The Carts

The carts have been an itch that won’t quit at the back of my mind for weeks now.  I feel like God is saying there is a lesson there …

I’m an educator – an administrator – opening a new school.  The journey since last January has definitely been interesting, challenging – satisfying in many ways.  (Also – quite busy – creating a definite imbalance … and it’s past time to correct that!)

As the construction of the building was finishing, the certificate of occupancy forthcoming, the furniture began arriving.  A team of young men hauled desks, chairs, tables, and more into the halls and classrooms.  Those were exciting days seeing the empty hull – albeit beautiful – take on the feel of a school.

I looked for the carts I had ordered.  Deliveries of textbooks, curriculum resources, instructional tools were next.  I had 30 teachers awaiting their arrival.  We designated one empty classroom as textbook central … a sea of boxes were waiting to be loaded onto carts … and teachers were eager to break open those resources.

I couldn’t find the carts.  And so I asked the representative of the furniture company, “Will the carts be delivered soon?”  And his reply shook my world, “Oh, didn’t you know – the carts were considered too expensive, unnecessary, and they were  marked off of your order.”

I can imagine that the reader may not feel the same plummeting feeling that I had that day.  And in fact the reader may wonder why the carts became such an issue for me.

As I’ve been praying through these weeks, I hear my heavenly Father gently saying to me, “Beth, you can plan, put together strategies, collaborate, make lists and more.  But most of all, depend on me.”

I realize now that the carts were one more gentle reminder … that it’s not in my own strength (or plans) that the work will be accomplished.  It’s in His strength … His plan … where the real work will be done.

God says through David, the Psalmist, “You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.” (Ps. 65:11, NIV).

God has carts … and they are full … full of blessings for me … I am depending on him.

By the way, we have carts at school now.  One assistant called the nearby grocery store … so we have four excellent grocery carts!  We also used school-based money to purchase a few sturdy carts.

No longer will I pass a cart in the hallway and shake my head with dismay … instead … I’ll see with spiritual eyes that the carts are overflowing with blessings!