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My God is amazing.

His love limitless.

His grace boundless.

His protection endless.

After a morning full of chores, errands, lunch and laughter, the kids and I (although in good spirits) still had a few more stops to make before we could head home, and we were fading fast.

We headed over to Aldi, the most affordable grocery store in the nation I swear, but they don’t carry brand name or specialty items or have an extensive produce department, so it would be an I Spy God moment all in itself if our stop satisfied my lengthy list.

True to form, my list had a few un-checked items when we reached the check out, so I was fully prepared to run to the commercial grocery store just down the road once we left.  When I reached the cashier and my items had been scanned and totaled, I realized I didn’t know the pin to the debit card I brought to pay with.  To save on cost, Aldi only takes debit or cash payments, and I had neither.

SERIOUSLY?!!

For a moment I considered throwing in the towel and heading home.  The kids had been troopers all morning, they were tired and I was too, but most of the items in my cart were for the fundraiser that evening, and I was quickly running out of time.

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…and patience.

They suspended the transaction, took my cart back to the cooler, and the kids and I ran to the car to head to the closest bank (according to my gps) 11 minutes away.

Thankfully God had given me a gracious inch of peace about this…there wasn’t anything I could do.  Aldi was the cheapest, there was no other option, so I had to get the money.

“This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. “   Psalm 18:30

Thankfully the only other delay was that I’m a bit mental and I drove right past the bank several blocks, then realized it and had to back track back to my destination.  So weird…driving past a bank I had been to hundreds of times before… in a town I grew up in… and the extra five minutes it delayed us didn’t catch my attention.

On our way back to Aldi, I entertained the idea to run to the commercial grocery store first to grab what was left on my list, then head to Aldi, then head home.  I’m not sure why I didn’t…that would’ve made the most sense driving and time wise, but I decided just to head straight back to Aldi’s first.

“The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous.”   Isaiah 26:7

I had no problem retrieving and paying for my items, bagged them, got them in the car and we were off to grocery store #2.  Looking at the clock I was a bit defeated because we had lost an extra 30 minutes of time, but I figured God had a plan.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store, things seemed a bit odd.  There wasn’t much traffic moving, there were some people in cars, but they were stopped and all looking toward the parking spaces directly in front of the store.  I couldn’t make out what they were looking at, but I did notice several squad cars parked haphazardly, lights flashing.

As the van inched closer, we noticed a man in handcuffs being placed into the back seat of one car.  I found a parking spot far away from the disturbance and as we got out, several police officers who were standing outside the car shut the culprit in and the car left in a rush.

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 “…you delivered me from men of violence. “   2 Samuel 22:49

It was at that point we realized that all of the delay, the problems with the credit card, passing and backtracking to the bank, detouring away from potential danger and stopping at Aldi first, was all part of God’s plan to deter us.

To slow us.

To protect us.

“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.”   Psalm 5:11

Oh, did I mention that this all conveniently transpired at Copps??

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Heehee…