Thrift store shopping.

The scene:
A woman in her early 30's- ok 34! Roams the aisles wild eyed as if somewhere around the next corner she was going to discover a treasure unlike any other.
When the treasure is spotted it is scooped up swiftly and she looks around to her left and right suspiciously as she fears someone is on her heels waiting to pounce on her and take her new possession from her clutches.
The coast is clear. Now she looks over the treasure for the price and laughs merrily at the wee price. SUCKERS! She thinks to herself. Fifty cents! I would have paid at least twice that much! BWAHAHAHA

That's me! I LOVE thrift stores! I always look for rustic and primitive things. Show me a basket of buttons and a quilt and I'm tickled pink! A dried flower bouquet, a rag doll, old timey clothespins, baskets... that's what I'm after. :) And the best part is when I find something I didn't even know I loved until I saw it. swoooooon!

One of my very favorite thrift stores is operated by New Hope Church down in Sevierville, TN. All proceeds from the thrift store go to help people with drug and alcohol addictions.
Sadly it was burned to the ground by an arsonist this past June.
I will never forget it. I was sitting in a motel room and it was about 2am. I was up because I couldn't sleep- as usual. Chris was asleep next to me in the bed and I turn the tv on and started channel surfing. One channel was news and I saw a building in blazes but didn't think much about it. I almost changed the channel before I realized that the building in flames looked mighty familiar.

My heart sank as I sat on the bed watching the building being engulfed and listening to the news reporter say that it was officially determined to be arson. What makes someone want to burn down a thrift store for goodness sakes? What could be the motive? It just made no sense at all.
I was so sad.
Just a couple days prior I was there merrily shopping and making small talk with the pastor of the church and their helpers. Suddenly my last purchases really did seem more like real treasures. What if I had not bought them when I was there just two days ago? My pretties would have burned up in that fire...

The good news is that they now have a new location that was donated to the church. YAY!!
I can't wait to get back to Sevierville and stop in. The bonus of it all is that the new location is right across the street from the best scrapbook superstore in the world! One door was closed (or burned) but God opened another. :)