Time Out

Two weekends ago I attended a Time Out for Women in Rochester, NY. I hit the road with 5 gal pals I'd rounded up. We had an absolute BLAST. I felt like my spiritual and emotional well (from which I draw what my family needs) was filled to overflowing. I couldn't wait to get back to my family and put into practice those things that the Spirit had taught me.

One of my favorite presenters was Hilary Weeks, an incredible singer-songwriter. I'm absolutely in love with her music; it is so uplifting, energizing, and motivating to me. I purchased her new CD (which just recently made #6 on the Christian billboard charts and #1 on the Indie Music Charts) along with a little book she authored this year called "Bedtime and Naptime...and Bedtime and Naptime". I'd like to share a little gem of a story I found in it last night (pg. 10-11):

One afternoon, I was making some orange rolls for dinner. When I was almost done, I received the prompting that if I wanted a rotisserie chicken (which I would need for the soup I was also going to make), I needed to go to the store right after making the rolls. I was about to leave when I remembered an e-mail I wanted to send. What difference would thirty seconds make? I sent the e-mail and headed for the store.

Upon arriving at the store, I went directly to the rotisserie chicken stand. I walked up just in time to see a lady stop in front of the stand, eye the very last chicken, and then pick it up and put it in her cart! I couldn't believe it! I wanted to say to her, "That's my chicken! Did you have any impressions or feelings about that chicken? Because I did!" If only I hadn't sent the email.

Turns out thirty seconds did make a difference.

I went to the deli counter and asked if they had any more chickens. The employee said, "No. For some reason the chickens have been selling really fast tonight."

I was able to find another option, and dinner went on. But as I thought about what had happened, I was so grateful I had seen the last chicken snatched up. If I had walked up and seen the whole stand empty, I would have thought it wouldn't have mattered how fast I got there. Instead, I was reminded that I need to follow the promptings I receive with exactness.

Thank goodness Heavenly Father reminded me of that principle using a rotisserie chicken, helping me to get it right now so I'd do better in the future when it really mattered.

I was reminded of something else as well. Heavenly Father cares about every detail of our lives. He cares about rotisserie chickens!

He cares about the big stuff, the medium stuff, and the very tiniest things in our lives.

And He will be as much a part of our lives as we will let Him be.

There. Now you love her too, don't you?

I love this reminder that Heavenly Father wants to help us in the minutest details of our lives. It's so amazing to me that the Creator of our spirits and the universe would send inspiration, even unsought, about when to buy a specific ingredient needed for dinner. Am I living so that I can receive such inspiration?