"Oh, good! They are opening a Kirklands in Slidell!" I exclaimed to my husband last night after seeing the announcement on Facebook. Then I caught myself for momentarily forgetting we don't live in Picayune, Mississippi anymore, 12 miles from Slidell, Louisiana, where we used to shop.
I chuckled when I thought of that this morning, walking into the bathroom and seeing the pretty bouquet of washcloths tied with a blue ribbon matching the blue, monogrammed "S" on each one. I had bought them on our trip at a Kirklands in Katy, Texas. I just had to stop at the home decor store when I spotted it while we were looking for a restaurant. I was delighted to see what used to be my favorite home store. I remembered how disappointed I was last fall when Howard and I were in Tennessee and followed the mall's guide map to Kirklands. We were greeted with an empty store that had gone out of business!
I love picking up small, novel items for the house I find on trips that I might not see at home. However, I had packed light on this vacation to avoid managing extra luggage. The two small and medium suitcases we brought were packed pretty tightly, though. I would slip this purchase and a miscellany of other trinkets bought at IKEA into a shopping bag as a carry-on at the train.
"You're traveling light!" our son Mark had remarked as he unloaded our luggage when we had arrived. Then when we came back to his house on our way home, pulling them from his trunk, he said, "You must have added something to these suitcases!" I was afraid they were heavier, especially when the conductor that hefted them into the train for us said something about maybe a few less rocks next time! (Although Howard said he meant the rock-strewn area where we boarded when the train went a few feet past our paved stop.)
Traveling light is hard, but it is what Jesus did during his earthly ministry. He said in Luke 9:58, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the son of man hath not where to lay his head." However, as He and His disciples traveled about the country, the Bible says certain women were with them and "ministered to him of their substance." They must have helped finance Jesus' ministry and doubtless provided meals and some small comforts of home to his itinerant lifestyle.
I love making a comfortable, inviting home for my husband, the minister in my family. Over and over again he has complimented me and is appreciative of my efforts in homemaking. In Titus 2:5, women are referred to as keepers of the home, and Proverbs 14:1 says that every wise women builds her house. But maybe they didn't mean transporting stuff for it from far away places!
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