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Jesus in the Thrift Shop - October 30, 2005
Sometime around 1991, my mother asked me to write this story.
I was working as a writer for the president of an international marketing firm in Canton, Ohio. Mom was proud of me. Especially
the day my car wouldn't start, and my boss sent his personal chauffeur in a limousine to our house to pick me up and take
me to work. She thought I'd made the big time.
It was decided that I should write a story for her. All she had was a title: Jesus in the Thrift Shop.
"Isn't that a neat title for a book?" she announced excitedly. She was relying on her daughter, the big-time
writer, to come up with the rest.
"But what's it about?" I asked. I had no idea where to begin. "It's about Jesus in the thrift shop,"
she replied, as if that should explain everything.
Mom liked to shop in thrift stores. She was always proud when she came home with a bargain. Even back in the day when
it was embarrassing to be seen in a thrift store. Now it's called "vintage" shopping. Mom was ahead of her time.
She thrifted when it wasn't trendy.
My mother believed that whenever she found an item she was seeking in a thrift store, Jesus was somehow behind it. "I
was looking for a gray A-line skirt, and there it was!" she would say with childlike amazement and delight. "I'd
been praying that I'd find a skirt just like it." After several such finds, all of them attributed to prayer, she suggested
that I write a book about the presence of Christ at Value Village.
Always the cynic, I dismissed the idea. "Don't be ridiculous, Mom," I chided. "God has more important things
to worry about than your shopping list." But no matter how many times I tried to burst her bubble, she never capitulated.
She was convinced that Jesus had a hand in her thrifting triumphs.
Over the course of several years, Mom repeatedly asked me to write her book. But I never took her idea seriously. I thought
it was foolish, and that there wasn't enough material to make a good story. Besides, I was busy with my own life and didn't
have time to indulge her.
Mom went to heaven on October 30, 2002. It's taken me nearly 15 years, but I think I finally understand the story she
wanted me to tell.
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Jesus in the Thrift Shop. What a silly idea, I thought. Mom was forever trying to inject God and Jesus into every little
happening in the course of a day. If she baked a loaf of bread and it came out perfect, it was God's doing. If she found a
dollar bill lying on the sidewalk, it was Jesus who had left it there for her to find. Nothing was too trivial to have been
the result of divine intervention. And now she was trying to convince me that the Lord had hung that white blouse on the sale
rack for her at the Next-to-New shop. I wasn't buying it.
In my infinite wisdom of youth, I often viewed my mom as a sort of simpleton. Gullible, unsophisticated, fanatical. While
I'm politically liberal and open-minded about philosophy and religion, Mom was as conservative as they come and rigid in her
beliefs. We often had clashes over our disparate views. Once, I subscribed by mail to a Zen journal, and discovered that she
was secretly throwing it away before I had a chance to read it. Tampering with the U.S. mail may have been a felony, but Mom
thought it was a greater crime to allow me to travel down what she thought was the wrong path.
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In the three years since she's been gone, I've had time to reflect on who my mother was and what she stood for. I've been
able to remove myself from the equation and look at her not in relation to me, but as an individual. And I'm continuously
amazed at what I'm learning about her.
Above all, she was a woman of unshakeable faith. Many of her beliefs were unpopular, and she was often criticized for
being inflexible, unrealistic, or out of touch with society. She may have been all of those things, but I've come to respect
her for standing up for her convictions.
Her strict interpretation of the Bible meant that her lifestyle left no room for pleasures that most of us take for granted.
She never knew the feeling of giddiness from being drunk; the thrill of sex with a new partner; the excitement of gambling.
But she also never suffered the anxiety of wondering what life was about. She knew exactly who she was and where she was going.
And she wasn't afraid of going there.
As it turns out, my mother was not a simpleton. She was smarter and braver and more together than anyone gave her credit
for. She loved the Lord and saw his handiwork in everything - even in her successes at the thrift stores. That wasn't foolishness.
That was faith.
The story that she so wanted me to tell was that God is everywhere, in everything, and we should acknowledge and be grateful
for it. He's in that perfect loaf of bread, or that dollar lying on the sidewalk, or the ray of sunlight that shines through
your window. He's in the biggest and the smallest of things. He's with us and in us and around us, and if we believe in Him,
we'll find Him.
Yes, Jesus was in those thrift shops with my mom, just as He is with her now, walking down streets paved with gold in
heaven.
Published in:
Comments:
I would like to read your story on the air. My husband and
I have a radio program called "Vencere," Spanish for "Overcomer." I read your story and really loved it. I think
it has a great message and would relate well with our next program.
Sincerely,
Maggie & Amador Gonzales
KJTX 104.5 Gospel Radio
I very much enjoyed reading your story, "Jesus in the Thrift
Shop," on About.com. I was wondering if I could use it in the October issue of The National Thrifter. Your
story would really be a perfect fit for our magazine.
