The Drapes

It was definitely the worst of times. I found myself very much alone with two adolescents and an eight month old baby, who required a considerable amount of love, care and attention. It all happened so suddenly, and I was absolutely devastated. My high school sweetheart, and husband of fourteen years, had fallen for a girl at the office and was gone.

My dear parents, thinking I needed a morale boost, bought me a lovely, little, celery green, glass top, patio table and chair set. I was thrilled! The cushions on The wrought iron chairs were covered in a beautiful floral print, and were going to look great in my dining area, except for one thing. The dining area and the drapes at the sliding glass doors were olive green, which, didn’t even blend with my new furniture. What should I do? I decided to paint my room the same shade of green as my new table and chairs.

I loved the results! My new room was beautiful, with exception of the ugly olive green drapes. No way did I have the money to buy new drapes, so I decided to do the next best thing and wash them. Maybe that would help. I preceded to follow the directions to the letter, using warm water, gentle cycle, etc. When I pulled the drapes from the washer, the rubber backing stuck to itself, and pulled big hunks if backing from the drapes. This let the light shine through in ugly patches. I had to hang them over the sliding glass doors, because they were all I had to cover the glass. They had also shrunk, so they hung about six inches from the floor. They looked hideous!

I was sick. As the tears welled up in my eyes, I remember saying aloud, “Lord you know I can’t afford to buy new drapes.” I then said to myself, “Now wait a minute.” I had read a book by Francis Gardner Hunter titled, “Praise the Lord, Anyway.” I knew that the Bible said, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of Christ Jesus concerning you.” I also knew that, “All thing work for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.” I then got down on my knees, on a little fuzzy rug in front of that door, folded my hands and bowed my head. I proceeded to say, “Thank you Lord that my drapes fell apart, because I know there’s a reason for it.” I shouldn’t have added this part, but I did, “And I know you’ll show me what it is.”

I then sat down at my new table, opened my checkbook and began to pay my bills. I realized that I would soon owe two weeks’ tithes to my church. I owed $18.00 this coming Sunday and another $18.00 for the previous Sunday, because I had missed church to visit my parents. After writing the check for $36.00, I discovered that I didn’t have enough left to pay the bills. I remember saying to the Lord, “Well, here’s yours, Lord. You’ll have to help me come up with the rest.”

As I put the check on top of the refrigerator, where I always put it until Sunday, I had an idea. Where did I get those drapes, anyway? Maybe if I take them back, they might give me an adjustment, or something like that. I bundled them up and started out for a department store on the south side of the city.

When I showed the drapes to a very nice lady clerk, she looked sympathetically at me as she said, “Oh Honey, that shouldn’t have happened, and I’m so sorry we don’t carry that color anymore. You pick you out a color that you’d like to have.” I’m telling you that, I could hardly read the sizes on the outside of the packages, because of the tears in my eyes. I found a perfect pair of celery green drapes, exactly the color of my dining area. I was so elated that I thanked the Lord, and cried, all the way home. I was beginning to realize exactly what He’d done for me. I was right. He did know I couldn’t afford new drapes. He is so clever.

I couldn’t wait to get them home. I pulled them from the sack, in the middle of the living room floor. Words cannot describe the emotion I felt when my eyes fell on the price tag attached. Remember, this was back in the seventies. Cost of living was approximately one third of what it is now, maybe less. The tag read $36.00. That’s right, exactly the amount of the check I had written earlier that day. It didn’t read $35.95 or $35.50, but $36.00 to the penny. I sobbed.

I learned two valuable lessons that day. The first is to thank the Lord for everything, even the bad things. They may appear to have a negative impact on our lives, but in the end, may very well turn out to be unexpected blessings. I’m convinced if we trust Him enough to thank Him for our adversities, He is pleased. Then come the blessings!

The second lesson I learned was, if you put Him first; He will not only take care of your needs, He will give you the “desires of your heart.” The price of the drapes did not have to be the exact amount of the check I put on the top of the refrigerator, but it was.

