God's Brown Teapot"

Raising a family on the farm, even in these times can be financially difficult. It was for my husband and I especially since we were much younger than most of the families who lived in the surrounding area who raised Dairy Cattle and sold milk as their only source of income but we had a fairly large brood, 5 children. I haven't changed all that much in the basics since those times....I've always been very domestic and loved being able to be a stay at home ( or home on the farm) young mother.. With 5 little ones and a huge old farmhouse, most of my days were spent cleaning....I was a clean freak...I practically walked behind my kids with a washcloth and a pine-sol rag to clean dirty sticky hands and any residue that may have been left behind on furniture or walls by tiny little fingers.
I also enjoyed any opportunity to "Decorate" my circa 1901 ,5 bedroom Farmhouse. Of course, the Country Theme was all the rage and I was in love with that style, but lacked the funds to do it up right. I had dried flowers wherever possible, tucked in here and there, wicker baskets were a main theme and also used for any purpose I could think of, and gingham checked curtains on almost every window.
My color scheme throughout my house , with the exception of the kid's rooms, was earthy tones. The browns , tans, rust and yellow.
I had a particular fondness for my kitchen, where alot of my time was spent of course, and I prided myself on how clean and sparkly I kept it , considering I had 5 small children and lived and worked on a thriving Dairy Farm.
I didn't get out a whole bunch, but shopping trips to the city were high on my fun list , especially if I managed to do it without the kids and in the company of a friend.
On one occasion, I was tickled to be invited for a short trip into town to Kmart, with a dear friend that I went to Church with at one time, but I didn't get to see much as she lived a little bit of a distance from me and also enjoyed a much busier social life than I did. I was thrilled when my Husband actually offered to take the kids up into the top portion of the barn with him as he shuffled some hay around and I made a hasty exit before one of the kids by chance started to whine and beg Mommy to go along....LOL.
I only had a few dollars with me in case I saw something that I may need, but of course, once inside the store , I made a bee-line for the Housewares Department in hopes of spying some goody that would spruce up my home a little. Now, for weeks I had been looking at my tired old dented up teapot that sat upon my stove, not because I enjoyed looking at it, but because it had become an eyesore that I couldn't tear my gaze away from...I suffer from a bit of an obsessive compulsive nature and this ugly teapot had become my nemesis. After I cleaned and scrubbed my kitchen, always giving special attention to my stove, which actually sparkled and never looked like I cooked three meals a day for 7 people on it, I would step back and admire my hard work and take some small pleasure in my simple but cute country decor. THEN.... that ugly teapot would catch my eye, like a hideous monster staring at me, taunting me..... And I just knew that it had to go !!!
As you can imagine, my casual stroll through the housewares Dept. that day in Kmart, naturally took me to the "teapot" section. There lined up all shiny and purty, were teapots a' plenty... All colors and styles, and then, my gaze drifted towards a shiny Brown Enamel beauty. It would look perfect in my Country Kitchen...I envisioned taking it home, cleaning it out, drying it lovingly , setting the lid back on it and then placing it lovingly in it's roost, atop my glistening clean stove.
The only thing that could mar this vision of perfection in my head was the sharp slap of reality when I looked at the price tag. I didn't have enough !! But I stood there looking at it, no stared at the teapot and my mind raced, wondering if I had my checkbook in my purse.I was not going to walk away from the store without that teapot! But, I was smart and had made sure NOT to bring along the checkbook which was used mainly for purchases for the farm. I must not be able to hide my emotions very well, because when my friend rounded the corner of the isle where I stood, my gaze "fixed" on the teapots , she knew something was wrong. I was a little too embarrassed to say what my crisis really was, but I did anyways, and of course being the good friend she was, she offered to buy me the teapot....No, No, no...absolutely not !!! I wasn't so much prideful and wouldn't accept a charitable gesture, but for something as trivial as a teapot and especially seeing that I already had a teapot at home and it was totally functional albeit, ugly as sin, I would not allow her to buy it for me... She was a loving and very considerate, woman of Faith. So her next suggestion was for me to pray about it. Surely God wants us to have nice things, even if they are silly teapots.... Not that we should be in the habit of continually asking for such items or making them the focus of our prayers and wants and desires....but..He created us ...We have likes and dislikes and enjoy things here on earth that are temporal...it's ok to want something like this sometimes.... He knows the desires of our hearts ....
Well, I did walk away that day without the teapot, but in my mind I told God I wasn't going to obsess over that teapot anymore. If He wanted me to have a new teapot then I would get one some day, but it was ok if it wasn't today.....
I went home after my little outing, and didn't give much thought again to the teapot incident.. until I was cleaning up after dinner and there it was !!! That THING .....that ugly, ugly THING...I emptied it out and put it away in the drawer under my stove....I just didn't want it to take up any room in my mind than it had already . "Out of sight, out of mind"....A short while later in the evening, my husbands Aunt came to visit...This was just one of those people that you really need to pray for patience with. I loved her, but I she just was not on my list of favorite people...After her rounds of hugs and kisses for the kids and niceties ...she produced a brown bag that she had been clutching..When I first spotted the bag in her hand I dreaded what might be in it...Auntie Edith had a twisted sense of humor and loved to bring my kids sweet, sticky, messy treats...she would laugh at their antics as they gobbled down jelly doughnuts, tore into sugary circus peanut candy or dripped chocolaty ice cream bars all over themselves, me, or God forbid, my nice clean house....She stayed for short periods then left me with not only the messes these treasures she always brought produced, but the after affects of the sugar "High" they induced in my children !!!
Fearing what lay ahead for me...I took the bag from her hand and watched her face for some "clue" as to what dreadful torture she had devised for me this visit..... She proceeded to tell me that she stopped at a few Yard Sales along the way over and saw this particular item, not knowing if I really needed it or would even want it, but it was only $1 so she scooped it up for me, just in case.
I unrolled the top of the bag slowly, although by now I was at least fairly certain it wasn't the usual messy , sugary, poisonous, edible item.
Can you imagine not only my surprise or my delight, but also my shame in my heart, when I pulled out a brown enamel teapot, identical in every way to the brand new one I lusted after in Kmart that day, except for the bright pink sticker on the side with $1 handwritten in black marker. I was speechless, I was humbled, and I was so profoundly made aware of God's love and caring for me in such a small, simple but yet personal and poignant gesture.
I was so moved that not only did He give me the teapot I wanted , but to allow the giver to be someone who I thought would be one of the last persons He would use to do it !!!
I would never again doubt His great love for me , "His little girl", by giving me this small "desire of my heart", but also I would never ignore the treasures and blessings that I already possess in the people that I call friends or family ......