He will provide the increase

I remember my sister telling me that in organizing one's life, it is important to keep a hedge of time around yourself.  Don't schedule every minute, she warned. Then when unexpected things occur....and the unexpected always occurs....you will have time to handle them without the messier alternative of slitting your throat.

As I mentioned in my blog yesterday, my hope for this week was to put a hedge of time around myself, so I would be available for any last minute requests from the bride and groom or Mother of the bride. As I also mentioned in my blog, I had not done a very good job of hedging. And then a friend emailed and asked if we wanted to come see her new pups. Of course we did! We would squeeze that in somehow.....I did have a spare half hour on the way to errands. And then the mother of the Bride, Pam, called. I xxxxed out all other items on my to-do list, as this was the most important thing the mother of a groom does....whatever the bride needs her to do.

My job was to go to a wholesale store near me and find some very specific vases. In case the bride wants the reception to be a secret, I will not divulge the nature of these very specific vases, but Pam had gotten a great deal, and the price of shipping would exceed the price of the vases. Could I go pick them up and bring them with me when I drove up the following week? Of course! I knew we would have to pass up the puppies, but as Asherel said, "We've seen puppies before."

So we found the store and went to the manager to ask about these very specific vases. He pulled out a tape measure and we wandered up and down a few aisles looking for the exact correct size.
"Can it be 2 inches shorter?" he asked, "We have many of those."
"She was very specific," I said, "She needed that height."
"Why?" he asked.
I shrugged, "I don't know. Mine is not to question why, mine is but to do or die."

Finally, he found a box and pulled it out, and measured. Eureka! It was the very specific height, appeared to be the very specific shape, and he would give me 50% off.
I snapped a picture of the very specific vase and texted it to Pam. There was a catch....he could only find 5 and Pam needed 7 or 8.
"However" I told Pam, "He had lots of the shorter size...would you want to have both sizes to get the number you need?"
"Would that look ok?" she asked.
"I don't know...I've never done this before."
"Neither have I," said Pam.
"Asherel is very artistic," I said, "Should I ask her?"
"Yes," said Pam, "But you are an artist too...."
"But I can't visualize. Asherel can. Just a second."

In retrospect, it was a little odd that the mother and groom of an elaborate, elegant, formal wedding were seriously consulting with a 14 year old who is terrified of wearing dresses or anything that smacks of dressing up.
Asherel shook her head. Mixing sizes would not work, in her highly refined opinion.
"Let me call the florist and I will get back to you," said Pam.

In the meantime, Asherel and I went walking up and down every aisle and we found at the far hidden corner of the store, on display another of the very specific vases. I carried it over to the manager. He pulled out a tape measure. Yes, it was the right size.
I texted Pam, "We have 6 now!"
Then the store employee hurried over with one more, but with a small chip. I texted Pam, "We have 7, but the 7th has a small chip. You will get a discount, they said!"
Pam didn't answer the text as she was on the phone with the florist who was not happy about the less than very specific solution being proposed, but felt it would maybe be ok if it was the best that mother of the groom and her 14 year old consultant could manage.(In all fairness, both Pam and the florist were much more gracious than I am indicating, but the rest of the story is exactly as told.)

Pam called. I explained the current situation. She told me buy the 7 with the chipped one too, as surely everyone would be looking at the bride and not notice a small chip anyway. And just as I was about to pay, another employee came rushing out with another box of 4 of the very specific vases.
"We now have 11!" I cried delightedly to Pam.
"Get 8, in case one breaks," she said.

I felt a little like the widow in the story of the empty jars in 2 Kings of the Old Testament. The widow was out of money and food, and was ready to eat her last bit of bread with her son before closing her eyes to die. Elisha the prophet proposed that instead, she go out and gather as many empty jars as she could. She did so, with no further instructions. She had no idea why she was gathering the jars. She just knew that Elisha was a prophet of the God she trusted and loved, and she would obey unquestioning. In the end, she gathered the jars, Elisha told her to pour her last tiny bit of oil in the jars, and miraculously every one was filled. She then sold the oil and had enough to live on for her son and herself.

It is one of my favorite Bible stories and illustrates one of my favorite biblical principles. When you step out in faith, God miraculously supplies the increase. He miraculously fills the gaps, covers inadequacies, and reveals the location of the very specific vases.

"What is she going to do with all these?" asked the store owner as we checked out. If you saw the very specific nature of the vases, you might be tempted to ask the same thing.

"I don't know," I answered, "But I suspect it will be the anchor of their home decorating down the road."
She shook her head, laughing.

2 Kings 4:3
 ³ Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.

Deuteronomy 30:16
¹⁶ For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

Luke 17:5-6
⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
 ⁶ He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.