God's Good Gifts (for today!)

(Presbyterians, have no fear, this has nothing to do with faith healing or speaking in tongues.)

I just wanted to tell everyone about how kind God is.

I know most people don't believe in God, and many of those who do, don't believe God bothers with stuff like this. Many people would call what I am about to describe as coincedence, luck or fate. But I believe in God and I believe that he does care about stuff like this so behold:

We don't have millions of cash to throw around. We're not poor, we're not desperate, we're not searching for a roomy cardboard box to move into, but we ain't loaded. So extra things like, oh for instance, tickets to see Rangers take on Villareal in Scotland's first trip to the last 16 of the Champions League, aren't really on our budget's list of priorities. However, things like, oh those tickets, are quite big on MY list of priorities. I knew we didn't have an extra £80 floating around just waiting to be spent so we didn't either bother to try and book tickets when they went on public sale. I had resigned myself to not going. I'd watch it on the big screen at the pub while eating a steak pie and beans. However, the Awesome Season-Ticket Holder, who also goes by the name of Jamie, had put in for two tickets for us just in case. Meanwhile, Scott and I, while examining our 'Budget Forecast' which I so expertly put together while not working at work, noticed that we had several bills we didn't have to pay this month, like council tax. No, it wasn't related to the Special Angel we have that lurks about and pays our phone bills and drops cash in our letterbox*, it was just, well, in my opinion, God's timing. So then, today, Jamie phoned to say the tickets had actually come in and if we still wanted them, they were still ours. So first, this is where I think God gave us/me a good gift we did not deserve or need. You may think this is stretching it, but not me. I am certain that God cares about even the small details like going to a football game that means a lot to us in this insignificant little world we dwell in. We could afford these tickets if we wanted. Now enter the Unbelievable Amazing and Stupendous and Loving Husband, who also goes by the name of Scott. I left the decision up to him, because a)he is just simply better with money than me and my emotions played far too big a role in this situation to make a wise decision and b)he is the head of this household**. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Unbelievably Amazing and Stupendous and Loving Husband, after careful consideration, agreed to let us purchase the tickets. Ladies and Gentlemen, my second item on my Super-Selfish Wishlist has been granted to me, by no cause of my own and by my in no way deserving or earning it. Despite my posting my selfish and ungrateful wishlist, God gave me something that was really important to me.

(Ok, now almost all of you are desperate to mock and smirk and make snarky*** comments, which you are most certainly free to do.)

But next (no, that was not all), I can hardly call this coincedence or luck. One thing we are out of is dishwasher tablets. Sure we can go get some, but we haven't had the time and until our recent discovery of certain bills not needing paid, we didn't really actually want to waste our money on such a thing when dishes CAN (I've been told) be washed by hand. But today, when I checked the mail, we had received a small parcel. Lo and behold, it was a free sample from Tesco. And lo and behold, it was a free sample of dishwasher tablets. Again, smirk and mock, but come on, I think God's just reminding us He's there and regardless of all the unreasonable stupid expenses coming up****, we won't have to sell any kidneys or play three chords on a guitar in the streets with a paper cup that says, "Tips pls".

Ok, that's all. I didn't type this up to convince anyone that God is real, I just had to share my good experiences, and well, give the glory to God since that's where I believe the excitement and glory should go.


*Recently we had what we decided could only be a Special Angel following us around. We had a phone bill mysteriously paid for - that we ABSOLUTELY did not pay ourselves - and had £60 dropped in our letterbox with an anonymous note. We have been very thankful for this Special Angel or Special Human who has either made an error or thought of us with love and generosity.

**Many people are offended by the idea that the man is the head of the household. You are free to disagree but please do not attack us for believing this very strongly for our own home. Neither of us believe in Scott bullying or bossing me around or lording it over me, but we do believe that Scott has the last say in situations that have been discussed, such as the purchase of extremely pricey football tickets. A woman may find this very irritating, but imagine for a moment that your husband just spent £80 of your shared money on football tickets without you having any say or when you were concerned about finances or when you really didn't want him to. Yes.

***'Snarky' is a new word I've discovered, and I love it and have been desperate to use it. It's so good.

****Come this fall we'll have a whole new set of stupid visa expenses to pay as we go through the visa process all over again to petition for my 'indefinite leave to remain'. This also means that we need to have an awesome-looking bank account starting around April to convince the British government that we are financially kick-ass enough to allow me to live in Britain fo-evah. That's all I'm saying.