Cookie, Editor
The National Thrifter
www.TheThriftShopper.Com
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I read your story in an ezine and it really touched me. In
our church
service we have a section called "Something Special" in which a different person each week shares something
special with the congregation that is meaningful to them-whether it be a photograph, poem, story, song, etc.
May I
please have your permission to read "Jesus in the Thrift Shop" to our congregation? Your story captured the essence
of the struggle I've had myself...does God really care that I've found what I think is the perfect wallpaper, or a pair of
shoes that will go with everything? Do I thank Him because I've found something on sale that we really needed?
Or am I being small, petty, and silly? I believe the answer is that when we experience joy, God does too, whether
it's from the birth of a child or finding that perfect skirt on clearance. Everything belongs to God, so in reality,
saying thank you or crediting Him for the seemingly smallest things in my life isn't silly at all. Life is a blessing,
and that includes everything it encompasses. It took me a while to figure that out.
Like I said, your story really
touched me, and I'd like to share it for my "Something Special." Thank you so much for writing such an important story.
God Bless.
Sincerely,
Christine Carter
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What an awesome article about Jesus in the Thrift shop. It was especially touching to me and a friend of mine, for we're thrift
shoppers like your mom. God finds us lots of great bargains and also great clothes to take to Haiti when we've gone on mission
trips.
Thank you for sharing your heart and being a blessing. I'm sure you must miss your mom greatly, but I can see she impacted
your life in a great way.
In Christ's love,
Valerie Rousseau
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Thank you for sharing your talent and most of all your faith with the world.
Melissa Wharton
Thank you for sharing your wonderful article, JESUS in the THRIFT SHOP with my readers and me.
Warmest regards in His name,
Paul Murphy
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I just wanted to say thanks for sharing your Jesus in the Thrift Shop online. I hope someday my 12-year old daughter sees
things the same way you came around to looking at them. I relate so well to your mom and the thrift store, I too am always
being told that God has more important things to do than make sure there is a denim skirt at the Goodwill that fits me. But
He is in the details, so much in the details. I just survived a two-year chemotherapy treatment for leukemia, and I don't
have enough time in the day to tell you how many details I found Him in.
Thanks again for sharing that. It brought a smile to my face, a tear to my eye, and a strengthening of my faith that
was certainly needed this morning.
MJ
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Thanks for the great article about your mother and her unshakeable faith in Jesus Christ. I believe it is humorous when we
assume that God does not care about the little things of life and that He only gets involved in the big things. Because in
truth, everything that we go through is small to God. He is larger than any problem we have; even the need for a grey skirt
or white blouse.
Thanks again for the great article about your mother's great faith in Jesus.
God Bless,
Jason Dillingham
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Thank you so much for your article. It fits perfectly with the theme that seems to be emerging for this issue. I was just
beginning the process of sorting through submissions when your lovely insight came through the email. Perfect timing. Fitting,
considering your mother's heart.
Webmaster
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Thanks again for submitting the touching story of your mother. I appreciate the time and thought you have put into this
endeavor. Your Mother sounds like she was a wonderful woman to know.
Mary Fairchild
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This article is wonderful! Thank you for submitting
it.
Blessings,
Tyora Moody, Editor
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I enjoyed reading your recollection of your mother.
Blessings,
Omaudi Reid
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Great story. Your mother sounded like a very strong and committed woman.
Bill
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Thanks for sharing your article with us, it was very sweet to read.
Steve
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"Jesus in the Thrift Shop" is a delightful story! Thank you, Deborah. God bless your endeavors in His name!
La Vella Kraft
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I read "Jesus In The Thrift Shop", and love it! May I please print it and share it with my daugher, Lynn? We have
always loved shopping together at the thrift shops.
Thank you so much for writing this, and you are right. I too, never realized the sacrifices of my mother until she was
gone to be with Jesus.
May God Bless You,
Linda Beasley
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I thoroughly enjoyed your article about your Mother and Jesus in the Thrift Store, and was blessed by it.
I fully agree with her and as I am supposed to do a reading for our Seniors, I thought this one is very neat. I was wondering
if it would be okay to use your article.
Thank you,
Violet Moore
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I read a story about a mother who took Jesus into her everyday life. She had an idea for a title of a book. It was Jesus
in the Thrift Shop. Her daughter (Deborah Akel) says of her mother, "Mom was forever trying to inject God and Jesus into
every little happening in the course of the day. If she baked a loaf of bread and it came out perfect, it was God's doing.
If she found a dollar bill lying on the sidewalk, it was Jesus who had left it there for her to find. Nothing was too trivial
to have been the result of divine intervention." This is what true worship is. It is integrating God into every area
of your life. It is bringing God glory in everyday living. So let God be glorified at the thrift shop, and at your workplace,
and wherever you go.
Christine
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