When a Really Great Bargain Really... Isn't

I walked toward the back aisle, scanning quickly as I went, summing up the day's offerings when I spied it. "IT" The thing that made my heartbeat quicken. "It's gorgeous," I said to myself. "Is it? Could it possibly be... an Eastlake?!" Of course, someone was already running their fingers over the upholstery -which to me seemed the only hideous thing about this chair,- sizing up its value and potential. I wanted to swoop in and grab it, but the conventions of polite society stopped me in my tracks.

I loitered, yes,... loitered around that chair pretending to peruse the volumes of various cookbooks and travel guides until the woman moved on and away from my prize. Then... I swooped like I never swooped before! It was clearly old. The casters on each leg were antique, for sure. The carvings, delicate and superficial had that trypical Eastlake look, as did the numerous geometric patterns repeated over the entirety of the chair's back. The top of the chair, its "crown," was hand carved and had a flower detail embedded on each side. There were lovely, turned legs in the front and a curved apron with more sweet detail. I was practically drooling.

My search for a price tag led me to discover the old tack heads and upholstery techniques no longer used in mass production. "It's got to be expensive," I thought. "Even with the repairs needed." To my shock and utter delight it was marked $14.99. WHAT??!! Clearly the proprietors of this establishment (Goodwill) did not know what they had or they would have asked a LOT more.

"Tom, come sit in this chair," I called. "If it will hold you, we're buying it!" And just like that, the treasure was mine... all mine!

Tom hauled it out to the truck, bracing the seat upside down on top of his head. (That detail will be important to remember later ;) We strapped it into the bed and hauled down the highway for an hour homeward. I was giddy when I got it into the house. I could reupholster it. It would be an easy fix, and then it would really be the treasure it was clearly meant to be.

Fast forward a few hours to the evening.

Tom and I were enjoying a brew in the living room, visiting, laughing uncontrollably about this totally silly meme of a little monkey with a horrendous haircut, when... mid-snort I happened to look over at "the chair" and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a tail of some sort slip down out of the dust cover underneath.

I got serious reeeeeeeal quick!!

"THERE'S SOMETHING IN THAT CHAIR," I yelled.

Tom catapulted out of the rocker, and matching my intensity, ordered, "OPEN THE BACK DOOR!!" He grabbed the chair like it was on fire and threw it out onto the deck. We had frittered away enough hours that it was now pitch black outside, so... armed with flashlights, we began the tedious process of discovery and extraction! Thank goodness it wasn't a snake. It was a mouse... a mouse that had set up house in my prized, perhaps Eastlake, chair!

However... upon further inspection we found there were two... and then three little critters, and they were tenacious. They weren't giving up their house without a fight... so fight we did! We moved the chair to the driveway so we could begin taking the seat apart. Yep... the seat Tom had carried on his head both to and from the truck... yikes! Out came the webbing, and the springs, and the batting, AND... there were three more! A total of six tiny mice had been living in a nest in that chair.... probably from birth. They had been hanging on for dear life as we tooled down the highway at 75mph! They had been squished by the both of us sitting in the chair, trying it out, and now were frightened witless as we were dismantling what was likely the only home they had ever known.

I couldn't bear to do them in. I begged Tom to let them go. If they were going to meet their demise, it wouldn't be at my hand... even though they had contributed to the demise of my prized chair.

Oh, my goodness. It made for a good laugh after all the excitement died down. Perhaps I have finally learned my lesson. Perhaps. I mean... I think we all romanticize the idea of coming across a gaudy picture for a couple of bucks at a yard sale, just for the frame, and finding a true artistic masterpiece hiding underneath. We love the idea of getting something really great for practically nothing. It almost never happens... but then again... sometimes it does.

Two thousand years ago, on a hill just outside the city, the greatest treasure of all-time was given to anyone who would simply believe and accept it. The gift was costly for the Giver, but free to those who would recognize and appreciate its worth. Some who don't yet understand, or who are skeptical of a thing being too good to be true, may reason this but wishful thinking. But for those of us who know... who hold onto this gift with both hands and treasure it in our hearts understand with clarity and believe with certainty... it is both too good (too good a gift for me, a poor, miserable sinner) and yet...also... thanks be to God and to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...

SO VERY TRUE.

Happy Easter! He is risen!!