Small Blessings...

God blesses us in so many little ways.  For instance, we've been living in Laie for a few weeks.  Thanks to the hospitality of BYUH, we've had a borrowed mattress that has kept us from sleeping on the floor.  However, hospitality is like leftovers, the longer it goes on, the less appealing it gets. So, we purchased a new mattress.  A really nice mattress as it turns out.  A mattress that pulls you into the bed and whispers in your ear that you should stay in bed just a little bit longer.  A mattress that has magical power to take away aches and pains overnight.

For those of you not aware of the location and 'status' of Laie relative to the rest of Oahu... Laie is 'the country.'  We have a decent size grocery store, a small but well stocked hardware store.  Looking for a Home Depot, Walmart, or other large supplier of goods?  For that, you have to go 'to town.'  And by town we mean to the opposite end of the island.  Laie is just about as far away from Honolulu as you can get.  Thus, it is just about as far away from the major stores as you can get.  It is a 45 minute drive to the nearest Walmart on a good traffic day.  However, there are so many things that can make traffic not so good... getting behind a tourist who wants to savor the view at 10 mph under the 35 mph speed limit.  Getting behind the line of cars on their way to the North Shore because the surf is good.  Getting behind the line of cars that are also going to town.  You get the idea.

The mattress was delivered.  We were happy.  However, our bed frame needed a few more of those wooden slats in order for the new mattress to be happy.  What were our options?

• Drive 1 hour to town and buy some slats.  Figure out how to transport 8 ft long slats in our small, compact car back to Laie.  Drive 1 hour  back to Laie.  Figure out how to cut slats to the right length using the small collection of tools I have (screwdriver, pliers)
• Buy some slats at the local hardware store.  Pay x2 the price of buying the slats in town. Figure out how to transport 8 ft long slats in our small, compact car back to home. OR Walk with slats 5 minutes down the road to home. Figure out how to cut slats to the right length using the small collection of tools I have (screwdriver, pliers)

Either way, the challenges were a little overwhelming.  Cue the small blessings...  Our neighbors, the Comptons are moving into a new house in a few weeks.  They have slowly been moving things over to their house and it was time for a garage sale.  I walked over to see if they needed help.  Guess what they had?  Wood that could be used for slats!  Yes, God blessed us by making the journey of the slats only a few driveway away.

But, God was not done.  The wood was a few feet too long.  When I mentioned to the Comptons that I was going to walk over to the hardware store to buy a hand saw, they immediately showed me the power saw that was also part of the garage sale.  A few minutes later, I had the slats and a saw sitting in our garage.  A few hours later, the wood was cut, the slats were installed, the mattress properly supported, the Johnsons were blessed and happy.