What started out as a renewed quest to find the elusive vintage Private Collection dusting powder by
Estée Lauder has turned into an multi-faceted experience with mini stories that warm the heart. As I searched high and low for this fragrant powder, I kept coming up empty. Usually when I clicked a link that might lead me to my treasure, the item was sold. The only one that I did find cost a bit more than what I wanted to pay so I offered to pay a lower price. It was promptly, and I do mean promptly, rejected. Like, as soon as you click “submit” you got the “not accepted” message. I then offered a price a bit higher and it, too, bounced right back. So I just left it alone, believing that eventually I would get some from somewhere. I’d just keep looking. I just backed off for a while, or so I thought.

One evening earlier this week, (remember I just wrote about this search late last week), I received an message from the seller saying that when they were adjusting the price on the powder, they noticed that I had bid/offered to pay a lower price and they were wondering if I still wanted the item. Someone else had offered to pay the same amount, but because mine had come in first, my bid would be accepted. Wow! I responded, asked a couple of questions about the powder, and shared with her why I was searching for it in the first place. I even sent her a link to last week’s Private Collection blog entry. I was getting excited!

I completed the transaction and was then I was pleased, surprised, grateful, and in awe of how this simple desire of my heart was granted. It wasn’t anything that I needed. Just something that I wanted. Something to help me feel closer to my mom and keep those great memories alive. Then the next message came. The seller shared that she totally understood my “why” and referenced her grandfather’s cigarette case that she cherishes just because it was his. She said she was going to spend time with her mother on the weekend and they would be celebrating her brother’s graduation. She let me know that she read the blog and she was going to keep in mind some of the things I shared about remembering and cherishing the small things. I think she is planning to make sure that she is “in the moment” and “present” while spending time with her mother.

A little later I received another message from her. She was apologizing for the delay in responding to me, explaining that she is a teacher and was busy grading papers. Of course, I was able to share that I am a retired teacher and I could certainly relate to her current situation very easily. I encouraged her and thanked her for reaching out and making the item available to me.

Well, the long-sought item arrived this morning. I would have been happy just to receive it after trying so long to find it. But the simplest gestures of kindness took me over the top today. When I opened the box, I found a brown paper wrapped container, secured with lots and lots of tape… and it had a yellow ribbon tied around it. Who buys an item off Ebay and receives it wrapped as a gift with the special touch of the seller? And that’s not all. There was a note she wrote explaining the overload of tape and wishing me a Happy Mother’s Day. She said she was glad that I was the one who was able to purchase the product.

It never ceases to amaze me how God will use the simplest interactions to demonstrate or teach so many lessons or principles. The fact that He was concerned about what seems like an insignificant desire of my heart, and granted that desire in such a unique way is baffling. Not only that, but the fact that He reached into the situation and handled it, this seemingly insignificant desire, while there are so many “major” things going on in my life sends a very loud and clear message.

I have often seen God bless us in the middle of chaos and received the blessing as His way of telling us that everything else will work out as well. The major things, the things that have been presented and laid on the altar, the petitions that have been before Him for extended periods of time – all of that is going to work out. Our job is to be patient. Our job is to trust. Our job is to learn as much as we can in whatever state we find ourselves in, looking for each and every opportunity to lift His name and glorify Him during the process.

The other thing that really stood out or stands out to me is the fact that in this day and time when people are so focused on themselves, when they are so detached from people and relationships, and are especially leary about forming any sort of alliance with strangers, the seller responded with such grace and kindness towards me. And I was soaking it up like a sponge! No matter what was going on in her world or mine, God used us to shine light into each other’s world. How cool is that?

I know that I am going to thoroughly enjoy wearing and enjoying this rare, vintage, unique fragrance and it will bring back good, warm memories of my mom. It’s great that I received it on Mother’s Day weekend; it’s like a gift from God and a gift from the seller, Lauri, and my gift to myself. But I will also be reminded of the fact that with all of the mean and ugly things that are going on in the world today, there is still room for people connecting with each other and enriching each other’s lives, taking full advantage of paths crossing for a brief moment in time. I always talk about the importance of being alert so that we don’t miss our divine appointments. I’m glad Lauri and I didn’t miss ours.