Black Friday

I am sleeping so soundly.  The phone is ringing "somewhere".  Then I realize it is the phone beside my bed.   You know it is great when someone calls at 2:30 AM and asks what you like in your coffee.  Oh yes, it is 2:30 AM and Kim is picking me up..........

Since Marli lives in NC now, Kim and I braved it alone out there in all that craziness called Black Friday.   Usually the 3 of us go out each year and do our shopping in 1 day.  No other day of the year can you call your daughter at 2:45AM and she answers and is shopping already.  And not only that BUT HER HUSBAND IS WITH HER.  They are newly weds this year and he really doesn't know what he is doing. Oh well,  love is grand. 

Anyway, here are some sayings I heard on Black Friday.  I know if you were out there, you probably heard some great ones too.  Please comment and let me know what you heard.

1.  I am not standing in that line that goes halfway down the side of the building, oh no not me.  I'm sitting in the truck where it is nice and warm.
2.  We should have gotten in line when the line was only half way down the side of the building.  I TOLD YOU!
3.  What do you mean you are sold out!  I got here at 3:00 AM to get my prized gift which by the way goes on sale at 5:00 AM and now you are already out of stock.  HOW CAN YOU BE OUT OF STOCK AT 3 WHEN IT DOESN'T GO ON SALE UNTIL 5? 
4.  Yes, I will be glad to buy that for you since the limit is 1 per person.
5.  No, I don't want a TV for $300.00, I want my TV to cost me $250.00, that's what I want.
6.  Yes, ma'am, you can get out of line and smoke. We'll save your place.
7.  Ma'am excuse me but I don't what you mean, you were just in line and only got out to smoke!  Yeah! Right!

We actually pulled #6 and 7 trick on a lady in line but she knew we were teasing.

Let me know what great lines you heard in your quest for the perfect gift.

Change of Plans

I don't know about you, but I am a creature of habit.  I buy the same things at the grocery store.  When I go on a trip, I stop at the same exit.   As life happens, we go to the same places, see the same friends, even go to the same vacation spots.    If we are honest with ourselves, I think most of us are this way.  As some of you know, I have reason to go to North Carolina whenever I can to see the  girls and of course now the guys also.  The trip on I-40 East is wonderful with great scenic sights.

Sometimes when you are driving it is almost like driving into the clouds. Two weeks ago I went with Kelsey and Kaleb to North Carolina to visit Paige and Olivia.   Seeing all my grandchildren at the same time was quite a treat and enjoyed by all.   

So you can understand my dilemma when I found out the road no longer existed, the road I just traveled to get to NC.  When Marli, Rudy and girls returned home last week-end from visiting Tennessee family, they informed me of a great landslide that had taken place 2.6 miles into NC on I-40.
I  immediately remembered pictures I had taken on earlier trips.   I remembered the large nets that were affixed to the rocks on the side of the mountains next to the road.  And I thanked the Lord we were safe and sound by His Grace.

So now, I must find another way, another way to get to my NC destination.  Sigh, I must change my habits, change my plans.

Be Careful What You Ask For!

I had a big adjustment three years ago when my daughter moved to another state and not only did she go but she took my 2 granddaughters with her.  Of all the things I thought she might do, moving away from me wasn't one of them.  I was mad.  Now I wasn't mad at her, I was mad at the Lord.  You see, I had asked Him to make Himself more real in Marli's life,  make her want to serve Him more, have a closer relationship with Him.    Little did I know He had plans for her that didn't include me.  

When Olivia (the 6 year old) was small she would go to church with Meme (me) and she enjoyed it a lot.  Recently when she visited,  she wanted to know if we were "going to Meme's church where all those people loved her".   So to say she has a good impression of church is pretty accurate.  When Marli moved with Paige and Olivia, I was worried that Olivia wouldn't get to go to church.  Who would teach her about Jesus?  Who would tell her all the stories of the Bible, you know about Mary and the baby?  Who would tell her about the wonderful Savior who died for our sins and rose on the third day?

Time went by and many different things happened in this thing called life.  But I noticed on Marli's blog recently,  Olivia has made 2 different comments about Jesus.  You see, Marli takes Olivia to church each Sunday now.  Not Meme, Momma.   And that's the way it should be.  So when you ask the Lord to fix something for  you, be careful what you ask for because sometimes He does it in a way that isn't quite what you expected.

9 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
10 - For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Is 55:8 KJV

Just Across the Road

When I drive along the driveway to the parking lot where I work, it is not unusual to see deer, sometimes alone or sometimes in a herd much like here.   I have noticed through the years, they seem to notice us (the humans) less and less almost to the point of ignoring us. As I drove by that day, I could see that the inquisitive ones looked up from their morning breakfast.  But I saw one who didn't even notice.  I think they tolerate us, trust us, and know they are not harmed here.  They have a comfortable sense of security.

