[12/29/06] One other Christmas story

In January of 2000 I went to live on the Anastasis for a year. A few days after arriving on the ship I was looking around the boutique (like a free thrift shop) and I found a cute little Christmas tree. It was only January, but I knew I would be spending Christmas on the ship. So I took the tree and kept it on top of my bookcase all year, and anytime I got sad about missing Christmas at home I would say "Well at least I have a tree" and that always made me feel better. Fast forward to November. I went away for a weekend. When I came back my roommate Marit was apologizing profusely before I even walked through the door. She said this woman Neysa had been looking all over the ship for her Christmas decorations and couldn't find them. She was in the storage room down by our cabin and decided to re-mark all her boxes. She walked into our cabin (because the door was always open) to ask Marit if she could borrow a marker. Then she saw the tree and said it was hers and took it. I was pretty upset. Neysa tried to smooth things over a few days later, but I was still in a bad mood. I guess she felt bad, so she was talking to her boss Susan about it. And Susan said "We've got an extra tree you can give to Kelly." So I was given another Christmas tree. But this one was bigger and it already had lights on it! It just reminded me that God provides. I may think I know what's best, but he's got something bigger and better in store for me.