A Giant Leathery Hug

Ok, like a year ago, I won the Pioneer Woman's photography contest and got a big ol' gift card to J.C. Penney. And I toyed with using it for this couch...remember?

But of course, we used that for Christmas and the couch once again, became just a dream.

But as we were cleaning out the house this past week, I turned this mental corner in my mind. I just thought, you know, it might be time to stop acting kind of pathetic and buying cheap crap now. We can save up for something better. Everything was selling so well at the garage sale, I called and asked Robb if I could get rid of our couch. I figured we could live without one for a while and it would be good motivation to save for a new one.

Of course, everyone thinks my relationship with couches is so funny...well it IS a little odd. But your couch is like your clothes and your car and when it doesn't fit your personality, it's just kind of annoying. Seriously, in the grand scheme of life, I know it is just a thing, but it is a thing you sit on a lot and invite other people to sit on, and spend time with your family on, etc. etc.

So one of my friends casually mentions, "Hey, have you tried the Lucky Horseshoe?" Nope, never heard of it. It's a scratch and dent furniture store out on 412. So on Monday, with that much information, I meandered out that direction, after stopping and looking at my other gyp-joints and junque-piles...which were well stocked with UGLY couches.

In my mind I knew a couple of things for sure: Robb would need to love anything I picked out. Not that he's so difficult, but I have made him live with a lot of things he hates over the years, and I just really wanted him to be happy with what I picked out. Secondly, I would not pay retail, not even at an outlet store. I know the markup on furniture and I just flat out refuse to pay it. With where we are in life and who we are trying to honor with our resources, I just couldn't justify paying full price or even close to full price for anything.

The Lucky Horseshoe is a dusty, crowded, pile of furniture shoe-horned into a small store front, with about 50 different pieces of furniture out front that couldn't possibly fit inside the store....I have no idea what they do when it rains. They've been there for about 6 weeks and used to be in a location two towns north of us.

I squeezed in the front door and laid eyes on the prize. Not sure what to expect, I checked the price tag. It was so reasonable, I fulled expected the entire back of the couch must be ripped off. I inquired. A scratch on the back of the arm. Some dings in the wooden skirt. The obligatory furniture fabric underneath torn loose. That's all.
Robb came and looked at it, and it was simply, a no-brainer. At less than one third the original price, it was brand new, but not so perfect that we needed to scream at our kids continuously for even looking at it. As Hannah so eloquently put it, I didn't need to pay an extra six hundred dollars to put my own dings in it! And the best part? I already had that exact amount saved up.

So here it is: it is just like the one I dreamed of a year ago, only nicer! I'm not a health-wealth gospel person AT ALL. But I feel really blessed....it was nothing for God. It was the littlest thing in the world for the Ruler of the Universe to drop a couch into my life. It was a piece of cake for Him. But it's a really big deal to me. He actually cares about me. He actually cares if I have a couch that I actually like. I know...I know it's just a thing. I know there are other needs out there....way more important ones. I don't know why He chose to bless us, other than just because He's God and He is nice like that and wanted to encourage us a little bit with a nice thing. But I said it in the store and I'm saying it now....This was God setting this all up for us. I'm not trying to be cheesy. I don't think I deserve it. I'm just really grateful.

Now, if I could just figure out how to arrange the room....