“…and are justified freely by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:24
While in the quarantine hotel, one of the limited amenities was a working television. There were very few channels and only two of those were in English. One was a news network and the other was “E” TV. I am happy to report that I now know everything there is to know about the Kardashians and I can tell you which wedding dress styles are trending. “Say Yes to the Dress” and “Keeping up with the Kardashians” would air over and over during our eight days. As I watched the wedding dress drama unfold day after day, I recalled in silence my personal, rather sad wedding dress drama. Because I married an active duty Army man, I decided to make the investment to have my wedding dress professionally preserved. As we moved around the world, the goal was to keep the dress as pristine as the day I wore it. When the containers that held most of our meager, earthly possessions arrived in Germany it was an exciting day. But the excitement soon turned to tears as the wet, mangled boxes and furniture were downloaded onto the sidewalk. The crates had been dropped in water, somehow, somewhere along the journey and most everything was destroyed or badly broken.
This weekend my sisters and I started the arduous task of cleaning out our mother’s house to prepare it for sell. We took many trips down memory lane as closets and drawers were emptied. A closet in a seldom used room was part of the mission. Along with a decaying fur coat, the closet yielded a large box. We wondered aloud what could be in the box that was creating quite a struggle for my sister. As we turned it right side up, we saw my wedding dress through the box window in pristine condition! I stared at it in unbelief. For almost thirty years, I thought my dress had been destroyed and forever lost. I have no memory of bringing the dress to my mother’s house after the preservation and certainly not of putting it in an obscure closet. I was delighted beyond belief and humbled by God’s kindness. God saw my rekindled sorrow in that dismal hotel and in His way, in His timing He redeemed that sorrow in the most unexpected way. Our God is a God of redemption. His entire plan for humanity rests on His redemptive love. As excited as I was to find my long, lost wedding dress, my mind cannot fathom the rejoicing that occurs in Heaven at the salvation of a long, lost soul. Give God praise today for His loving kindness and redemptive love. And that’s your Tuesday Tidbit.