Last December Kurt and I were in Amarillo Christmas shopping with out the kids. Some time after 10pm we were leaving Wal-Mart and a lady stopped Kurt and asked if we could give her a ride across town. It was really cold out and while we didn’t know her we felt we should help her out. Once in the car she started telling us more about herself. She said she was an evacuee from Hurricane Rita and told us of the hard time her and her family was having. Kurt offered to take her back to Wal-Mart and get her a few things. She was very appreciative of the few essentials we purchased such as diapers and milk. After we finished in the store we loaded up in Kurt’s car and drove her to her apartment. As we drove we talked and I felt led to ask her if I could pray for her. With each traffic light we kept getting closer to her home and I just couldn’t seem to be bold enough to do what I should do. We talked about her children and about the job she was applying for and then our meeting was over. She got out and it was over, I hadn’t prayed. Man! I felt like a loser. At least I had gotten her name, right? Wait, I hadn’t. For some reason I just couldn’t remember her name. As we drove home Kurt and I discussed the whole episode. We wondered why she had chosen him to ask for a ride. We wondered if the story was a scam or if she was genuine. We decided it didn’t matter. After all we did what we felt we should and that’s all that mattered. Right? No, I didn’t do what I thought I should. I didn’t pray for her like I so strongly felt the Holy Spirit leading me to. I didn’t tell her of God’s love. Grrrr! I was so disappointed in myself.

The next morning I wrote in my journal a prayer for her. I didn’t know her name so I wrote “The Wal-Mart lady”. I thought of her daily and I prayed God would give me another chance to minister to this lady.

Two or three months later Kurt and Joshua and I walked out the doors of the same Wal-Mart and I about ran smack into the back of a woman. As I stopped to apologize I realized it was the same lady I’d been praying for. I was a bit shocked and I gave her an overly friendly hello. She blankly looked at me for a moment and I thought to myself how she probably didn’t remember me when all of a sudden she smiled really big and said hello back and asked how I was doing and how my husband and babies were. I assured her we were all well and asked her how she was doing. She asked if we could help her out again like we did last time. We said yes and I again started thinking that perhaps her story was a scam, after all what was she doing hanging outside of Wal-Mart all the time? It didn’t matter. We knew what we needed to do. Kurt headed for the diapers and I took her over to the groceries. We bought her only a few things and she insisted that it not be too much. As we rushed through the store we talked fast about Christmas and kids, we talked about her family and mine. We talked about her new job and how she liked living in Amarillo. I wrote down her name on the back of the receipt and stuck it in my pocket. When it was all done she once again asked for a ride home. We talked all the way and no, I never did ask her if I could pray for her. I did overtly share about my faith through out our time together but once again I let her get out of our car with out doing what I knew I should do.

Grrrrr. I had a second chance and I blew it. Then next morning I wrote her name in my journal. I wouldn’t forget it this time. I prayed for her daily and I often entertained the thought of sending a letter to the apartment building we had dropped her off at. I wasn’t sure of the address but I knew if I wanted to I could figure it out. I never did though. But I did pray. I prayed for her children’s safety and for her salvation. For some reason God had strongly laid this lady on my heart.

A few weeks ago at church I watched from afar as a young lady gave her heart to Christ. For some reason I was sitting farther back than usual and I watched as a lady went forward unexpectedly. There had been no invitation we were simply preparing to share communion and she got up, quickly made her way to the front and stood there. As I watched I reached out my heart and hand to her and prayed. If I had been sitting in my usual seat I’d had been able to see her instead I could only see her back.

