26 Inches

Our apartment complex planned a social event for last weekend...a "Water Fun" day. Which made little sense to me, being that it is September, the weather is cooler, and everyone's pretty much "water-funned" out by now. Regardless, the drawing for the 26-inch flat screen TV sweetened the deal a bit, and Bobby and I decided, "why not?"

Now, although I would not have scheduled a water play day in late September, I was able to see what someone might have been thinking when they did. (Something for the residents to do on a Saturday afternoon....) Sure. But, I was very curious what they were thinking when this event was re-scheduled from its initial time slot of noon-2:00 p.m....to 9:00-11:00 a.m.

On a Saturday morning. In September.

I didn't get it.

Needless to say, Bobby and I were already thinking our chances of winning a TV were looking relatively good (these events aren't usually well-attended)...and once we learned of the time change, we thought "this looks promising! We'll go over there at 10:45 a.m., enter the drawing, and leave!" Couldn't hurt anything.

So, we walked the 50 feet from our apartment to the basketball courts, where we saw a bucket full of water balloons, some squirt guns, and one lone attendant hanging out, who asked "you guys live here, right? Do you want to enter a drawing for a free TV?" We looked at each other, casually acted as though we were shocked by this chance to win a TV (we were feeling a BIT lame at this point), and proceeded to BOTH write down our names on the sign-up sheet. (We were thinking SURELY we'd only get to sign once since we live in the same apartment. Wrong we were!)

Our two signatures made a total of five signatures on the sheet, and the "event" was scheduled to end 10 minutes later. This was shaping up to be even better than we'd imagined. (Only five signatures? Really?!)

I should point out that the girl there seemed genuinely surprised at the low turnout. "I guess everyone just wanted to sleep in", she said. You think? It's Saturday morning, in September, and you want them to come play water games? Figuring out the reason for the low attendance didn't seem all that complicated to me.

Oh, well. I really shouldn't criticize. They had good intentions. And, after all...

WE WON THE TELEVISION!!! Bobby got the call the next morning that he (yes, it was HIS name drawn...he likes to emphasize that point) had won the TV and it would be available to pick-up today. Yay! So, this morning I went to the office and brought it home.

A 26-inch TV isn't huge, I know, but it's our first flat screen, and poor Bobby has wanted one for SO LONG. (I'm too stubborn to get rid of our perfectly good "old school" set...at least until we have room to put it elsewhere.) It seems everyone we know already has a snazzy flat screen.... (As do most people living in our apartment complex, I would guess, most likely contributing to their furthered lack of interest in coming to the event and entering the drawing...which worked out for us!) I'm sure we'll have another TV purchase in our future, but this will certainly get the job done for now!

It was such a fun surprise, and another reminder that we've got it pretty good these days. Our patience (okay, Bobby's patience) in not buying a new TV and being mindful of how we spend our money and being aware of what things we can live without has made this even more rewarding for me.

I like to think that this winning is another of God's reminders that He's looking out for us. A reminder that He takes care of our needs, and is more than able to provide for our wants, too.