The Canopy Bed – An Unexpected Answer to a Young Girl’s Prayers
Precious Memories
This is one of over fifty short stories my wife, Lynn, has written in a book titled Precious Memories (click the cover).
I have previously shared four of these stories in posts but its been quite a while.
This story was a great blessing to Lynn and me as well as to our missionary friends.
A canopy bed was her heart’s desire. This teenaged girl was the daughter of a missionary family that we had regularly supported in prayer and finances. Dan and Mary and their children had just returned to the USA. They were setting up their new home in a state neighboring ours.
One Saturday morning, the girl and her mother prayed, and then in faith took a trip to several thrift shops looking for a canopy bed. But their hopes were dashed. They headed home, empty handed and very disappointed.
Meanwhile…
We were downsizing! All of our daughters had started families of their own. Dick and I were talking about finding a smaller place for us to live. We began to offer to family and friends several pieces of our abundance of furniture and other household items.
Over a few weeks, I gathered items we had been storing in the basement and closets. There were boxes of various kitchen items, doubles of things like glassware, towels, etc. We had lots of knick-knacks and a toaster still in its original box. Right there in our basement, we laid them all out on display, and then invited our daughters and their families to our “just-in-the-family garage sale”.
Some of our grandchildren were preparing to go to college. It was a gold mine for them. We welcomed them and the rest of their families to come and shop. The price of each item was “free.” The condition with that was that they couldn’t bring anything back. With wide eyes, they bagged up close to half of what we were offering.
A few days later, our public garage sale brought outsiders to sort and purchase. As we were closing up and wondering what to do with the leftovers, a woman came and offered to take the rest for her church garage sale. We agreed, and she returned later in the day. She was an answer to prayer.
After our private and public “garage sales”, we sorted books and donated them to a used bookstore. We sold other items, including our dining room set and Dick’s home office furniture.
There was one item, however, that nobody in our family wanted: a canopy bed. It needed a new mattress, but otherwise was in very good condition. We didn’t want to place an ad, but we hoped we could find a place for it to be a pleasure and a blessing to some young girl. So we prayed. We asked the Lord what we should do with it, and that He would get the glory.
On that same Saturday morning, Dick took a photo of this canopy bed and felt an urge to email it to Dan. The offer was for free, but he would need to come and get it. Since his parents lived near us, Dan and his family could also visit them while they picked up the bed.
As the discouraged mother and daughter came through their door, Dan exclaimed to them, “Wait until you see what God has done!” He ushered them to the computer where they all dissolved in tears. When Dan contacted us, it was our turn to shed some tears. In fact, it was several days before I could even tell anyone this story, without choking up and crying.
Our God is absolutely awesome.
“May He give you what your heart desires and fulfill your whole purpose.” (Psalm 20:4)
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