This Sunday I sat up front like usual, Pastor Jory walked across to the other side of the room and prepared to baptize the young lady. I hadn’t seen or met her yet but I had repeatedly heard the story of how she had gotten saved a few weeks before. I strained to see her but once again she had her back to me. Finally when I caught a glimpse of her face she seemed amazingly familiar. I searched my mind trying to remember who she was. Then Jory said her name. He said her full name. When he said ________ ________ I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. . . . my heat leapt as I realized who she was, I started bawling when I heard the name that had been in my prayers for nearly a year. As soon as the baptism was over she headed out the door to get changed into some dry clothes. I gathered my stuff and made a bee line to find her. I made my way towards the bathroom and found Carol waiting outside for her. I asked her how she knew her and she told me about meeting her the few weeks before. What is she doing here? Doesn’t she live in Amarillo? Carol quickly told me as we waited how the young lady had relocated and was starting her life over. I was a bit nervous as I waited. After all she probably wouldn’t even recognize me. It had been a long time since I’d seen her and she’d most likely met many people at Wal-Mart. As she opened the door, Carol told her she had someone who wanted to talk to her. I went up and controlled my urge to hug her as I started talking. “You probably don’t remember me. . .” I said. “Yes, I do. You’re from Wal-Mart” she replied. I then went on to tell her of how I’ve been praying for her for over the past year and how even though I don’t know her I how much I love her. We hugged, she cried. She told me she was living alone now, and gave a 30 second update on her life. She turned to go back in to the service and I turned towards the restroom. We hugged and promised to talk later. After church I couldn’t find her. But I know I’ll be seeing her soon. I’ve got a name and an address and she now attends my church.

How amazing is that!

(I’ve left her name and some parts of the story out for privacy reasons)

stream-of-con‧scious‧ness- Pronunciation[streem-uhv-kon-shuhs-nis]
–adjective
of, pertaining to, or characterized by a manner of writing in which a character’s thoughts or perceptions are presented as occurring in random form, without regard for logical sequences, syntactic structure, distinctions between various levels of reality, or the like

So you may know I’m still conscious:

In case you haven’t noticed I’m lacking in eloquent prose. I just don’t seem interested nor do I have the time to write some inspirational thought provoking post. Perhaps you could check the categories or maybe the archives if you’re looking for something of value.

Today is Veterans Day. Happy day, Veterans. The kids had a fabulous program at school yesterday. It reminded me of what you might see on a movie. The whole town showed up in their best attire and watched the amazing singing and choreography of the elementary school students. Some of the high school students dramatically recited Patrick Henry’s speech Give me Liberty or Give me Death. It was amazing, everyone had tears in their eyes. All in all it was the best school program I’ve ever seen. After the Taps were played the veterans led the crowd out to the school cafeteria where they were served Chicken Fried Steak. Joshua and I went on home but it sure did smell good. . .for school food anyway. ~~~~ Joshua is quite a challenge, he is however equally rewarding. He is uhhh. . .oh, how would you say it? Ok, he’s in touch with his feelings. When he’s happy he loves to tell you how happy he is. He’s always telling me how precious I am to him and how glad he is that God made me his mommy. He’s more affectionate than any of my highly loving children, but when he’s angry. . .or sad. Well, you are sure to know it! Yesterday I got on to him for doing something and he scrunched his face and gave me a evil look and growled “I am very angry at you!” “Some times, Mom, you really frustrate me!” I won’t make you here the rest of that story. Speaking of Joshua, did you notice his new brown jacket? It’s featured in his latest picture. Any way, he loves it. He thinks it makes him look so “snappy” and he wears it every time we go to town. . .he does look pretty good doesn’t he. ~~~~ Charleigh went to a sleep over last night. She is beyond excited. I wasn’t sure what the big deal was. She’s slept over with lots of friends, hasn’t she? I started thinking about it and she stayed with Janae twice in her life and then with Mom and Sami lots of times. But this is her official first sleep over where there will be lots of friends there. I’m praying for the mom who is taking care of all these girls today. They were all here for a few hours on Charleigh’s birthday and after a little while it was clear that they had had all they could take of each other and it was time for everyone to go home. I’m trusting Debby is a better host than I and it will turn out better this time. ~~~~ Kurt is gone today, he’s at a meeting for the High School Boy’s Chrysalis he’s going to be working on Thanksgiving. They asked us to do the “marriage talk” Friday night. Everyone was sure I would do it, in fact I think they were counting on us. When Kurt asked me he was pretty surprised when I said I absolutely, completely do not want to do it. Ugg! I so do not want to stand up there in front a bunch of teenage boys and be subjected to the question and answer session that includes all things marital. Kurt asked why and I told him teenage boys are scary. He said “Ok” and that was it. I’m glad he was nice about it. So, we will not be doing the marriage talk in case anyone wants to know. And yes if I felt as if God was calling me to do this I would have sucked it up and done it. But as of yet he hasn’t, so I won’t. ~~~~ Case you didn’t know: My sister is in the army. When they played taps at that funeral a while back I kept thinking how they would play that at her funeral some day. My grandchildren will stand there and cry and talk about how beautifully the young man played. The great grandchildren will stand quietly in respect and an uninvolved bystander will think to himself how it is really a recording. I won’t be there of course. I plan on dying first. It seems a lot easier that way. ~~~~ My kid’s newest favorite Saturday morning tv show is “God Rocks!” shown on Daystar. If you don’t have Daystar you can check out this link to see how you can watch online. (I didn’t check to see how it works. With the dial up it would be next week before I could see it) ~~~~ Ok, I’m done rambling now. I need to go make some Orange Balls for tomorrow’s family reunion.

