All the kids got new boots for Christmas but Ava decided she wanted Uggs like Katrina and Mallerie instead of waterproof boots. (Just to be clear when I say Ugg in this letter -I'm referring to the generic brand). We had some other exchanges so we went to the mall the day after Christmas. We tried to return them at Payless but they didn’t have any tan Uggs in size 3. The saleslady told us that they wouldn’t be getting anymore and that all the Payless Shoes had slim pickens when it came to Uggs. After exhausting the stores in the mall, we tried Famous Footwear, no luck; we tried the Payless in Shopko, no luck. The day was running out we were getting pretty tired of trying. Our last stop was the Payless by Kmart in Orem. Matt stayed in the car with the kids as only Mallerie and Ava wanted to come in this time. As soon as the saleslady heard what we were looking for she gave the bleak news that they too had all but sold out of them. She pulled up the other Payless stores on her computer to check availability. She said, “Okay, I show that University mall has a tan pair in size 3 as well as Provo’s Shopko.” I informed her we had already been to those stores and they did not have a tan size 3. Apparently the computers are only updated each morning. While she was talking to us a lady with an exchange came in with her two daughters and stood in line behind us. The daughter was asking her mom if she had locked the car. The mom hadn’t. The daughter said, “But I left my purse on the front seat and that guy in his car was looking at it?” The mom said, “Well, you should have brought it in then.” Apparently she was feeling as tired as I was. The saleslady said to me, “Let me check the shelves for you one more time.” I don’t know why but I followed her down the isle. She whispered to me, “That lady is just about ready to return a size 3 boot in tan if you want to wait.” I did! I guess Mallerie had spotted the picture of the boot on the box and was also anxious. We him-hawed around the store looking at socks while we waited. After their transaction was final we went up and purchased the boots. The saleslady noted the miraculousness of this, “Pretty lucky I’d say.” We knew it wasn’t luck though. It was another Tender Mercy from a loving Heavenly Father that knew Ava really wanted those boots and could see my good intentions but also knew we were tired! Out in the car we discussed this. Matt and the other kids had disappeared into the dollar store. While we waited in the van the lady and her two daughters came out of Payless. I said, “There’s the people who brought back your boots Ava.” They came and got in the car right next to us. Then it hit me as I remembered the daughter being nervous about her purse. Matt had been sitting in our car right next to her. I said, “Dad’s THE GUY!” And we howled with laughter.
