Get what you ask for?

Good Morning,
With Ted's travel schedule and my varied work hours, we have precious little time to ourselves and not really any true days off. So yesterday as I spent the day with him before I had to go to work, and while he was working I was lamenting how I just needed a true day off and preferably with him. We don't count Sundays as off, because he still works between services and church activities keep us on the move. I LOVE church, but I inwardly wished my Sundays were somehow more restful.
Guess what? This morning, I woke to a swollen throat and fever, and Ted has a white spot on his tonsil. We stood inspecting each others various signs of illness and weighed the options. Go to church and share our germs, get more germs added to our weak systems, or stay home and miss church! He finally decided that we should stay home. God gave me my inward desire, a day of forced rest with my husband. Of course, I hadn't expected to be sick during this day off, lol. Yes, God has a sense of humor... He will give me a day of rest, but He is going to make sure I HAVE to rest if I want it that badly.

I really miss being at church, but the sun shining on the porch is begging me to come out and read my Bible and enjoy some quiet time with the Lord on this true day of rest.

Shhhhh..... can you hear it? It's the sound of peace and quiet.

Words

Did you read that last post? Yes, it was a miserable end of a long week, well until later that day. After constantly cleaning up with the sick dog, both of us were getting pretty blue. Ted looked at me and declared we were leaving and getting out of town. I looked at him and thought ~ oh my he wants a date and I look like, well more like "Cinder" then "Ella". He said he didn't care, we just needed a few hours to ourselves regardless of what life was throwing at us. We jumped into his truck and started driving for the border. By the time we got to the GSP airport exit, it was nearly whiteout conditions! Yes, we had driven straight into a snowstorm in South Carolina!!! Knowing that proceeding further would be hazardous and our destination would probably be closed due to weather, we turned around and headed north again. My sweet hubby declared there was no way he was going home! We stopped in Spartanburg, and enjoyed the cold snow, and went window shopping through the mall and other stores while 2 inches of snow fell around us. Then, Ted took me to one of our favorite restaurants for a belated Valentine's dinner. They seated us right NEXT to the fireplace. Our succulent prime rib was medium rare, but we came out "well-done" :)


We drove home after the snow stopped and the roads were clear as is usually the case in a Carolina winter. The dog was barely alive and stayed that way through Sunday. Monday morning we saw real signs of improvement, but it was still touch and go. Yesterday, we knew he was well on the way to recovery and today he is acting like his normal self.

Sunday morning we traveled to Morganton to see our niece, Emily, get baptized (she received the Lord as her Savior just a couple of weeks ago)! What a sweet assurance to know that another in my family is saved and going to Heaven. We had a sweet time of reunion with that side of the family for a very brief time.

That was to catch you up on the end of the Valentine Saga, now my thoughts for today.


Have you ever struggled to have personal time with the Lord? I pray often, but with work and sleep schedules now seeming to rule my day more then anything else, it has been a challenge. I started my daily reading in the Epistles from Paul and soon something caught my eye through the nudging of the Holy Spirit. The verses are very familiar and have been much read through in each book since my childhood, but now I am doing a word study instead. More then a year ago, maybe even longer I noticed the word "All" and how it means everything and everyone. I started going through and circling that word each time I read it in Scripture. Now, it leaps out at me every time I see it. I may have missed some places, but that word is important to me. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."

This time as I read through the Epistles that were sent to encourage and edify the early churches, I began to notice how many positive commands were given. How many actual words of encouragement were in each verse. For example, Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." As I read, the Lord pointed out these words that so often we as Christians do not exhibit on a daily basis: love, joy, rejoice, gladness, kindness, peace.... the list is extensive! Our trials and burdens and evil society weigh us down, and we resemble little of Christ-likeness. This is indeed a wicked and perverse generation, but we do not have Caesars who burn us at the stake or boil us in oil. We are not beaten here in the US for being a Christian, we, so far, do not have to hide in fear of our lives when we worship. We are spoiled! If the early church can rejoice with exceeding joy over salvation and spiritual growth, why can't we? Our apathy has stunted our amazement at God's goodness! So as I read, I circle these words that portray emotion and not just an emotion, but an emotion that is to be put into action.
Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

When things go awry

Ever have one of THOSE days? It was predicted to snow, but Ted wanted to take me out today anyway even just for the day since our vacation was canceled due to his work issues. I woke up at 8:30 and something smelled reallly bad. I dashed to the shower assuming it must be me.... the smell woke Ted up and we looked at each other trying to hunt down the source. Alas, Oscar was sick, I could say sicker then a dog, except he IS a dog. So we spent the morning cleaning the dog, his box, the floors and keeping an eye on him. He is hiding out in the boys' bathroom which actually keeps the cleaning down to a minimum. Then the cat inhaled the last of the food in the bowl and started puking. I have mopped the floor twice and spot mopped areas repeatedly. I put the cat outside since his issue was just gorging and not illness. He is staring at me through the window wondering why he can't come back inside. Between the smell of animal vomit and cleaning products I am starting to feel nauseous!
Anyway, so far no snow and no escape with my Valentine either. He has spent the morning working from his computer, and I have sat here praying that the dog will recover.

Yup, one of THOSE days!!!!

Big Girl Boots

Life is full of mountains and valleys, fantastic fun and frustrating flubs. Our family fully knows this as we rarely have a boring moment to treasure. That's right we are so rarely bored that when it happens we rejoice in it! Strange as this sounds, I would love for a boring moment right now. Our Valentines Vacation was canceled, our expectations totally disappointed as circumstances gnawed away at our sanity. Another of Ted's managers has quit leaving Ted trying to run a store that is 2 hours away. If you remember he was still trying to get the new manager in the other coastal store settled and moving forward. Ironically, that manager is not as competent as promised, and the one that just quit here was even less competent in training and running the store. The manager in training that Ted has is refusing to relocate and also seems to lack the training necessary to be in the position as titled. Ted is SO frustrated!
What does this mean? Well, it means that I will not invite myself to a pity party, or let frustration and disappointment become my bosom buddies. I will dig down deep, put my big girl boots on and pray for my man who desperately needs divine intervention and wisdom. He can fix stores, but he can't fix stupid :(.

Ruminatin'

Yes, by the titles you can see that alliterating wordiness is a quirky characteristic of mine that satisfies my indulgent quest for individuality.
Realizing that it's another month and so far no new post from this end of the hemisphere enticed a personal mental randomness. Already you are wondering what all this blabbering is about, or maybe you are following along easily with just a smidgen of a smirk on your countenance.
Actually, it's an attempt to see how far this post can go without using personal pronouns in every sentence. It's an adventure into the internal, mental thesaurus in which the challenge appeals to a collective sense of satisfaction attributed to individual quirkiness.


Whoo! Now that was nearly a tongue twister to wade through just so my personal blog stayed personal without seeming to be overly presumptuous.

Praise the Lord, James has a second job!!!
Praise the Lord, after a long week, these few days off have been blessedly quiet and unproductive!
Praise the Lord, Ted has chosen to work from home these past few days to be together with us.



There is a second pot of chili simmering in the crockpot, turkey fixing to be baked for tomorrow, and beautiful sunshine streaming in all the windows and doors.

May your February be blessed with love, and may the Son shine in your heart....