Dr. Seuss & Sweet Blessings

Down south here, in Charleston area, garage sales are pretty much year round. Lucky for us as we try to replace many things we left in Slovenia! We really have quite a list of things to re-buy and are having to prioritize the importance of things. Some things...like baby items, feel a little more pressing, considering I'm 35 weeks along!

We've been hitting sales every Saturday morning and finding many, many bargains. Some things we've prayed for specifically before we left and the Lord has supplied it, in brand-new condition and a bargain of a price. Other things we've happened upon, like toys or books for the kids and have opted for some, turned down others.

At one sale we found a stack of Dr. Seuss books and a couple others for $2! Both of the kids have been loving having those around! Joel's Dad was a radio DJ for years and has a great voice for reading those books to the kids! Abigail's favorite right now is "the kitty-cat book".
This past Saturday we were out on a hunt for a bassinett for the baby. We ended up in a neighborhood that was having a community day of sales and just had to drive down every street to find many, many sales. We actually only stopped at a few, slowly driving past the rest as we scoped out what was for sale. Yep, we're those kind of people!

The last sale we stopped at there was a baby doll stroller and two baby dolls, along with a couple bags of baby accessories. The little girl selling the toys came over and explained that one of the dolls was "alive" and showed us how "Baby Annabell" worked, sucking on her pacifier, closing her eyes and laughing & cooing. Abigail fell in love right away! As we walked around the sale and were deciding to leave, we realized Abigail was pretty enthralled with Annabell.

Joel asked how much they wanted for the baby and they said $25 for all of it. It was a good deal, but $25 was just a bit much for where we're at in life right now. They didn't really seem like they wanted to split up the package. Joel took Elijah to the car and I started to tell Abigail we had to leave the baby things behind and she just started crying. Not a whiny cry though...a really sad cry. I was holding her as I just let her cry for a bit. I know how it feels to walk away from something that you really, really want. It's not fun. She actually didn't cry all that long, but she was really sad. I asked her at one point if she could just walk away from it and she said, "I can't, Mama..."

Meanwhile, a woman who was shopping at the sale walked by us to go to her car and then came back. She was looking at all the baby things and I started thinking, "maybe she wants it for her Granddaughter or something". She asked if Abigail was crying because she wanted it all and I told her that "yes, she was, but with just moving here, we can't afford buying it for her right now." The woman stood there a few more minutes and then gave us $20!! and told us to buy it for her, returned to her car and drove away!
I tried to get a good picture of her with all of the things, but she just wasn't into it, only with Annabell. She is really loving that baby, and all the other things that came with her, including the Graco, double seat stroller! She's hardly had her out of her sight since Saturday. One of the other books we've found is, "The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings". We read it together that night at bedtime and thanked God for the gift of the stroller and babies through that woman. What a special gift that He gave to Abigail!

It reinforces my trust in His care for us when I see Him taking care of our kids needs and desires too. I know He does it for Joel and I, but to see Him give Baby Annabell to Abigail just because she wanted it...it's just good for my heart to see my God take care of my girl.

PS--The baby sounds so real sometimes! I think it might be good for Elijah to prepare him for another baby coming soon! : )