You won't believe where I took my kids pt. 2

If you haven't read part 1, go here.

So Steven leaves to go to the auto parts store and the kids and I head into the liquor store. The wife invites the kids to watch tv, which is conveniently located behind the cash register/counter area. Nice. They are more than willing to sit there and enjoy an episode of Sp*nge B*b. For the first little bit, everything was ok. I was just standing around, holding Asher, the wife had resumed her work on the computer. Since she was working on an online class assignment, I didn't want to interrupt her by making small talk.

It was so awkward when a costumer would come in and my children would be sitting right there by the register, watching their transactions. But I took the opportunity to pray for each person that came in.

Did I mention that I happened to be wearing my JC 4 JC tshirt? For those of you who don't know our community just hosted a county wide crusade, Jenkins County for Jesus Christ. I made of point of turning around so the costumers would see the back of my BRIGHT orange shirt!

Not long after we got in the store, my sister sent me a text to see how are trip home was going. I briefly stated, "van broke down, we're in Savannah." She called me after getting my text and amazingly, they were only about 20 miles from us. We needed them to come because if we couldn't get the van running, we wouldn't be able to fit all 6 of us in a 4 door car! When she asked where we were, I kept saying, "we're at this store." "You'll see our van in front of this store." As soon as I hung up, I sent her another text that said, "we're in a liquor store. seriously. lol"
She responded, "ROFL!"
Within a few minutes, here comes my sister, brother in law and their son, Chaz. The liquor store is getting crowded!

Back outside, Steven and the gentleman are having trouble getting the right belt. Steven has to go to the store 3 different times. After the last time, the man decides to ride with Steven to help him find the right belt.

Back in the store, the kids are getting restless, especially Asher. I was completely stressed that he or Caleb was going to break some $50 bottle of liquor. I kept thanking the lady for letting us hang out in there and she kept reassuring me that it wasn't a problem. One of the funniest moments was when Phil asked the kids if they wanted a drink. (There was a cooler with cokes and juices.) The look on Dougie's face was one of complete shock and he immediately looked at me with a look that said, "Momma, Uncle Phil's offering me alcohol, what do I do?!" I assured him that Uncle Phil meant one of the cokes and NOT the alcohol. We all got a big kick out of that! After being there for over an hour or so, I decided it was time to get out of this lady's hair. We vacated the liquor store and moved to the Mexican restaurant next door.

After we ate a light meal, Steven and the man had fixed the van. It wasn't until later that night that Steven and I realized how God had worked throughout this circumstance.

*What if we had decided to go downtown? We would have had to call a tow truck and we never would have met this couple.
*Since I didn't have any trouble with the steering before lunch, we figure the belt must have broken right as I parked. What would have happened if I had been on the highway when that happened?
*Although Steven tried to talk with the gentleman while they were working, it wasn't until he rode in the car with him, that he really opened up to Steven. This man wept openly about his life and problems to Steven. Steven was able to share the gospel and the man assured him that he had given his life to Christ years before. But he knew that his life now was in turmoil and he needed to get right with God.
*And because I moved our large group to the Mexican restaurant, Steven was able to go back into the store and, in a customer free store, talk with the lady about her salvation as well.

When we left the restaurant, we all gathered back in the liquor store to thank them again. And before we left, Steven asked the couple if we could have a word of prayer with them.

So there we stood, with our children, in the middle of a liquor store, praying and thanking God for His protection, His provision and for His divine intervention in our lives.

This is a day that I won't soon forget. God is at work, we just have to open our eyes and be willing to see it.