Monday Memories...The Tea Party

When our girls were young (2 and 4) they loved to play dress up. They loved to put on hats, gloves, play dresses , beads and pretend.

We had just moved to Dickinson, North Dakota (not the end of the world but you can see it from there!). We were living in an apartment while we looked for employment. I was 9 months pregnant with Boy Wonder and our finances were very limited.

One morning while Mr. Wonderful was out looking for a job I discovered that the only food we had in the house was a can of biscuits and a box of lime jello. At first, I was shocked that there was no other food. Then panic set in as I thought of the girls.

While they were still asleep, I made the jello and put it in a cake pan (the only pan I could find at the time) while I cried. I started praying and reminded God how bad things were. I asked for a job for Mr. Wonderful, a doctor for the new baby and food for my children. I also asked for wisdom on how to handle the situation so as not to alarm the girls.

"Make it a celebration" was the thought that came into my mind very loud and clear.

So with a prayer of thanksgiving, I woke the girls with excitement about the wonderful Tea Party were going to have. They quickly caught the enthusiasm in my voice and were excited too.

"Can we dress up for the party?" they asked.

"Absolutely," I said. So we began our "dress-up " tea party. We laughed and giggled at the strange and wonderful outfits they created.

I pulled out the lace table cloth and the good dishes to set the table for our special party.

While looking for a cookie sheet to put the biscuits on, I found some cookie cutters. So the girls and I used them to cut out stars, hearts, bells, and other shapes in the jello while the biscuits cooked.

Our tea party of biscuits and jello was a smashing success. We sipped water from our tea cups and ate our "treats" with our little pinkies held up. We were proper "ladies" in our beads and bonnets!

We decided to have " a fashion parade" down the hall to the mail box hoping to impress our neighbors. We got several startled looks and some lovely comments on our beautiful outfits. The girls loved all the attention and hammed it up even more.

They could hardly wait for Daddy to come home to join in the fun .

The mail that morning made me cry. We got a check for 50 dollars with a note that said, "The Lord told me that you might need this." The money bought groceries for a week.

What could have been a diaster turned out to be a lovely memory. I learned that God is never surprised and provided for our needs days in advance through a totally different source.

When God says, "What's in your hand?" Know that He can make it an asset!