The Story of a Heart Bag

The Story of a Heart Bag

One autumn day my step-mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I am sure that at the time I was trying to get through school so Christmas gifts were the last thing on my mind. Oddly enough I do keep ongoing lists throughout the year of random things that I need for my own good so I remember reading her that list because my apartment is packed. You know how at every holiday you receive gifts that you are not quite sure how to use although you love the idea that the person thought of you and bought you a gift? That's how a gift that my step-mom bought me was  it was a bag that folded into little pouch. I LOVED IT simply because I love little things that are really useful but I had no clue how I was going to use it .Nor did I know the many uses for the bag.

While I was still in college I kept it in its little pouch in my backpack just in case…. Just in case….. just in case…well that's a WHOLE different story. Now that I'm not in college I wasn't sure where I wanted to put the bag so I always had it-- I knew it could be useful. In many coffee shops/restaurants (okay, McAllister's is the only restaurant I know of that this is the case but I have to include it because it is a hometown restaurant) you get some sort of discount if you have your own cup….wait, what am I thinking, I just got back from Dickey's BBQ where they also do that and yes I have a Dickey’s cup and McAllister cup oh and a Starbucks cup (okay it's  Starbucks cup but they will give a discount for bringing any cup of your own). While I was in school I just happened to have a random cup in my backpack when I will go to Starbucks. However, now that I'm no longer in school and job searching/writing/reviewing every day I have so much more time to go to one of the three places I mentioned. Note that I do keep a bottle of water on me just in case I get stranded somewhere and cannot reach a discounted drink station :-/. How in the world do I carry all that stuff on my wheelchair with my front seat being my backseat being my driver seat and my trunk?

Think about the back seat and all of the odds and ends that fill your car. Maybe you are a clean car person who doesn't carry anything but your registration and legal documents necessary, well this story isn't for you. All my family has tons of stuff in her car whether it's my sister has a zillion kids only half of which are her own, my mom who has files in one section, pots in another section (she is a Potter, no she does not smoke it), my step-mom….. Well she's one of the clean ones although it does get filled with plants quite often. And my dad… where should I start…. There's a little bit of this and a little bit that, plus uniforms for the wrestlers, munchies in case we all decide to hop in the vehicles and go somewhere (even if we're just going to his mom's house), it's  always good to have a munchie.

My car is my electric wheelchair. It's my front seat, back seat, glove box, trunk, it’s everything! I have many bags (like grocery bags) but those are for groceries and get tore up enough (yes even cloth bags) with the boxes I jam into them and the fruit that I put in its own bag so it will not get ruined…. Well needless to say, most of the time I come home with an unintentionally prepared fruit salad—Bon a petite.

Oh, back to the heart bag. It was something that I got for Christmas that I

could use somehow but had been kept in a backpack. Now that I'm out of school looking for a job, I often go to random places to get a refill as I sit there and write (although more often at these times ideas are formulating and most of the writing occurs at home). That sure is a long introduction or maybe that is the point I want to get across…. There are times in life when you may "assign" objects to uses, people to activities or places, or even (Oh I am excited because I know this is something people do subconsciously) assign a scent to place and when you smell that smell it triggers a memory. The memory contains people the people were from your past….

Oh no, the bag… So I got this heart bag that I now use for my various different cups to go get refills all across town as I try to formulate stories. As I was at Dickey’s today wondering how God would show up today (it was after 3 and I had no clue what I was going to write. I turned around to pull out my Dickey’s cup. God said…you are that bag to me. Now write. I had no specific plans for the use of that bag heart but I was sure it was going to be so useful, often people (I seriously don't know who these people are that I am referring to) have their own ideas of how God will to use them and if they don’t/can’t see themselves as being used in that certain way they turn from God and do their own thing. This is coming out of God now because I was not planning this….. My cousin wanted to go on a mission trip possibly with the group, you know do an awesome mission trip with fellow believers….. Well she ended up spending a lot of her summer in not a very organized situation. She was in a different country without anyone she knew and she stayed there the amount of time she had signed up for. Not even sure there was running water. This relates the bag how? Well, I didn't see much use for the bag at first, but now it is my favorite bag to go on adventures throughout the town and gather stories with. The part it plays? The bag holds all of my refillable cups. Maybe the reason behind doing something the Holy Spirit is nudging you towards isn't obvious or has no instant gratification. Go for it, do it anyways! My cousin might not see how her service was used at all or why she went to Kenya, but in the meantime have patience. You’ve answered the call and are just waiting for a response. We may think we are answering our Call like I had pans designed for that bag, but the plans God has are far greater than what we can even fathom. 
THANKS BID!!!