It's Toilet Paper Day!

It's Thursday. Grocery list day. I try to only go once every other week but some times I have to go on off Fridays to pick up a few perishable things. This morning as I went around making my list and the worse thing ever happened...we finally need toilet paper. We haven't been in a toilet paper crunch since this problem began. No, I was not an early hoarder. Joe and I had cultivated the habit of always buying the huge, ginormous, extra sheet pack back when the boys were little and we had two teenage girls at home. As the girls left and the boys grew up we never broke the habit. Right before the toilet paper crisis of 2020 hit the shelves, I had purchased one of those packs. That evening, Joe stopped at the store for dinner food and remembering we were low, grabbed one, as well. Between that mistake and the fact we have three adults in out home and two are boys, those packs lasted for over two months now. But...we are finally running low on toilet paper.


As I saw the one lonely roll on the shelf, the inner monologue in my head began, "Should I run right now?" "What was that day that the dollar store got their shipment?" "I wonder if I should call Joe and have him stop in Lebanon on his way home?" I sighed, wrote toilet paper on the list and decided I would discuss it with Joe when he got home.

My coffee was ready and it was time to study. As I study, I couldn't get one passage off my mind, John 6. As John writes the his remembrances of Good News, he relays a story where a large crowd follows Jesus to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus sits down to do what Jesus does, teach the often slow to learn disciples. The story goes that the crowd began approaching and closing in, probably to listen and learn, too. And Jesus throws out the question to Phillip, "Where shall we get toilet paper, in case these people need it?" Well...actually he asked Philip where they could get bread to feed everyone. But same thing, in our context. Bread wasn't mass produced then so they couldn't just run to Sav-Way and buy a bunch of loaves. People made bread in their homes, so finding enough to feed thousands was not an easy feat. Jesus knew this. Philip was from the area and Jesus was testing Philip's faith. By asking for a human solution (knowing none existed), it prepared Philip's mind for the miracle that was about to blow his mind.

Me frantically, taking up headspace, creating near panic within myself. I even began to think, "should I run right now, and if I find some, maybe buy a couple extra packages." Me trying to find a human solution, created in me the desire to potentially hoard. I was getting to a point where I would have missed the amazing signs and wonders Jesus would create.

See how we get there, friends? We get to the place of frenzied thinking: a place where we no longer care about other's needs, we no longer participate in regular, daily rhythms, because we feel as though the only person that can care for our needs is ourself. We panic because we know we just aren't that adequate at it. We miss what God can do through the life of Jesus for us. If we find that elusive toilet paper, it will only be because WE are great hunters. Now, I am not saying that Jesus will take my one small roll and multiply it to wipe thousands (although it could happen.) I am saying that when I remember that God's got this, Jesus proved it and I have nothing apart from God, I will be fine. And it will be because of God's love and care for me.

And yes, I drew toilet paper in my Bible. Someday when it is passed down to my grand-daughter she will wonder what the heck I was thinking. Her mama can explain about the Famous Toilet Paper Pandemic of 2020.

Today:

• Relax and let God work.
• Enjoy what He does for you and in you
• Once again, seek signs and wonders in your space