It was definitely the worst of times. I found myself very much alone with two adolescents and an eight month old baby who required a considerable amount of love, care and attention.  It all happened so suddenly and I was absolutely devastated.  My high school sweetheart and husband of fourteen years had fallen for a girl at the office and was gone.

My wonderful parents, thinking I needed a morale boost, brought me a pretty little celery green, glass top patio table and chair set.  I was thrilled!  It was going to look great in my dining area except for one thing.  The dining area and the drapes at the sliding glass door were olive green which didn’t even blend with my new furniture.  What should I do?   I decided to paint my room the same shade of green as the table and chairs.

I  loved the results.  My new room was beautiful, all except the ugly olive green drapes.  No way did I have the money to buy new drapes, but I decided I’d do the next best thing and wash them.  Maybe that would help.  I proceeded to follow the directions to the letter, using warm water, gentle cycle, etc.  When I pulled the drapes from the washer, the rubber backing stuck to itself and pulled big hunks of the backing from the drapes. This let  the light shine through in ugly patches.  I  had to hang them over the sliding doors because they were all I had to cover the glass.  They had also shrunk so that they hung about six inches from the floor.  They looked hideous.

I was just sick and big tears welled up in my eyes.  I remember saying aloud, “Lord, you know I can’t afford to buy new drapes”.  I  then said to myself, “Now wait a minute”.  I had just read a book by Frances Gardner Hunter titled, “Praise the Lord, Anyway”.   I knew the Bible said, “In everything give thanks for this is the will of Christ Jesus concerning you”.  I also know that, “All things work together for good  for those who love the Lord………………..”.

So,  I got down on my knees on a little fuzzy rug in front of that door, folded my hands and bowed my head.  I proceeded to say, “Thank you Lord that my drapes fell apart because I know there’s a reason for it”,  I shouldn’t have added this part but I did, “and I know you’ll show me what it is”.

I then sat down at my new table, opened my checkbook and began to pay my bills. I realized that I would soon owe two week’s tithes to the church.  I owed $18.00 this coming Sunday and another $18.00 for the previous Sunday because I had missed church to visit my parents.

After writing a check to the church for a total of $36.00, I discovered that I didn’t have enough left to pay the bills. I remember saying to the Lord, “Well here’s yours, Lord.  You’ll have to help me come up with the rest”.  As I put that check on top of the refrigerator, where I always put it until Sunday, I had an idea. Where did I get those drapes, anyway?  Maybe if I take them back, they might give me an adjustment or something like that. I bundled them up and started out for a department store in a mall on the south side of the city.

When I showed the drapes to a very nice lady clerk she said to me, “Oh honey, that shouldn’t have happened and I’m so sorry we no longer carry that color. You pick you out a color that you would like to have”. I’m telling you that I could hardly read the sizes on the outside of the packages because of the tears in my eyes. I found a perfect pair of celery green drapes, exactly the color of my dining area. I was so elated that I thanked the Lord all the way home. I was beginning to realize just what He’d done for me. I was right. He did know I couldn’t afford new drapes. He is so clever.

I couldn’t wait to get them home. I pulled them from the sack in the middle of the living room floor.  Words can not describe the emotion that overwhelmed me when I read the price on the tag attached.  Remember this was back in the seventies. Cost of living then was approximately one third of what it is now. The tag read $36.00, the exact amount of the check I had written to the church earlier that day.  It didn’t read $35.95 or $34.50 but $36.00, to the penny.

I learned not one but two valuable lessons that day.  The first and most important is to thank the Lord for everything, even the bad things. They may appear to have a negative impact on our lives but, in the end, may very well turn out to be unexpected blessings. I’m convinced that, if we trust Him enough to thank Him for our adversities,  He is pleased. Then come the blessings.

The second lesson learned was, if you put Him first, He will not only take care of your needs, “He will give you the desires of your heart”. The price of the drapes did not have to be the exact amount of the check I put on the refrigerator, but it was.

The Drapes 1975