Yesterday as my family and I were traveling back to Houston from San Antonio we made a pit stop in Sealy, TX; about half way through. We all needed to stretch and go to the restroom and I needed a couple of items so we decided to stop at Wal-Greens. As we were struggling to find our shoes and put them on in the vast amount of travel pillows, blankets, games and other odds and ends my phone rang. Now, usually I wouldn't have answered it, I would've waited until I wasn't busy and call the number back. However, I knew I needed to talk to the person so I answered the phone.
I walked into wal-greens (while on my phone) not paying a bit of attention to what I was doing and managed to leave my purse on the photo center counter. To make a long story short, we got home that evening around 7 pm. I realized my purse was missing a little after 8 pm. We searched frantically around the house. I called Wal-Greens twice and eventually notified the Sealy police. Nothing.
The problem lied in the fact that the very next day I was to train with a new job as a bus driver. I couldn't very well do that with out my liscence and my certificate stating that I am drug-free both which were in my wallet...in my purse. And to top that off, I am the only person that can open the day care center I work at and without my purse, I have no keys to open the center OR to drive my truck. I had realized all of the inconveniences this had cause for not only me but those around me I was becoming frantic with worry.
I was SO SURE that I hadn't taken my purse into the Wal-Greens and I was pretty certain that someone had stolen it. Just took it right out of the truck. I then became angry and frustrated. I got myself so worked up over this imaginary thief that I couldn't even sleep.
The next day was not a very good one. I made a list of all the things I was going to have to do. 1. Go to the DPS office and get a new commercial liscence for my new job. 2. Go to the social security office to get a new SS card for myself and my son. 3. Get a copy of a house key and a key to my truck. 4. Get another copy of my drug testing certificate.
I was eat up in the fact that I was going to have to take a full day of work off to accomplish all of these tasks. The irony behind all the worry is that I was also praying. Now, to pray and worry at the same time is a slight insinuation of God not going to take care of whatever it is your praying for. In other words...too little faith.
Well, I decided to call Wal-Greens one more time just to make sure nothing had been turned in. By now, I was completely prepared to hear "no ma'am, I'm sorry, no one has turned it in" again. However, to my GREAT surprise, the lady on the other end of the phone asked me to describe the purse. I gave her the description and she said "Yep, that's the one." I was so extatic! I had everything I needed to make it through the next day. A weight had been lifted from my chest. I felt like I could breathe!
I said a silent prayer of thanks and also of apologies for not giving God the full amount of faith He deserved. As I was driving down the road only 30 minutes after finding out my purse was ok, I drove past a flock of PARROTS! Yeah, green and orange and yellow PARROTS in the middle of Deer Park TX. There had to have been 8 or 9 of them. They were all on the ground pecking at some seeds and bugs. I had never in my life seen wild parrots in TX.....ever. It was like God saying "Do I have your attention NOW?"
And at that very moment I realized what God was telling me. It was so loud and so clear that I knew I couldn't miss this message. He said: "Kori, why do you worry about so many little things? Don't you know that I am capable of providing for the birds....birds that are not even native to this region? Don't you know that I love you and care for you more than these tiny creatures? When you worry it demeans me. It tells me that you really don't think I can or will handle this situation. Know that I love you and don't want you to worry about what tomorrow will bring....that's MY job.
Girls, we tend to worry more about anything and everything. When you find yourself sick over worry (as I was) ask yourself one little question: In the end, is the worry worth it? And generally the answer is "NO!".