“You are breakable and I am breakable. Everyone is breakable. That is why we have to take care of each other. That is why we’re family.”
- Joshua 4yrs old

Having a hard time finding out the results of the Texas races?
Here’s the place to look:

Texas Election Returns

And for my Missiouri friends:

Missiouri Election Returns

Saturday we took a trip to the pumpkin patch.  Oh what
fun we had!  We skipped the big corn maze but had a great time jumping in the
corn pit and picking pumpkins.  Here are a few pictures:
(Note of apology to my fellow dial up sufferers: I’m sorry for the large
number of pictures.   I did try to make them quick to load and I’ll
post most of them in the expanded post.)  Make sure to click below to
see the rest.  The first one is not the best.

Smile, and pretend the sun isn’t in your eyes.
 

|inline

A third grade Language Arts Assignment to write a story about a treasure and how it is found:
Here’s Kaleb’s paper:

One day in my room I found a button and I pushed it. The floor slid open, I jumped in, and the floor shut. Next thing I knew I was in a secret Lab of God. I looked around. I found a treasure chest and a key on the counter. I opened it. I found a Bible I opened it. I said “I wish this was English, and guess what. The Bible turned into English! I looked around again, I found a guide book. Inside it said “Guide book of the Lab of God”. I found a lot of stuff of God. That’s a true treasure from God.

Yesterday, I attended the funeral of a man I didn’t really know. I went because I love many who love him.

As I arrived I found the church overflowing. I found a seat out in the entry way and watched the service on the screen. As I listened to the service I realized the great loss I had gained by having never known him. What a wonderful father, a fabulous man and a mighty Christian he was! After the service I stood out of the way and watched as all the mourners made there way out the door. So many people I forgot I knew, friends I forgot I had rushed past with the crowd. I grabbed glimpses of loved ones I hadn’t seen in over a decade.

After the church emptied and the last car of the processional left I gathered the children from the nursery and drove towards my grandmother’s house. They were to stay with her while I went to the graveside service. After dropping them off I headed for the cemetery and found myself at the end of a long line of cars. I had quite a ways to walk so I jumped out and started the 1/4 to 1/2 mile walk towards the people. Half way there I realized I hadn’t brought my coat, I turned and looked at my van which seemed much farther away then it probably was, then I looked at the near broken heel of my shoes and decided to forget the coat and head for the service. Once I made it to the back of the crowd I realized I was still much to far away to hear or see anything that was going on. The cold wind started to take its toll so I drew closer to the unknown backs in front of me. As I took a few steps up the lady in front of me turned, it was Mrs. Peterson she saw me shivering and offered a hug and half her black fur coat. I cuddled in to the grandmother I had known for years and forgotten all about. As we stood there straining to hear the minister we waited mostly in silence. There were long breaks in the service where we wondered what was going on up front. While my left side was warmed by a friend the right half of me was freezing, until the woman in front of us turned and there was long time friend, Melinda Allen, She saw me and offered half of her coat as well. So there I stood for the rest of the service, sandwiched between to wonderful friends, family I forgot I had. Afterwards I was passed from friend to friend who all offered to huddle up and protect me from the cold. I talked with so many loved ones, so very many people from my youth. People who in past seasons played such a part in my life.

Days turn into years and we forget those that fade so slowly away. On the other hand, years turn into seconds when we lose someone so unexpectedly. Verlon Groen will be so deeply missed by those who knew him and those who who never did.

Yesterday, I realized the treasure that lay in a man I didn’t know and I was reminded of the treasures I had forgotten in those I once knew. My Loss, My Gain.

Please read this and this and tell me what it says to you. . .

Hebrews 6:4-6

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.