Little Things by Susan L.

  An email came yesterday from my insurance company. I'd never received one before and was rather nervous about its contents. It appears turning fifty has its benefits. My car insurance, mandatory in Canada, was drastically reduced! A rare thing in the insurance world. It helps I guess to have a clean driving record with only one speeding ticket ever and no accident in the last twenty-five. It was a bit like winning the lottery. A little one anyways.
   I picked up new, fairly inexpensive, curtains for the living room window yesterday. They were too long so they needed hemming. That's a major endeavour for someone who is challenged by straight line sewing. It is the first time in a long time the sewing machine was pulled out. It made me smile a bit since the work table specifically for sewing is no longer here. It was a recent get-rid-of-it item.
  I stood in the living room pondering where I was going to set up the machine. The thought flitted through my head that a little folding table would come in handy for such purposes. Then I realized I had one...It was staring me right in the face in the form of an ironing board with adjustable height. It had been hauled out to press the new curtains. Gotta love dual purpose items, especially in a small home. It worked beautifully!
  With some trepidation I cut them off after checking the length needed about four times and hung them. The woodworker's mantra of "measure twice, cut once" works in the sewing world, too! Like hemming a skirt, I pinned them up then took them down to be sewed. That was the easiest way because they weren't particularly well made to begin with and were slightly uneven at the top.
  They look okay but I prefer blinds. They are somehow tidier looking. Perhaps in the spring I'll get some custom fitted from a company that specializes in window coverings or attempt to make some Roman shades. For now, the curtains will do. They'll help keep the winter chill out of the room which is apparently right around the corner. They're calling for snow flurries on Friday.
  It is with deepest gratitude I acknowledge the Lord's provision in all things that matter to me. Sometimes it's an item needed that time after time has "somehow" come my way. Or it's the financial provision that is always there when I need it. Or better yet, it's the inspiration to utilize what I already have in unusual ways, like the ironing board.
  It's all God in these tiny, everyday miracles that are just that: miracles.
  "A time to tear, and a time to sew; A time to keep silence, and a time to speak." Eccl 3:7