Car Wash Obsessor

I've noticed recently...
that when a guy cleans a car
it's just like when I clean my house.

I like everything perfect.
I mean after all... we live there.

But a car...
really...
You only sit in it...
Well, and occasionally sleep...
hopefully not at the same time.

We were in Boise a few weeks ago
and Russell decided he wanted to get the car clean.
OK, to me that means going to a car wash,
buying the cheapest wash,
and then driving off
while letting the sun and air friction
dry it.

It does not mean that to my husband.
To him it means
buying the most expensive wash,
going to the vacuum center...
(never even knew there was something
called a vacuum center),
and taking everything out of the car
including seats, I might add,
and spending every last quarter, dime, nickel
to power an industrial grade sucking machine
(almost sucked my skirt right off...
...major moment of panic!)
to suck every last particle of dust
from every inch of the car.

And he's into it too!
Laying on the ground
so as to be able to see every speck of dirt.
I'm like, "C'mon honey, I'm bored...
I wanna go to Starbucks."
"You can't possibly be done with your
side of the car yet." he replies
"I can't?"
"No, you can't!" says he.
So then I had to act like I was vacuuming
for another 20 minutes.
(That's when I almost got sucked
into the industrial grade sucker!)
That's what I get for acting busy
when I'm really not.
That's a sin apparently...
(Now I know how the kids felt.)

My only question is this...
How can a guy that doesn't care about
the state of the house...
("The house looks fine, hon,
make me some cookies..."
"The boys bedrooms look fine...
we're gonna go play some basketball")
Care so much about something
you spend so little time in????

Can anyone answer me this?

Must be the Mars/Venus thing again.

Curses!

Without a Trace of Doubt

You know what I love about God?

When a little kid prays about something,
God answers it right away often.

He knows that the child won't remember
if he answers it tomorrow or the next day...

So often he will answer it right away.

A few months ago
Molly and I prayed for more kids in children's church.
That very morning we had 5 extra kids.
She was beside herself.

This morning I prayed with Camden and Katelyn
for more kids in Junior Church.
We had 3 extra kids.

God is so good with children
to build their little faith.
Or maybe he answers their prayers quickly
because they believe without a trace
of doubt.

I think I can learn from Molly, Camden and Katelyn.

Seek God!

I have a new goal...
Actually it has been my goal for 31 years...
But sometimes I forget...

To seek God.

Yes, I'm saved and love
Jesus Christ and try to the best
of my ability to live for Him,
Him alone.

But I get so busy
in this life,
often doing things that I know make Him happy.
Reading, praying,
service at church,
being a good example,
loving others,
telling others about Him,
etc. etc.

And don't get me wrong...
those are good things
and definitely SHOULD accompany salvation.

But sometimes I need to sit back,
and remember the joy of my salvation.
Think about how Christ took this poor
sin sick soul and changed her life and her destiny...
forever...forever...

Think about all He has done for me
throughout all these years I have been with Him.

Think about how Wonderful He is...
How beautiful His creation is...
how powerful He is...
how he can answer prayers in the blink of an eye.

Think about all the promises he has made me.
All I have to do is have faith...
And I will always have peace,
and hope,
and joy,
and love.

Think about how unworthy I am
to be the recipient of His Great and Powerful Love.
To truly realize in my heart the truth
of the fact that He will never, never leave me.
No matter what goes wrong in this life...
He will always be there for me...
He will always uphold me...
He will always wipe away my tears...
and make my life worth living
as long as He wills me to be here.

Why do all the endless things in my life
Get more focused attention than He does?

So I'm gonna try to set aside one day a week
to do nothing but seek Him.
I probably won't be able to do it
on the same day each week,
as things change so rapidly.
But I'm gonna commit it to Him
and give it my best.

I'm gonna sit out on the porch,
with my Bible and a Hymnal.
I may not read,
I might just think about His great works.
I might meditate on a favorite verse...
I'm not making any plans...
I'm going to let the Spirit lead.
I'm going to just seek God!

Being Stupid

You ever done something,
and then felt like an idiot after?
OK, I know you have!
And if you insist that you haven't
everyone knows you're lying!

Today, as I was walking over to church
I was looking down,
(probably reading my Bible,
I'm real spiritual that way),
yeah...let's go on...
Anyway...

JJ was visiting
with his truck...
and in the back of the truck
were 2 big metal bar thingys
hanging out...right at my head level!

So as I was walking by, being very spiritual,
well, walking by, anyway
I ran straight into the metal bars.
Yes, both of them.
One hit me right about the hairline,
the other on the forehead.

