Memorial Box Monday ~ Blessed By The Basketfuls!

Memorial Box Monday was started by my dear friend Linny @ A Place Called Simplicity, she explains what a Memorial Box is here.

In short-- Just as the children of Israel set stones as Memorials to remind them of the mighty things the Lord had done for them, we put tangible items into our Memorial Box, to represent and remind us, of the many times the Lord has moved on our behalf. And just as the Israelites passed down the stories of God's provision to their children, and their children's children--we will use our Memorial Box to teach and remind our children (and someday, our children's children) of God's great faithfulness to our family, and His personal love for us!

Memorial Box Monday ~ Blessed By the Basketfuls!

A few weeks ago we attended an ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) Benefit in Devine, Texas. My son-in-love, Frankie, has an aunt who has ALS, her name is Chita, and she is as sweet as they come. (Chita was in the pictures we took at the Children's Champion Awards banquet.) Every fall Chita's great big family comes together to pull off this huge fundraiser on behalf of all in our area who suffer from this dreadful disease. It is a fun night of Texas barbecue and dancing, and also includes a Texas sized silent auction/raffle, a big ol' bake sale, and this year the Newlys even added a fun carnival for the little ones!

During the first hour or so people buy tickets for $1.00 a piece. This year there were about 45 items donated for the silent auction. Instead of "bidding"-- if you desire to win a prize on display, you drop a $1 ticket into the little bag next to the item.

The prizes included everything from restaurant gift certificates . . . to oil changes . . . to huge Family Night game baskets (made by the Newlys) . . .

to a beautiful hand-crafted wooden chair . . . free haircuts . . . massages . . . Bath and B*dy Works . . . the list was long and the tables were covered in an abundance of good stuff. There was something for everyone!

This someone (the blog writer) happens to like chocolate . . . so this year as my donation to the silent auction I made a great big basket filled with Everything Chocolate! (My mouth waters just typing that)!

During the bidding hour there were 42 tickets put into the little bag beside this particular basket, meaning it raised $42 for ALS! Yippee Jesus! On a whim, as I was doing my "bidding" I decided to drop one little red ticket into the bag. Guess whose ticket was pulled out of that bag? It was some unfortunate person who evidently forgot that you had to be present to win. But . . . this meant a second ticket needed to be drawn . . . and remember that one little red ticket I decided to drop in? That very same ticket was the next one to be pulled out of that bag! God had double blessed me-- the basket had done its duty of raising $42 for ALS, and then I won it back! How is that for chocolaty goodness? (Oh man, there goes my mouth watering again!)

There's more . . .

During the bidding I spied this little basket of Bath and B*dy Works and it was in my absolute favorite scent-- Twilight Woods (weird name, but it smells heavenly, I promise). I decided to put in one ticket, maybe two . . .

If you look very closely at the picture below, you will see that the basket pictured above is now resting in my blessed little hands! I won it! Oh yes I did!

And just to prove once again that our God is a God of details--who loves, loves, loves to bless His children . . . this is my old tube of Twilight Woods.

I had wrestled every last bit of lotion out of it the night before the benefit-- not.even.kidding. How is that for detail . . . and timing? Very impressive.

Days later as I pondered my winnings, I was reminded of yet another gift basket that I won back in 2008 . . .

I had gone to a children's resale clothing event (the biggest and best of the year), and I was shopping like crazy! We had received updated measurements for Teddi and we were within weeks of traveling for our sweet little bird!

I interrupt this post to show off my little bird--

This was her taken on her Dedication Day

(two weeks home). She's wearing my favorite

find from the aforementioned sale!

Back to the basket . . .

As I was leaving the consignment sale I entered a drawing for a gift basket. The basket was to be given away at the end of the weekend-- it was filled with gifts that had been donated by the many vendors who were also participating in the sale.

Guess who got a phone call after the sale weekend? Yep. Me.

I wish I had a picture of the basket to share, it was seriously good . . . and once again God was in the details. The basket could not have been a better match than for a mama waiting on a girl.

This precious little tutu was one of my

favorite items contained in the basket!

Along with this . . .

a $25 giftcard.

A panda giftcard to be exact.

We used it to buy this swing . . .

for our panda lovin' girl.

Who knew?

God knew! He knew that I'd worked hard on the chocolate basket-- and that I would so enjoy its contents (some that will now be used for Christmas gifts)! He knew that my favorite lotion had run out the very day before He blessed me with more! He knew that a girlie gift basket would be a huge blessing to this waiting mama's heart. He knew that my little bird would be a lover of pandas, and I am convinced that He blessed us with that exact giftcard. I mean really, how many T*ys R Us giftcard designs are there? Hold on . . . I am Goog*ling it . . . I just counted 53 different cards, including one very cute panda card. That is not coincidence. That is our Heavenly Father knowing the very details of His children's lives and pouring out blessing upon blessing, because He loves us that much!

By the basketfuls!

Into our Memorial Box will go these tiny reminders of our basketfulls of blessings . . .

that we may we never forget the many

good things the Lord has done for us!

He is good. Always.

Blessings from my oh so blessed nest ~

Tina