Be Still and Know

Every Thursday, my non-college-aged kids go to homeschool tutorials---which means I have no children at home on Thursdays. I typically use this time to do chores around the house, uninterrupted. (On the agenda for today is laundry, coupon-clipping & grocery list, and possibly finishing the Thanksgiving decorating.... we'll see if all that happens!)

But I've started noticing something that happens on the drive home from dropping Meileah off. The rushing around of the morning is over, and I start to decompress. I love to drive anyway, so I typically take the time to really enjoy my drive home. And in this time of slowing down--not just my car, but my thoughts and actions--I hear God most clearly. More so than when I have a quiet time at home. When I'm in the car by myself, Mount Washmore is not calling my name. No unfinished tasks assault my eyes. Just drive....

I didn't notice this pattern for a while, but today I did. It can be a song on the Christian radio station that I needed to hear, or Scripture brought to mind, or typically both. Most times, if God uses a song, it's one that's kinda old--but I know all the words to it--so I can really belt it out or I can really LISTEN and hear something new in it. Today's selection was "Amazing Love" by Newsboys:

I'm forgiven because You were forsaken; I'm accepted You were condemned 

I'm alive and well, your Spirit lives within me, because You died and rose again

Chorus:
Amazing Love, how can it be that You my king should die for me 

Amazing Love, I know its true! And it's my joy to honor You 

In all I do to honor You.

It repeats a lot after that, but those are all the words. Pretty old praise song, but one of my favorites, to sing AND to sign. I needed to hear these words today. I needed to marvel anew at what exactly God has done for man. And I needed to be grateful. 

One of my favorite verses throughout my life has been, "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:10). I'm going to try to post each Thursday what God has chosen to teach me on the drive home. So look for the "Be Still and Know" post each week. And if I don't do it, please hold me accountable to not only notice, but to truly contemplate in words the Amazing Love that's been given to me. 

Re: Oct. 31st: Happy Belated Birthday, Jennifer & Uncle Ralph!

Jennifer, I never forgot it was your birthday on the 31st---I thought of you often, but the day was so packed I didn't get around to wishing you a wonderful, blessed day! (It was also my uncle's 80th birthday.) Happy Birthday to both of you! =)

By the way, All went well with the package on Saturday. The dresses, bonnets, & aprons were a big hit at "Little House on the Prairie" and at trick-or-treating later.... Still not sure how we started finally doing the trick-or-treating thing....I believe it started after we moved to this neighborhood, and it just seemed like the good, relationship-building side of things. At least, that's the way it turns out. Still don't agree with doing witches, goblins, vampires, etc. but we are able to still avoid all that and enjoy our neighbors. I believe we will forever keep October 31st as a Family Day!

Regarding "Little House" (http://littlehousethemusical.com/): I don't want to spoil it for those who are headed to see it soon, so I'll "simply" say that we loved it. It was a simple time, in a wheat-filled (or not) prairie, with simple people, who had simple things---yet they were rich in love---therefore the sets are seemingly simplistic. They are not lavish or flashy, and we felt that was appropriate. Yet, how they USED those sets was at times amazingly creative! How someone figured out a way to convey galloping & racing horses...with NO horses...is pretty awesome. The play relied a lot on your imagination, and the strength of the people (at least, the actors), creating an "authentic" feel that I truly appreciated. I think Laura Wilder would be proud.

Foiled Again!

Why is it that other people can successfully use USPS Express (Overnight) Mail, but I can't?! Thursday morning, I ordered 2 Pioneer girl dresses/aprons/bonnets for my younger daughters. When I ordered them, I repeatedly told this home-based business that I definitely needed these items to arrive on Friday, or it was pointless for me to order anything. (This was not just a Halloween costume purchase.This was also for my girls to wear while we see "Little House on the Prairie, the Musical" today. Plus I've already figured out 2 more times within the next 3 months that we could use them, so I felt justified by the purchase :) I asked them if we should use FedEx instead, but the shipping price would have been about double (or the cost of another Prairie Girl set), plus the sweet woman on the phone was telling me that in her 5 years of working with USPS she hasn't had a problem. So I decided against FedEx, since Express Mail kept showing that it would definitely get here by 3:00pm on Friday.

Well, you see where I'm going with this.... The package didn't arrive yesterday. When I could finally get some information to show up on their tracking web site, it showed that at 2:22 it was in Austin, TX! Obviously, not going to make it to Nashville by 3:00... I called the business owner and she was mortified. She said she would make some phone calls and call me back. The longer it took her to call back, the more my hope sank. She called & told me that she didn't have good news.... USPS told her flippantly that the business web site is wrong---there to here is always a 2-day delivery---oh well, sorry.... Ho hum... They obviously didn't care on iota that their web site was wrong.

So this makes about 5 times that USPS has not delivered for me, and didn't bend over backwards in an attempt to make it right, as FedEx and UPS have done for me when they've messed up. I won't pay USPS my money any more!

So there you have it, my 1st real blog post, and I did nothing but complain. This won't always be the tone of my blog posts. I really appreciate you letting me vent to you for a few minutes! I feel better now....

P.S. The end of the story? They told me that IF we could call my local post office in time, we MIGHT catch it before it got put on a truck today, meaning we could go pick it up from the post office--IF it even arrives in town this morning---and have the package in time. (Our mail comes too late in the day, plus we'd be at the show when the mail comes, with no one here to sign for the package. Meaning they'd just leave us one of those dreaded yellow slips, and we couldn't pick it up til Monday.) I called our post office yesterday. A very nice man named Dan said he would put a hold note out for this tracking number, but that the truck didn't get here til 8:30am, and I might want to call back before that truck got there to make sure they held it. I called them this morning and they actually DID still have the hold notice, but the truck had not arrived yet. (If this package makes it onto a local truck, then there would be no way to retrieve it.) At 9:00am, I called back and they said they had it held at the office for us to come pick up. Mark is on his way to get it now. Hope nothing happens between here & there!

Can I Do This?

I can't believe I'm actually going to join the blogger world! Hoping that---with God's Word to help---I can actually have something of worth to say!

I'm also hoping to be a Thomas Nelson book reviewer, so you should be hearing more about that. Now if I can just get the first entry to show up correctly.....