Lucky Me!

I'm not a good shopper! This is from January 2, 2014.
Santa was good to me again this year; dress clothes, a microwave, personal grooming products. What the big guy in red delivered the most, though, was gift cards, including six from Starbucks. I have a confession; I struggle with gift cards. It isn't that I don't like them- I do- or they are from places I don't like because they are not. What frustrates me about gift cards is how to spend them. Let me give you an example. I was blessed with three Barnes and Nobles' gift cards totaling $35 and I love to read. But it took two visits and over an hour to decide what to purchase. I agonize over making the wrong choice. Once, I took five minutes standing in front of the salad dressing at the grocery store, trying to decide between two brands where the only difference was a nickel. (On the other hand, I once bought a car without really looking at it!) Let's just say I'm not decisive as a shopper.

One of my new students this year is Annie, a very bright and bubbly young lady. For Christmas, she presented me with something I had never been given before, an Amazon gift card in the amount of ten dollars. (Normally, I would not reveal the value but it is germane to the story.) I had no idea what to do with Annie's gift because I had very little idea how Amazon works. Fortunately, my sister-in-law Karen (Scott's wife) is a world class bargain hunter and universally acclaimed Internet shopper who in her great kindness agreed to help her helpless brother-in-law. She suggested I go to their website and browse and  find something I like. I did and after thirty minutes or so, I told her I had drawn a blank and I would just wait for an idea to hit me in a few weeks and I would call her. But after supper, Karen renewed her efforts. This time, she got on the Amazon website herself and started grilling me.
"How about some pants? How about some Nebraska gear? How about shoes?"
No, no thanks, I don't think so. But she persisted and asked,
"How about some cologne?"
Now, she and Scott had already given me a bottle of USHER Cologne which is awesome but she started calling out brands.
"Here's a $52 bottle of Lucky You for only $15! I could probably get it with free shipping."
She had me. Several years ago, six actually, they gave me a bottle of Lucky You and I really liked it. It was stolen on a mission trip to Honduras so apparently somebody in Central America likes it as well! I bit, she ordered it without shipping costs, and I only had to pay a modest addition to Annie's gift card. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow so ladies beware!

You know, I would have become irritated at most people who persisted after it was obvious I had made my mind up....but Karen is not one of them. Why? First, she loves me and second, she knows me. It's because we have, and I sometimes dislike the word, a relationship, which I leave blank on FACEBOOK. I trust Karen implicitly (as well as Sally, my other sister-in-law) and I know she has my best interests at heart when she pushes me where I might be reluctant to go. We might take note of that as Christians, remembering that friendship and trust often precede reception to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I listen to people I like and trust. And in case you're interested, my relationship status is single, but that could change when a package arrives from AMAZON in a few short hours!

Applicable quote of the day:
"Indecision may or may not be my problem."
Jimmy Buffett 

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com