Road Trip!

We’re headed over to the other coast of Florida tomorrow to see Scott‘s parents.  It’s a 3½ hour drive each way and we will do the round trip all in 1 day.  We get over there 3-5 times a year.  His parents have a hard time driving to see us because of the length of time they would have to spend in the car.  The last time we went over, I had to drive because Scott wasn’t cleared to drive yet.

I need to make it clear that I am a rider.  I like to look around, sight-see, look for birds, and take in God’s wondrous creations.  We carry a bird book in our car so that we can identify the birds we see.  When driving through the beef cow pastures, we see lots of prairie-dwelling birds.  I digress…

I just finished 6 months of doing all of the driving for the family.  I’m pleased-as-punch to not be driving tomorrow.  BUT, sometimes we have to do things that we don’t like to do.  My mom used to say that it’s worth it to endure a short time of pain for the long term gain.

I think that it was good for me put myself in my husband’s shoes.  I don’t try to get him to rush out of the house when he comes home anymore.  I understand that he needs some time to unwind.  I think it was good for him to release control of the wheel and become a passenger for awhile.  I learned that I disliked his “back-seat” driving and have since not done it to him.  I needed to release control, too.

2 Corinthians 12:9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

What is God teaching you recently?

What was once lost…

On 1/12/2010, I lost the cross that my parents had given to me when I was a teenager. I was so upset over it and had traveled all over the county that day. I notified the county courthouse, where I had been, and my coworkers, even putting up a sign with a picture.  I had been praying to God to find my cross.  I finally changed my prayer to say, “Lord, if this is found my someone, please make it be someone who needs it and appreciates it.  I can live without it, if it’s Your will.”

Just this week, I was reaching the one month mark of it being missing. I came into the office late and had to park in my boss’ space. I opened up my car door, looked down, and lo and behold it was there! I felt like the woman from Luke 15:8-9 (“Suppose a woman has ten silver coins, but loses one. She will light a lamp, sweep the house, and look carefully for the coin until she finds it. And when she finds it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Be happy with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ NCV). I posted it to my Twitter and Facebook friends, and they were happy for me. My Mom told our Pastor that night of my blessing and he had me tell the whole church!

Janet

Our wonderful friend and family member, Janet, died on 3/3/2009 after a 4½ year battle with cancer. She was my mother’s friend since 1st grade (many, many years), she was my father’s “second wife”, she was like a second mother to me, and she was a wonderful aunt to Timothy. My parents and I sat holding her hands as she slipped into Heaven with such a peace like I’ve never seen. While we are going to miss her, we are rejoicing that she’s healed and sitting with our Father at his Heavenly Throne!