Miles and miles of blessings

Assalamu Aleikum!

OK sisters, where are you? Did I tell you guys that sabr was never one of my strong points? My blog is only a few days old and here I am frantically checking my email every 5 minutes to see if I have any new comments…that’s just not realistic! It’s not like one starts a blog and everyone in cyberspace magically knows where you are. Still, I’ll be looking forward to the day, insha-Allah, where I am an established blog with many followers…I hope, I hope! Ya Allah SWT, I know those sisters are out there, please send them to me! 🙂

The day’s not over, but so far it’s been amazing and I am really blessed. Hubby and I got up early to participate in our best-loved weekend ritual–visiting yard sales (or tag sales, rummage sales, garage sales, jumble sales or whatever you call them in your part of the world.) Maybe you think it’s crazy to be buying what my mother used to derisively call “someone else’s trash,” but in our case their “trash” has evolved into a tremendous treasure for us. I can’t begin to tell you about the cool stuff we get for pennies on the dollar. Housewares, clothes, stuff for the yard…you name it. The really wonderful thing is that it’s turned into such a fun thing to do for our marriage and Allah SWT seems to lead us to just the right things that we need and an indulgence or two as well! We usually come home after two or three hours, but today there was a “Mile Long Sale” in another neighborhood that had TONS of houses. May Allah SWT forgive me, but I kept telling my hubby that it was just like Christmas. He wasn’t thrilled about that analogy, but hey…I’m a convert and I can joke around a little bit if I want to. I was also lucky enough to meet a really sweet young lady who has a beadcraft business. She is going to start giving me private lessons, subhanAllah!

Anyway, we were out for HOURS and when we came home, car stuffed to the gills, we just wanted to crash for a while. So, here I am, post-nap and thinking about dinner, which is going to be palak paneer (creamed spinach with cheese cubes, which is my absolute fave Desi dish, bar none!) We’re going to break with tradition and serve it on pasta instead of rice, which actually sounds pretty yummy.

Today’s haul–and what a haul it was!–made me reflect upon Allah SWT’s incredible generosity towards us. If we only stop and look around, we’ll see just how incredibly rich we are. Perhaps we are not “rich” in the financial sense, but maybe you got lucky like we did today and got something that was new-to-you for just a few bucks. Or maybe you looked up to see a gorgeous display of stars in a clear, cloudless sky…or heard a baby’s laughter…or spent some quality time with your pet…or just hung out on the back porch with the one you love while sharing a frosty glass of iced tea (or my personal Desi fave, nimbu pani/limeade).  Look around, ladies! You’re rich! Even if you can’t think of one good thing that has happened to you recently, pick up your Quran! Reflect in the glory of Allah SWT’s mighty Word–nothing can take that away from you!  Are you a convert sister? Take a moment to remember that when you took shahada, alhumdulillah, that you became as a newborn baby, free of all the past sins that have dragged you down in this often painful world we live in. Think of how EVERY prayer of ours is answered in Allah SWT’s time, whether it be granting our prayer, taking something bad away from us, or getting something even better in Jannah! And Jannah, indeed, is the ultimate proof of Allah SWT’s generosity. We ALL have a chance to earn a place in Jannah, a chance that will sustain us throughout eternity! Certainly the chance of entering Jannah is infinitely better for us than any lottery ticket we could ever buy, astaghfirallah.

Do you see? As Muslims, we are rich indeed–and this prosperity has nothing to do with the car we drive or the size of our bank account. Why not take a moment now to make du’a that your eyes be opened, and look around. Rejoice in the bounty and beauty of Allah SWT.

Your sister on the path to Jannah,

Noor