May 19, 2025
My God will meet your every need out of his riches in the glory that is found in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 CEB
The movers were almost done loading all but a few boxes and suitcases onto the truck. As we cleaned behind them, we discovered that the double-sided tape that had held down a corner of the family room carpet had left a good bit of itself on the floor. That was the bad news. The cleanup was up to me, since I’d placed that double-sided tape to avoid tripping on that corner.
The good news is that I had just so happened to have everything I needed to lift the glue from the hardwood floor. It just so happened that I had put a small pan scraper (see below) in my pocket earlier in the day rather than putting it in the box of kitchen tools. I had left a can of WD-40 for the buyers. I got down on the floor and began scraping off the glue. The scraper alone wasn’t doing the job, so I sprayed WD-40, my go-to for removing glue from surfaces. “I’ve got this covered,” I muttered to myself. Much to my chagrin, the glue wasn’t coming off. In desperation, I asked Google, “How to remove double-sided tape from hardwood floors.” The solution is to use a hairdryer to heat the glue, then apply WD-40 and scrape away the residue.
After a moment’s hesitation, I remembered that I had packed a small hairdryer in my suitcase. Hairdryer in hand, I set to work heating the tape with the hairdryer, spraying on some WD-40, and scraping with my pan scraper. Voila! Much to my relief, it worked. I had the floor cleaned up within 10 minutes.
I had no idea when I inadvertently left the pan scraper in my pocket that I would need it later in the day. When I decided to leave a can of WD-40 for the new owners, I was unloading one more thing to pack. And the hairdryer? A last-minute, just-in-case decision.
As I heated, sprayed, and scraped, I became aware of the gracious provision of those items when I had no idea they would be used in that way.
Thank you, dear God, for providing just what I needed in a moment of exhaustion and stress to take care of a need I didn’t know I had. ~ Anne
PS, I know I packed that hairdryer and loaded the box in my car so I’d have it during this interim period. I can’t find it anywhere. I suppose it is now a want, rather than a need. Thanks for lesson number two! ~ Anne
Wayfinding 