Heyyyy,

I wanna share a funny story—well, kind of a funny story. 😅

Recently, I lost all the cards in my wallet. Moreso, my toddlers took all of my cards out of my wallet and placed them somewhere yet to be found. 🙃 Thankfully, I still have my driver’s license, but everything else is who knows where. I’ve been relying heavily on Apple Pay until all my new cards come in the mail. I’ll refrain from mentioning how long it took me to order new cards—but that’s beside the point. 😂

Apple Pay has been getting me through. But recently, my phone’s screen cracked. It was fine at first, but then a few days ago, my phone stopped allowing me to maneuver at all. With my cards coming in the mail next week, and me not having other forms of payment, I knew I needed to prioritize getting my phone fixed before I couldn’t use Apple Pay AT ALL.

My mom had already planned to come over to watch the kids yesterday morning so I could do some much-needed grocery shopping (because taking 5 small kiddos into a store is a feat right now 💪🏽). I decided to go by my cell phone service provider and get a new phone before grabbing all of our groceries.

Well, that morning, my oldest daughter woke up with a stomach bug. 🤒 I decided to take my two boys with me while my mom kept a close eye on my sick daughter and my two other girls.

My boys and I hopped in the car only to realize that I was on E.

Like, “how are we even still rolling?” E.

I drove to Costco to get gas—because where else ought one to buy gas? ⛽ All the while, my 7-year-old kept warning me that we could get stranded. (He wasn’t wrong.)

We barely made it—but we did. 🙌🏽 Only to discover that although I could use Apple Pay, I couldn’t press the one icon to get my digital Costco card.

Not too worried, I decided to go across the street to my cell phone service provider and go ahead and get things squared away with a new phone.

I walked into the store and was met quickly by a store rep—thank God. 🙏🏽 After a few questions, he asked me to pull out my I.D.

I stared at him blankly.

😳 I had left my ID on top of my husband’s dresser back at the house.

The store rep, in a professionally polite cold sort of way, assured me that nothing could be done without my I.D.

After hearing that news, I sat down—holding my two-year-old—and stared out the window for a good three minutes while my seven-year-old kept asking if my phone was fixed yet. I needed to process.

No one knew just how much it took me to get to that store. I had tried, unsuccessfully, multiple times that week to get there—and here I was, still without a phone and unsure if I still had time to do my 2–3 hour grocery run (something I look forward to every two weeks). 😞

I grabbed my broken phone and walked to the car. Thankfully, there was another gas station across the street where I could get gas.

Before getting out of the car to pump, I had the unction to stop moving and pray.

I’ve had these moments several times before—the ones where I feel myself in problem-solving mode, moving too fast, and forgetting to surrender… to take a second to sit in my Father’s lap and ask Him for help.

So I did. 🙏🏽

In a span of about thirty seconds, I told the Lord my frustrations—through a bit of watery eyes 😭—and asked Him to show me whatever He wanted me to do. I was also hungry and tired, lol, which you know doesn’t always help. 😅

I got out of the car and began pumping gas—just grateful that this gas station accepted Apple Pay.

While walking back and forth, waiting for the gas to finish pumping, a thought popped into my head:

➡️ Go to Costco.
➡️ Stand in line to get a temporary Costco card.
➡️ Do all of my grocery shopping there.
➡️ Go back that night—once the kids were asleep—and finally get my phone fixed.

I immediately felt hopeful. 💫

My boys and I went grocery shopping, and in a turn of events, my husband called. When I told him, he immediately went into “fix-it” mode (something I so love when I need it), and said he’d bring my ID since he wasn’t far from home. 😍

In short:

✅ I got the groceries.
✅ I divinely ran into a former neighbor I’d been meaning to visit.
✅ I got my upgraded phone—in record timing. 🙌🏽📱

So why in the world am I sharing all these details?!

Y’ALL.

I’m learning to stop exhausting myself trying to ram through blockades in my own strength. 💥 Most of the time, those blockades were never meant for me to tear down.

I mentioned in a previous blog post how the Lord is teaching me the way of ease—which, for this ambitious gal who tends to choose hard for no reason, is a whole lesson. 😅

I pray this weekend and this upcoming week you lean on the Lord and lay down any worries you’re carrying in your own strength.

SURRENDER and YIELD.

It could look as simple as saying:
"Lord, I give in. You take control. I’ll yield to Your perfect will and choose not to worry about the results."

💛

With love and a wee bit of laughter,

Pondered Thought