge took encouragement from the Lord and delight in His harvest! After all, Jesus promises a 100-fold return with persecutions (Mark 10:30).
Just like David experienced in the 23rd Psalm, the Lord preparest a feast in front of mine enemies and my 'cart' runneth over*.
When we were finally ready to go. I realized that it was going to be tough to get all this and four tired young children to and into the van. While walking out of the door, I announced to the incoming crowd about the $20.00 per cart sale. I also asked if anyone wanted my cart. One lady out of about six came to me. I told her she could have it if she would help me unload it. After about ten minutes, we got it unloaded. She said, “How did you get so many things into this cart?” I think it was "angelic compression". The bounty filled the entire back portion of our van from floor to ceiling.
All the way home, the children and I shouted, sang and praised the Lord for this harvest. We were delighted in the abundance of His provisions. We thought we would have some fun with my husband, Jim, and tell him how much money we “saved” him at the 90% off sale.
After pulling into the driveway, I laid a tablecloth on the ground by the tailgate of the van. The children and I gave Jim the honor of opening the door. We laughed at the look on his face as clothing and other items came tumbling out of the van and onto the tablecloth. We smiled and said, “Guess how much we saved you at the 90% off sale!” He knew me well enough to know that it did not cost him what it looked like it should have cost him. But even Jim was floored to hear that it only cost $20.00. That's twenty dollars - the amount that I had limited myself to spending.
This was an answer to another very simple prayer. I had asked the Lord for one of those shopping trips like the radio station does where you can go into a store for a preset amount of time to get anything you want. It was a pleasure to tell the children they could have whatever they wanted, that price was no object.
Afterwards, we took the items to the crisis pregnancy center downtown. The director was there, and she was amazed because the clothing looked like new! I assured her that it was and that it was a gift from the Lord. She had tears in her eyes as we felt the presence of the Lord confirm it. It is truly more blessed to give than to receive.
Another revelation was that this was an example of the reaper overtaking the sower. We dedicated the clothes from the previous trips to be sown into His kingdom. But before those could be sown, I reaped nearly two laundry baskets full of clothes for my own family, plus more ‘seeds’ to sow plus the harvest of a tax deduction, which paid for both trips with some to spare! God is so good!
The Lord also showed me that He was letting but a drop of His good pleasure fall on me and that He needed all of the other people in the store to help contain the blessing. He would like to pour that kind of blessing on all of those who love Him and keep His commandments.
* Psalm 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.