Upswing To Blessing

It's no secret I've been dealing with a case of winter blues accompanied by a dose of discouragement. It happens. Even though there are many verses in Scripture that command us to "Rejoice," they can be difficult to obey at times.

Today, though, I feel like God smiled on me--just to remind me He cares. On the way home from a Bible study at church this morning I stopped at Ollie's. A quick trip around the store didn't yield any bargains, and I was on my way out when I looked down and saw a bin of these cute Valentine's stuffed animals that will be perfect for Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. I've seen them in years past at Walmart for $2.97. These were priced at .99 with a sign on the bin that said Valentine's merchandise was 50% off. The cashier verified they were .49 each so I bought all they had--44 cute little guys.

Then I went next door to a shoe store where I hoped to find a good deal on a pair of black shoes I needed--and I did. A nice pair of Clark's shoes for $40 fit the bill. I checked the RetailMeNot app on my phone and found an online coupon for $10 off on $50 that allowed me to add two pairs of really adorable children's shoes for shoe boxes ($5 each) at no extra cost.  A day brightener for sure.

But things really got good when I went up the road to Gabe's--a local discount store. I headed for the shoe department to look for those red clearance tags.

On the end of the first aisle was a pair of black shoes in my size. They were a comfortable fit, a good brand (Naturalizer) and, best of all, on sale for $12.  So...I figured I could return the shoes I just bought and have $28 extra to spend on shoes for shoe boxes.  My smile widened.

I found these cute pairs first--the yellow ones were $1 and the purple fur-lined Crocs (yes, the actual brand name ones) were only $3.

I kept scanning each row of shoes and checking the price stickers. Check out these cute boys' shoes. I found six pairs of the shiny ones on the left for $1 each. In countries where they dress up for church the boys will really love those and the loafers on the right were $3.

And a couple good deals on girls' styles--both in genuine leather and suitable for school--$1 for the ones on the left and $3 for the ones on the right.

These cute little sneakers for toddler boys were $3 each but I couldn't resist them. They have more of these so I might have to make another trip--

By this time I had just about spent that extra $28 and decided to head to the check-out line. I pushed my cart past a friendly manager, Kim, who was trying to stack boots on a shelf.  I noticed they had $3 clearance tags on them. As I passed her I said, "Well, I found more $1 shoes."  She smiled and asked, "Do you want some more?" then she pointed to the $3 boots and said, "What about these? I'll mark them down if you want them."

Well...they're tall boots and might need some creative packing but they are so cute and sparkly and at $1 a pair how could I resist?  Kim got me another cart and I filled it with 35 pairs in several styles. Here's a sampling of them--

She even accompanied me to the check-out so she could do the markdown on the boots for me.  I was able to use a $5 reward coupon and the sale printed me out another $5 coupon for my next shopping trip.

I hauled the bags to the car and made a stop at the first shoe store where they allowed me to return my original shoe purchase with no problem.

In the end, for only $25 more, I got 49 pairs of shoes to bless children in their Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.

Thank you, Lord. When you're on the upswing rejoicing is easy.