Hello!
Welcome back to the Dorie's Stories {devotional} Blog!!!
I'm not real sure how to segue into my new devotional story this week, but let's just say it's for cat lovers, dog jewelry enthusiasts, and coupon clippers alike, not necessarily in that order.
And let's face it, it's not every day you get to see a quality pair of cat sunglasses.
(to avoid confusion, the sunglasses are not actually designed to be worn by cats)
A future excerpt from my currently unnamed next book
. . .
Chapter ?: Cat Sunglasses
Sometimes coupons freak me out. I have this weird sense of relief when I notice a coupon has expired. It’s suddenly as if I’m no longer obligated to hold onto the hope that I will one day not only remember I have said coupon in my purse, but also that I will remember it again long enough to give it to the cashier. On the other hand, if I get a voucher or store ‘bucks’ that can expire, I sometimes obsess over the perfect thing I should use them for and have an oddly long store visit where I feel the need to examine every possibility. It’s likely that I had one of these excursions recently. I literally walked every inch of the whole department store for two hours and bought nothing. Two hours is a long time to spend by yourself in a department store, but I had $20 in free vouchers that were going to expire so I was motivated and apparently didn’t have somewhere else I needed to be or anything else that I could have invested my time in. First, I went through four tables of clearance shoes, opening all the shoe boxes. Next, I went up to the make-up counter to ask about a product that had been discontinued. I, then, went to the home section and touched all the bed spreads. Then, I tried on all the sunglasses. While utilizing the sunglasses’ mirror, I realized that I only had make-up on one eye. I searched for the bathrooms to no avail. I decided to use the fitting room for my make-up emergency so I had to get a card with a zero on it from the attendant. Maybe they have “0” cards for other crazy people like me who can’t find anything to try on but still have a need to go into the try-on room? Make-up fixed. Disaster averted. I then went back to the sunglasses area to re-try-on all of them and took a picture of a pair that had "I luv my cat" on the sides of them. I don’t have a cat. Next, I was in the women's department for quite some time before realizing I was looking through maternity clothes. I had already put a shirt in my cart. I put it back since I was done bearing children for years now. So, I went to the men's section where I briefly held a t-shirt that said, "You can trust me, I'm a Dr." with the Dr. Pepper logo on it until I realized I needed to buy two of them to get a discount. I then looked through all the other soda-based shirts and decided I didn't know anyone quite that committed to any other soda flavors. I then went back to the sunglasses area in case they got any new sunglasses. They did not. I saw the jewelry area and almost just bought a dog charm bracelet just so I could leave with something. I do own a dog, but I don’t know how I feel about dog jewelry and I don’t think I could get him to wear it. But no..I left with my expiring $20 voucher in hand after my two-hour trip. (Don’t worry — I gave it to someone who probably made good use of it!) I always wonder if someone is actually watching store video cameras. Someone either had fun watching me break down or was ready to call in a security team. It’s a good thing God doesn’t operate like me in a department store, always trying to find the “perfect” thing! I think one of my favorite things about the Bible is that it is full of proof that God isn’t looking for “perfect” people. He isn’t searching through the ‘aisles’ for the perfect person who is worthy of His redeeming love. He would choose the lowly, the forgotten, the shepherds, the lepers, the fishermen, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the thief on the cross next to His.
“Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
Romans 5:7-8 NLT
I’m eternally grateful God’s love sees past all our imperfections and loved us enough to give His life for us that we could be redeemed by His grace.
I do wish I had redeemed that voucher for those cat sunglasses...or the dog charm bracelet.
Reflect & Journal: Remind yourself that God chose you in the middle of your imperfections and that you are redeemed! Take a moment to thank Him for that and write it out. . . .
I hope you enjoyed the new devotional story! Feel free to share it with someone you think would enjoy a devotional story about God's love for us (even in our imperfection) and how cat sunglasses are involved.
Here’s the link to share:
With hope & joy, Dorie Mclemore
P.s. next time, I’m planning to post another devotional story excerpt from my book, Hope Looks Good on You! A Comedian's Joy-inducing Daily Devotional for Women. Make sure you are subscribed at the link above to get the notification in your inbox!
To purchase a copy of the full devotional book, click below: