You ever heard of that saying “your setback could be God’s comeback!”
I have a little story to tell you how God came back after a setback in my life.
Do you remember me telling you months ago that someone stole the bikes out of my yard? Well if you don’t remember, let me refresh your memory. Rico had come inside to ask me if I moved the bikes and I told replied “no.”
Because of the neighborhood we live in I always told my boys to put their bikes all the way in the backyard on the other side of the air conditioning unit; that way people can’t see the bikes from the road.
Well a few days had gone by and the boys left their bikes in the area I told them not to. You know what happened next? Yes you guessed it, they stole my kids bikes. Not 1..not 2…but all 3 of them. Like who does that smh?!!!
Months had gone by and the boys kept asking for their bikes- I told them I would have to buy them some once we moved into a better neighborhood but they couldn’t wait that long. So one afternoon I was watching WLTX when the segment on the Salvation Army Christmas assistance came on.
Normally I don’t attempt to apply for assistance not because I am prideful but because I work and there are parents who don’t have jobs right now due to the pandemic or facing other hardships and I feel like it is not fair to take away from other kids. Besides I normally start shopping for Christmas right after Christmas when things go on sale but who knew some punks would come steal my kids bikes.
Let me fast forward. So I did apply for Christmas assistance and the only thing I put down were bikes for my boys. My family had gotten accepted for Christmas assistance but when I went down to pick up our items- no bikes!
Two days later my horse nose friend went to go pick up the items for her kids and found out she had only received gifts for one of her children. Instead of just leaving things as is- she decided to go back down to inquire about it. Boy am I glad she did. Keep reading this is where the story gets good!!!!
When she went back down to the fairgrounds she was told that there had been a few mix ups and the gentleman went to retrieve her other two kids Christmas gifts. She called me and said, “Whitnee’ girl come get your kid’s bikes I bet they are down here.”
My first thought was no I guess my kids just didn’t get one but she was adamant. I told her I will give it a try because the other items we received I was going to give them to kids who may not have anything because all I was going to get my kids were the bikes that were stolen from them and it’s only fair.
I had a chance of heart. My friend gentle nudge just kept hitting me in the back of the head. So I went!!!
I got down to the fairgrounds yesterday and when I got there I was full of emotions. I kept saying “Whitnee’ you are being so ungrateful, just accept the fact you have to buy your kids bikes and get over it.” I couldn’t accept that you see the special things about the bikes that were stolen for me were not brought- they were given to me out of love. You see those bikes were not any ordinary bikes they had belonged to other kids who loved and cherished them and wanted my boys to get as much excitement out of them if not more. So I didn’t want to just go buy them bikes because they wouldn’t have history behind them.
Amen I I was not just being cheap; I really wanted their new bikes to have a prior home filled with love!
So I got down to the fairgrounds and a young lady came out. I explained to her that I had received gifts the other day but the only thing I wrote down were bikes and I wanted to see by chance if like my friend things got mixed up. She went on to explain how things happen and I found out my kids did not get adopted so to make sure they had something the Salvation Army gave them toys.
I thanked her and as she walked away I had a “punch in my chest.” I yelled out, “I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful and I thank you for taking the time to speak to me and explain the process.” I went on and said a few more things and you won’t believe what happened next?!!!!!….
The young lady asked me if I had received a gift card and I told her no. She came back with a gift card and of course I said thank you because the Foos Lion gift card would definitely come in handy how my boys eat lol. I told her God bless you and as I prepared to leave she asked me the ages of my kids. I told her 8, 9, and 12 and then went on to say all boys. She replied, “well I don’t think we have any big boy bikes anyway but if you hold on I’ll go check.”
About fifteen minutes went by and the young lady said I didn’t forget about you. I told her I would wait as long as she told me to because she was kind enough to go check in the first place. I did not have an appointment, I was out of line, and I know she didn’t have to. About another fifteen minutes by and she told me because of your great attitude I was able to find you a bike.
Let me tell you what God did! This was NOTHING BUT GOD!
The young lady thanked me for being polite and told me to keep the positive attitude. She said because of my kindness she did not just have one bike….she had 3 🚲 🚲 🚲.
And let me tell you how God was showing out. He provided the SAME EXACT COLORS OF THE BIKES THAT WERE STOLEN FROM MY BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!
You see if anyone would have told me that what was taken from me would have been given back to me months later I would have thought they were crazy.
So to my horse nose friend (she knows who she is) THANK YOU FOR OPENING THAT BIG OLE MOUTH OF YOURS!!!!
Amen, yes keep up that positive attitude. This is awesome. Thank you God
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I am so glad I opened my big mouth too. Like my Brother Marc used to say a closed mouth don’t get fed. Sometimes I think we may miss a blessing or opportunity just because of the fact that we don’t ask questions, or we don’t speak up. I know that is the case with me a lot of the times because of various reasons…But God. If we are pieces to God’s puzzle and we don’t act according to his will because we don’t open our big mouths that God gave us, it’s nobody’s fault but our own. So yes, I’ve learned that a closed mouth doesn’t get fed whether if you open your big mouth early on or late in the game. It’ is up to us to act upon our Faith, no matter if it’s as big as a mountain or tiny as a mustard seed. Thank God for Big Mouths LOL!
You are right and that’s exactly what the lady said so yes ma’am and I’m happy that God led you to do so and that it blessed my kids as well and then the blessings came back around full circle.