Even For Small Things

In our inability to make something work, God is able and present, even for small things. Guest writer Lisa in Germany writes:

This is a story about how God used a mistake to further a relationship.

I had just moved back to Germany to work with the church. While looking for a permanent place to live, I was taken in by dear friends of ours. Mama Liz, petite and always hustling somewhere, was just what I needed. Her husband, oldest son and his girlfriend welcomed me as part of the family.

There was only one problem – Garret, Mama Liz’s younger son. He considered me an outsider. I tried to talk to him, offered to play with him, did everything I could, but he was much too cool to be interested in being friends with me as a thirteen-year-old.

My apartment hunt moved slowly. Mama Liz insisted that it was no problem for me to stay longer – I was part of the family and I was welcome. I told Mama Liz that if I were part of the family, I wanted to help around the house. She agreed. So besides helping with some of the cleaning and laundry, she said it would be helpful for me to hang out with Garret in the evenings when she had to work. This is one way that had been contributing to his dislike of me. No thirteen-year-old wants to be babysat!

That following Tuesday in October, I went to the cellar to do laundry. Among other things, I decided to dry a few towels and Garret’s favorite bulky “Soccer” sweater. He loved this sweater and that way it would be ready for him when he came home. I decided to let them dry for only 15 minutes and then check to make sure nothing bad was happening to them (since I wasn’t exactly sure how this German dryer worked!).

Twenty minutes later, I came back to the dryer and – horror of horrors – the sweater had shrunk! It was no longer big and bulky! What a horrible disaster! Garret already didn’t act like he liked having me around without my ruining his sweater! I felt like the Lord was saying, “It’s okay! He can still wear it! He’ll be wearing it when you get home tonight! It’s all okay!” But I didn’t believe Him or believe that the Lord was actually talking to me. I was mad. I remembered something I had learned the day before about obedience – it doesn’t mean everything will work out according to my plan! And just because it doesn’t tie up all nice and neat in a little box doesn’t mean God is not in the picture!

I figured that it wasn’t the end of the world and I could pay for another one. I also decided that when God said, “It’s okay,” He meant that figuratively, that at a future time that I’d be able to look back and laugh about this. Using my limited German and with the help of Google Translate, I wrote a profuse apology and left it, with the folded sweater, outside Garret’s door. Then I went to town for a few Bible studies that I was leading while the missionary couple was out of town.

My time with my friends was encouraging and challenging and by the time I was headed home, the sweater didn’t seem as important. I was bracing myself for Garret to be a bit upset. When I walked in the door, there he was, grinning at me, and wearing his soccer sweater!

I was surprised and began apologizing but he brushed it off.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, it still fits, it’s no problem and I can get another one for free online! Your note was good, good German, only two mistakes!” And he showed them to me. Then we had supper together and he got the silverware and served the food that Mama Liz had left for us and just acted like gentleman should. He asked me what I wanted to drink and I asked to try the special drink he often makes for himself, milk that is half-cold and frothy and hot at the top.

It blew my brain. The Lord was telling the truth when He said it’s okay, and He was referring to the temporary. He used something bizarre like shrinking the guy’s sweater to open a door to be friends. Go figure. Sounds like the Lord, doesn’t it?

In the middle of supper, Garret suddenly stopped eating and pushed back his chair.

“You’re not full?” I asked.

“No…” he considered and then in English he told me about an English sports camp he went to last summer and how much fun he had. He had stopped eating to think of the right words to use! He got done eating in like four minutes but waited until I was done to leave.

I was again reminded that the Lord is ALWAYS right about everything.

* * *

I have now lived in Germany for a year. The Lord continues to teach me new things and put me in conversations with others to talk about Him. I would love prayers for myself and people around me to know the Lord more and for the young church here. I am continually amazed at how God uses the small and weak and ridiculous to turn it into a blessing to those around me.