No, I didn't cuss,
I'm a Christian.
What I actually said was,
"OWWWWW!"
Really loud
so the whole world would know I was HURT!

Then I realized that this could be misconstrued
as losing control.
So I immediately looked around to make sure
no one was looking...
SAFE.

By the time I got to church
Homer was smiling at me.
"What happened?"
"Nothing!"
So then I had to tell everyone
so I made sure
they heard the story MY WAY.
After all, Homer might make me look like an idiot!

So, I told it in a way, that made JJ look like the bad guy!
After all, it WAS his truck and his bar thingys,
and he DID park it right between my house
and the church!
So, yeah, it was pretty much JJ's fault!
Anyone can see that!

Pastor's School

I've been at a Pastor's School this week.

No, it's not where you learn how to be a Pastor.

It's where Pastor's and their wives steal away to
to get encouraged by other Pastor's and their wives.

The schedule is great:

Breakfast at 7:30
followed by
Preaching
(or spreaching if you're a girl...don't ask),
from 8 in the morning until 12:00
with coffee breaks in between.
(And I do mean coffee - Starbucks!)
Then they feed you
and you're pretty much free in the afternoon.
I take that as an excuse to nap and shop
in that order!
Then you come back at 7:00
for more preaching!
It's wonderful.

Some people think that sounds boring...
but we love it.
To hear from God...who doesn't want that?
Must be the same reason people don't come to church.

Today Mrs. Mark Rogers spoke about suffering
among other things.

John 12:23 - "The hour is come,
that the Son of man should be glorified."

She said some good things:

Satan is doubling his efforts on Pastor's
weakest link...
his family.

When you are suffering, perhaps it's because
The Lord can show Himself best through
your suffering.

Someone once said,

The Lord gives Christians
the same troubles as the lost,
so the world can see the difference.

I want the world to see
that I'm different!
I might lose everything,
but I'll never lose Christ,
and therefore,
I'll never lose hope!

I have the Victory, through Christ!
I'll win the battle, through Christ!

Beautiful Life

Life is beautiful today...

The sun,
the warmth,
the new haircut,
the Godly women I can learn from,
the laughter of a friend,
the breeze, softly blowing the hair from my face,
the heart of my husband,
the hope I have in Jesus Christ...
so that even though tomorrow
may not seem beautiful,
like today does,
even though the cares and sorrows of this life,
may try to overwhelm my soul,
hope will always spring anew in my heart
because of who He is!

"And hope maketh not ashamed; 
because the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us."
 Rom. 5:5

Thank You, Jesus, for my Beautiful Life

Fashion Statement

So, we left home today for yet another trip.
This time to Meridian, Idaho for Pastor's School.

As we're on our way into Starbucks
I look into the window of the store next door
and realize that I'm wearing this cute little blouse
that I got from a thrift store the other day,
but forgot to take off my sweater thingy
(I call it that cause it is kinda beyond description).
The problem:
My cute little blouse is red and pink and white,
and my thingy is mustard yellow
and kinda dingy (pronounced dinjie)
around the arms cause I wear it lots,
and apparently don't wash it too often!

I look like an orphan, as my mother used to say!
Nothing derogatory against orphans...
If you are an orphan, I'm sorry...
Come to my house and we'll adopt you!

Anyway, I remark to my husband that I match beautifully!
He looks at me and says,
"I'm probably not the right person to judge that."
(Very true statement!)
My son and I have actually refused to be seen in public
with him on various occasions.
He goes on,
"You know what I say...colors are meant to be splashed together!"

Yep, that pretty much sums up his ideas on fashion...

Good thing I came along to rescue him...

The Sun/Son

This morning as we were sitting outside,
enjoying the sunshine,
Which, by the way, we don't normally see
during other parts of the year,
My husband said,
"The sun is beautiful this morning!"
"Yep, it is", I replied.
He said, "The sun is beautiful every morning!"
"I wouldn't know, we don't see it every morning."
I remark, being the eternal optimist that I am.

"It's always shining somewhere,
but the clouds get in the way.
But it's there nonetheless." says he.

"The Son of God is sure wonderful today!"
he says.
"Yes, He is." I agree.
"He's wonderful every day,
but sometimes it's hard to see
cause we let the clouds get in the way.
But He's there nonetheless, being Wonderful."

What a lesson!
He's there.
It may be hard for us to see Him
because we let the hardships of life cloud our view.
But He's there nonetheless.
What a comfort to know
that He's there
and He's Wonderful
no matter what I'm going through.

That's how my Sunday morning started out.

Thanks hon!