 How could they not realize danger when it is so near?   Do they not know these are the same humans that scour the hills and hollows to hunt and kill them, we say in our superior attitude.  

Last week, I had to stop in the driveway at work and shoot a couple more pictures of the deer.  And yes, I was a little taken back at how close they had come to the humans.  They had moved from the fields and grass of the property to across the road in the more human area.  I wondered if they knew we were taking their pictures because it seemed unusual to see them so close to the buildings especially with all the cars parked in the parking lot.

Now we humans become a little puffed up at how much smarter we are than the deer that wander the fields, woods, the parking lots and yes even around the flag pole.

 But are we any better?  Do we sometimes woo ourselves into a false sense of security when calamity is around the corner?   Now, I am not someone who sees a demon in every bush, but the Lord says in Matt 10:16  "Behold , I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

Just remember the deer only crossed the road.

My Buddy, Fen

Yesterday was a milestone at my house. My buddy, Fen (he is a white and tan Shih-tzu) was 2 years old. He is 14 years old in dog years or is that man years. Oh well......the day went by uneventful, if fact if I hadn't sung Happy Birthday to him last night he wouldn't have suspected a thing.

But last February was a different matter.  We went to visit Dr. Josh, who is Fen's vet and I didn't tell Fen why we were going for a visit.  I am sure he suspected this was a routine visit.  You know,  an examination where they spray the horrible stuff up your nose, make you stand on the scales and then ooh and aah about how big you are.   Oh, then there is that thing they do in the back.  You know not the back but the baaaack.   How embarrasssing is that.   Anyway,  I took him to the animal hospital that morning and then went to work.  Here he is just before we got out of the car.  He looks like he is planning an escape.

They called me mid morning and told me Fen was doing great and I could pick him up when  I got off work.   I took a vacation day the next day to be with him and monitor his recovery.   I don't think this impressed him at all.   I do know when he visited his friend Pepper at Miss Peggy's house, he told Pepper,  "When I went to the doctor I went in a bass and I came out a soprano".    He hasn't been too anxious to go visit Dr. Josh since then.

Crippled Before the King

Everyone dreams of being a princess and having her own price charming. As a child, I knew all about Cinderella and her glass slipper. I didn't think very much about the prince at that time, I was just focused on being a princess. A few years ago, I wrote an article for our church newspaper, The Southside Shofar. Today I am publishing that article on my blog. Now most people that know me, know I am a child of the King, The Lord Jesus Christ. So of course, my article is fiction based on Scripture. Now don't you start saying I am re-writing the Bible. This is FICTION. Ok, now that is settled..................

Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. I Sam 18:3 KJV

And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, for as much as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD saying , The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed ever. And he arose and departed : and Jonathan went into the city. I Sam 20:42 KJV

"I have lived in fear my whole life. I am afraid of what the king might do to me if he finds out I am alive. You see, I am Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan. I have been told all my life the King hates me so, at least that is what my nurse says.

I cannot fight for I am a cripple. The night my family was killed, my nurse ran away with me and in my haste, I fell and was crippled in both legs. I was five years old. Maybe, I can hide and he won't find me.

Oh no! My worst dream has come true. Someone has come to me and says the King wants to see me. I am so afraid.

The day has come. I am slowly making my way down the hall. Why do these people stare? Do they have no manners? I cannot help that I am a cripple. What should I do when I get in the throne room? Slowly I am making my way in. I hear the shofar blowing for the King has come in. As they open the door, I am trembling with fear over my fate. My grandfather and King David fought for many years. What could he want?

I have finally made it close to the throne. He calls my name, Mephibosheth. As I prostrate myself before him, I cannot believe what I hear. He is introducing me to my servant Ziba, who was my grandfather's loyal servant. He is giving me back all my grandfather's land. He is telling Ziba to cultivate the land for me to have something to eat. Ziba has fifteen son and twenty servants. Me? He want me to have something to eat? But wait, that is not all. He is inviting me to his table. The King's table! I am to eat with him as his son! I cannot believe it! It is all because of the covenant my father Jonathan and he made long ago. They swore before the Lord between themselves and their descendants. Now King David treats me as his son."

How like Mephibosheth we are. We are crippled whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually. The King wants us to come to His throne room. He want us to eat at His table. He wants to treat us as sons and daughters. There is a blood covenant He will never break and He is waiting for you to join Him. Won't you come? Won't you make that first step down the long aisle to meet Him. See Him there high and lifted up. Please come to King Jesus and see Him in all His Glory. You will never be fearful again.