A Purse and a Saree

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Praying is such a powerful thing. Lifting up, giving things to the Lord and surrendering things to him is so amazing, especially when you see the results. Not always will we see things happen right away, but on other occasions, we might. This is exactly what happened to me.

A week after being in India, I went to the market and a mall with Kelsie, Stella a staff member at the Chennai base and Gade who was a YWAM International Biblical Counseling (IBC) student staying at the base. It was such a fun day. I had two main things that I wanted to buy, and they were small things, but I still really wanted to get them. One was an Indian looking purse made out of silk type fabric. The other was a silk Saree, which is the formal type of dress that women wear. Both of these things I did not want to spend a lot of money on and I also wanted them in different shades of purple because it is my favorite color. As we were on our way there by auto rickshaw, I talked to the Lord about these desires on my heart. “Lord, you know that I would like these two things. So, I give them to you and surrender them. You know the designs, colors and the price that I would like these to be in. But I hand them over to you. May your will be done with these two things.” Now some people may think that what I just prayed for was a little strange. It’s a purse and a Saree! Really? But I prayed. Towards the end of the day, I still had not found the items that I wanted. As Kelsie and I were walking down an isle in the mall, something caught my eye. It was a dark purple purse! Not only that, but it was a silk type fabric! I asked the merchant how much it cost “200 Rupees.” That’s a perfect price! When we were in India, it was about 46 Rupees to $1.00; you do the math, cheap! I couldn’t believe what had just happened! God had answered my prayer, about a purse!

We continued on and made our way to the market. I still had not found the type of Saree that I was looking for, but I didn’t stop trusting the Lord. We went into one shop that sold Sarees and none of them really seemed to be what I was looking for. We continued to look around and in one pile a color caught my eye, it was lavender. I asked the clerk if I could see that one. He pulled it out and them unfolded it and the embroidery that was on it was magnificent! I don’t think that I had seen anything so beautiful! I then asked how much it was and wouldn’t you know it was on sale and in my price range! I couldn’t believe it! God have you really just answered my prayer for a purse and a Saree? What in the world?

Through all of this, God showed me something very important for us all to remember, hand things over to him, surrender. Even if it is the simplest thing, he will answer. If God can work things out with a purse and a Saree, don’t you think that he can work things out with the things going on in our lives? Here is the thing though, we have to give these things to him and trust him with them.

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Photos

Fun with Sarees
One of the women that worked at the Saree shop helped us with our Sarees. Only Kelsie and I ended up buying a Saree, but Gade and Stella had fun trying them as well!