As some of you guys might know, I'm getting ceremonially married to Mark in 4 days. And as with all weddings, the lead up to it is nail-biting.. trying to finish up things on your to do list, trying not to over-stress, trying to juggle work and the difficulties and challenges of planning a wedding remotely. It's a ball of stress!
Anyway, I had gone to do some last minute printing at a local print house and while I was waiting for my prints to dry, I walked out of the store to explore the mall. Having passed by a pastry shop, I could not help but to buy something, specifically for the printer staff because they have been so accommodating in my requests. There was this particular Malaysian guy who helped me edit some of my prints (outside his job scope) and I wanted to show some appreciation for his service.
As I was preparing to pay for the pastries, I realized that my wallet had gone missing. I scrambled to look for it, rushed up to the car park and rummaged through my entire car, hoping it would be there. When I fist found out my wallet was lost, I felt anxiety rise and my mind was flooded with 1001 permutations on where I would have last left it as well as how foul my mood would be leading up to the wedding. Imagine making your IC, cancelling your credit cards, re-registering your driving license, and oh all the cash that I had in my wallet.... gosh what a nightmare.
At that time, my thoughts started to race and I had to clearly calm my heart down and then I reminded myself of my previous instances where God helped restore lost items. If you follow this blog, many of our posts are of the restoration of lost items.
Under my breath, I started to declare "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, please help you, you did it before, you do it again". It was an active decision to control my thoughts and fears and to remember my past experiences of restoration to be a reflection of God's character, rather as seen in isolated experiences of God's goodness. God's goodness should not be viewed in a silo, but really, it should bring into your awareness the person who God is -- He is love, and love restores.
Just then, I then walked to the print store which I was in, and asked this particular Malaysian if he had seen my wallet. He nonchalantly took it out from the cupboard and passed it to me, casually telling me my print jobs were ready. I stood there, relieved at the return of my waller, awed at God's goodness, and smiling from ear to ear. Thank you Jesus!
Psalms 145:9 "The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made"
Long story short, I bought the entire store a huge cake to share, and there's so much God is revealing to me about His heart through my life experiences. God, thank you for your faithfulness, that You are a God who restores. You are beautiful...