Saturday, April 07, 2007

I Love a Good Religious Store

I had so much fun today.
We found the two bigger Catholic Bookstores in our area. I've been wanting to go, and today was the first day we actually made it-and we've lived here 6 months now!
The stores are BIG and had such great selections. I could easily spend hundreds in there...but I didn't. I actually only spent $11.89. I WILL BE BACK, though. :)
(If you're interested, we went to Regers and Churchill's)

The coolest part is this: I found a crucifix for our boys' room. THE crucifix.
Trying to keep the story short: Last year I went on a retreat with my Catholic Moms group outside Chicago. It was just days after my miscarriage. A very healing, special time for me. On that retreat I bought a unique, hand-painted crucifix by a boy in El Salvador. Nothing fancy, but the colors were bright and it was youthful and just perfect. It was also very light in weight.

When we moved, somehow that crucifix was thrown out in the packaging. At least that's the only conclusion we can reach, because we have looked EVERYWHERE for it, and it's not been found. It was so light it probably stayed in the packaging paper or something.

But I was crushed. The timing of when I bought that was sentimental. Plus the crucifix itself I just loved.

So since then we have looked online, in catalogs, in Family Christian Stores, a few other Catholic stores...but we never found this type of crucifix. My mother even looked in Gatlinburg on one of her trips! The youthful crosses we'd find were either a blue one or pink, or a Baptismal cross. That's not what I wanted.

Then today we go in these stores. BOTH HAD THEM! I teared up. Yes, over a cross. We bought it for the boys' room. And you know what? In a way, I really think that our baby we lost helped us find it. She was with me the first time I found it-in Illinois. And then today, after searching for 6 months, we just happened to find it again? I think it's divine intervention. ;)

I'm hooked on these stores. I doubt they know yet just how well they will get to know me. Gorgeous rosaries, prayer books, meditations, and much much more. I'm stoked.

And I have a cross for their room. So similar to the first one. Thank you, God. It means so much to me.

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