I Dreamed a Dream....

...of taking my children to see the musical production of Les Miserables.

Our kids love music. They have been immersed in it all of their lives. All genres. All through the days, weeks, months and years of their youthful existence.

My oldest son was such a fan of Phantom of the Opera, that he would sit mesmerized in front of our laptop watching the iTunes Visualizer across the screen as the soundtrack played.

He was two.

Our kids also love their parent's "dates" and always want to know where we go and what we do while we are out. Our last date was to see the movie version of Les Miserables. When we got back, they wanted to know all about it, and when they could see and hear it.

So, we hopped on the computer and showed them some photos from the movie explaining the main cast of characters and the story line. This led to playing the soundtrack on Spotify for many days on end, buying an abridged version of Victor Hugo's novel, and even renting a special version of the musical that aired on PBS a few years ago.

They were entranced.

When I saw that the musical tour was coming through California and stopping in Sacramento in June, I dreamed the dream of taking the older kids to see it. However, life happened and bills happened and by the time I got around to seriously looking at the ticket prices, I was bummed out.

But then...

My mother-in-law needed help making a delivery from her store up in the mountains by where we live. She wanted to hire my husband to help. So, we spent a day or two finding friends and family who would be willing to help us by taking a kid or two (I had already paid for a 2-day conference out of town) so that he could take the extra job.

A fabulous family at church came through as well as my husband's brother and sister-in-law, and the delivery was on.

Flush with extra money in hand, I went to the website to get the tickets and found that our preferred day and seats were not available. Nervously, I checked our other available date and saw that there were 5 seats available, but when I added them to my cart, $55 worth of "fees" got tacked on -- making the tickets out of our price range.

So, I put on my thinking cap. Who did I know in Sacramento?

The answer was....not really that many people. However, a Facebook friend came to mind, so I jotted off a quick FB message and explained the situation, apologized for the cheekiness of my request, but humbly asked if there was any way getting tickets the box office in downtown Sacramento was possible.

She responded within the hour and said $55 in fees was ridiculous and oh yeah, her husband works downtown and she would see what she could do.

I should add here that although we are FB friends, I have never met this amazing woman in person. I was also asking her to shell out money on faith that I would be true to my word to pay her back asap via Paypal.

So, now you have the full sense of my audacity.

We had a lazy morning today and I didn't get around to checking my email until around lunch time and there it was...an email from my friend from Sacramento with an attachment -- it was a photo of 5 tickets. Her champ of a husband had bought the tickets already. Today.

As I looked at the amount -- the ticket price I was hoping for plus a modest $3 facility fee (take that $55 fee!!!), I went over and picked up the money that Rylie had brought home from his mom and counted it out...only to find that I was short $3.

So I looked over to the left and sitting right there...a $3 check from a friend.

Total amount needed for Les Miserables tickets in my hand.

I replied with an effusive thank you message for her and her hubby and then sent that Paypal transfer asap.

And then I marveled.

Yes....that's what I did.

You see...this is just another of maaaannnny instances when I have felt the warm hand of God's grace on my back reassuring me that he's got everything under control.

I had asked him to provide a way for us offer an amazing experience to our children, and He did.

In a BIG way.

• He orchestrated a delivery needed, and thus an extra set of hands needed.
• He gave us amazing friends and family who love us enough to take our munchkins to make some extra money in tough economic times.
• He worked through a friend that I've never met to procure the tickets at a price that we could afford (The idea that they would inconvenience themselves for my family is still blowing my mind.)
• The tickets for the right price (exact right price) and the right day were available on the day we needed them to be.

So, the next time I'm tempted to wonder if God truly cares about the "little things" or is powerful enough to orchestrate things for my favor, I will know the answer.

YES!

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think." - Ephesians 3:20