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| Photo by Pam Williams |
I cringed at the crash, tinkle and crunch of glass hitting
the stone floor. “I’m soooo sorry!” the young woman exclaimed.
It was a phrase I had heard several times in the busy weeks
leading up to Christmas. Customers swamped the tiny store where I work and
occasionally an elbow connected with a shelf or a rambunctious child bumped
into a display. Accidents happened. Lately our recycled wine-bottle soy candles
were the unfortunate casualties—and they aren’t cheap.
We salvaged the wax from the shards of glass in the hopes of
re-using it somehow. We are a non-profit
and try very hard to embody the idea of sustainable conservation—re-use,
re-cycle, re-claim, up-cycle, living green, waste not-want not. Three naked
globs now lined our window sill at the store. As I lay in bed Sunday night I
asked God to show us how we could re-coup our losses on the candles.
Monday my husband and I were wandering through a local flea
market and I came across three new mini baking dishes with cute little snowmen
on them at a ridiculously low price. Immediately an idea came to mind for
recycling the broken candles. I scooped up the dishes and headed for home.
After doing a bit of research I found that soy wax would
melt at 170 degrees. So I cut the wax up, carefully reserving the wicks, and
filled each little loaf pan. I placed them on a cookie sheet and slid them into
my oven, which was preheated to 170 degrees. I watched them closely, since wax
has a very low flashpoint. In a short time the wax melted and filled the
dishes, and I had three lovely candles that we can now sell at the store!
Thanks, Lord!
We sometimes think we shouldn’t bother God with the small
stuff. I beg to differ. Just the other day, I discovered a $20 bill had gone
through the washer and dryer. I laid it aside and then later, I couldn’t find
it. So that night I asked God to show me where it was. About 5:00 AM our cat
woke me up. (He was hungry and I am a softie.) I went downstairs to feed him
and as soon as I walked into the kitchen I knew exactly where that money was. I
went and checked and yep, there is was! I did a little happy dance and went
back to bed.
I could go on and on with examples from my own life of God’s
hand at work in circumstances that some might feel I shouldn’t even be bringing
to His attention. But these little acts of kindness God does for me builds up
my faith so that when the big things come—like surgery, cancer, loss of a loved
one—my trust in Him is strong enough to face them. It reminds me of a song I
learned in Sunday school as a child that still offers comfort to me at 62:
By Maria and Solomon Straub
God sees the little sparrow fall,
It meets His tender view;
If God so loves the little birds,
I know He loves me, too.
Refrain: He loves me, too, He loves me, too,
I know He loves me, too;
Because He loves the little things,
I know He loves me, too.
He paints the lily of the field,
Perfumes each lily bell;
If He so loves the little flow’rs,
I know He loves me well. Refrain
God made the little birds and flow’rs,
And all things large and small;
He’ll not forget his little ones,
I know He loves them all. Refrain
“You are of more value than many sparrows.”
Luke 12:7
In what large or
small way has God shown His love for you today?
Blessings!
Pam
©2016 Pamela D. Williams
