The Windows of Heaven

Recently, I noticed the faucet in our powder bathroom was leaking. I mentioned it to my husband, who suggested that we go ahead and replace the whole sink because of a crack developing in the pedestal. We stopped by Lowe's one day to figure out how much these plans would cost us.

Wandering the aisles, I quickly saw that it would cost more to replace everything than I had anticipated. I abandoned my hopes in favor of just fixing the faucet. As we walked past the front of the displays, I spied a cabinet/vanity combination on clearance. I had barely done more than turn back to it when an employee said, "I'll make you a deal on that."

Deal? Those words catch my attention more quickly than chocolate.

"How good of a deal?" I replied.

He thought for a moment and then offered the whole thing for $50, about 30% of the original price. I saw my husband hesitating, more for the work he saw in his future than the money leaving his pocket. We decided it was too good to pass up and snatched it up.

This experience prompted me to consider all the times items we have needed have appeared at a price we could afford. When Ashley was a baby, her crib was recalled about the time we would move her into a toddler bed. We took the refund and got a toddler bed, and then went looking for a dresser with the remainder. We walked into an unfinished furniture store where they sold us a scratch-and-dent for the exact amount we had left. When we were building our house, we saw that the builder had a larger house with a larger yard for sale for less. They allowed us to buy the bigger house (which happened to come with all the appliances and blinds and fence) instead of the one we were building. Or the time I was looking for a coat tree and walked right past one on clearance in Target. Recently, we were at my favorite nursery and they gave us a coupon for a free pumpkin--so we are set for Halloween without a penny out of our own pocket. A couple of weeks ago, we were looking for curtains to match my new room and stumbled onto the perfect ones at Ross. Last night, I found three beautiful framed pictures that exactly matched the room for $10 a piece. All three together cost less than one at regular price.

My list could go on and on...


Sometimes when I read Malachi 3:8-10 I have wondered what it would be like to have the windows of heaven pour down blessings upon me. What I haven't realized is that they have been open and bringing countless blessings into my life all along. I love my Father in Heaven and the law of tithing. It may feel like a sacrifice to write that check every month, but in reality, it's not a sacrifice at all.