Lessons

God is so good! He gently reminds me of His Truth and how His way is the best way. Today, He gave me multiple lessons,from multiple sources, about living close to Him and about how He is a creative God who does only what is best for His children.

First thing this morning, reading in Jesus Calling, I was reminded from Psalm 32:8 how He constantly shows me the direction which I should go and watches over me. I just have to stay in communication with Him.

This was reinforced when I read the devotional from Joni and Friends in my inbox today. Below is a portion that spoke to me:

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, This is the way; walk in it.'-- Isaiah 30:21

If you are intimate with the Lord, if your communication with him is close, he will tell you which way to go. But if your ears are dull to his voice, and your heart unyielding to his nudging, you won't have a clue as to which direction to take.

(Taken from More Precious Than Silver. Copyright © 1998 by Joni Eareckson Tada. Used by permission. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530)

The second lesson, also started for me this morning in Jesus Calling, was the reminder that God, as Creator of the universe, the most creative Being imaginable, will never leave His children running in circles, getting into ruts. He leads us along "fresh trails of adventure, revealing to us things we did not know."

My friend, David Atchison, then reinforced this thought for me in his weekly devotional for people in the workplace, "Higher Call". Titled "The Creativity of His Calling," David reminded us that God can use us in mighty ways, and in different scenarios, many times very different than what we could have planned for ourselves. His prayer at the end especially made me think about what I'd read in Jesus Calling:

Lord, Your Word tells me that all of my days have been ordained and written in Your book. What a thought! You have given such care and attention to the details of my life, more than I will ever realize. I am so grateful for Your creativity and Your thoughtfulness. It gives me confidence in the future You have mapped out for me, and it gives me such great anticipation of the possibilities that lie ahead. Thank You for Your presence and companionship in my journey.

I'm not in any real quandaries right now, or facing any huge decisions, but I do think about my future and wonder what's in store for my life in different areas. I'm so thankful that I serve a faithful, loving, creative God, who never leaves me and who is always whispering in my ear the way I should go. As long as I stay in close communication with Him and keep my eyes fixed on Him, I can know that He will bring about His best for me!

Fall Break Fun

We had a little bit of a "stay-cation" for the first part of Daniel's fall break this past week. We got some good "at home" time (read as: Daniel got to watch lots of ESPN and play his drums) and also got to go on a couple of fun, fall outings.

The first one was last Monday, which was Grandpa's birthday. We went out to the Loveless Cafe for a late breakfast and had some of their famous yummy biscuits. We decided to act like tourists in our hometown and take some pictures by the sign and by their fall decorations.





Then on Tuesday afternoon, we went with Jeanette and Erica to Walden Farm, down in Nolensville/Smyrna, and had a fun time walking around the pumpkin patch and seeing the farm animals. Erica was actually more interested in the Fisher Price farms they had set out for kids to play with than the real animals, but that's OK!

Long lost friends

As the weather has finally turned cooler this week, I've been reminded of some old friends that I hadn't thought much about over the summer months. Here are some of my favorite things that are best experienced in colder weather:

* scarves

* warm drinks like tea, hot chocolate, pumpkin spice latte (yum!)

* fleece tops

* cozy throw blankets

* warm slippers

* soups and stews

* my "bed buddy" that I heat up in the microwave and wear on my neck

* down comforter

* sweaters

* boots

I wouldn't say that I really missed these friends when it was hot outside, but I'm sure glad to know that they're still around, ready to come out and play when the temperature drops!

Erica time!

I think it's been a while since I've done a blog post about sweet Erica! Today I got some good "Erica time" in when we went to Maxwell Brothers produce stand and to walk at the greenway. Very fun!!!

Mickey or Minnie?

I've had some interesting characters come through the church house in my almost six months of working there, but today's visitors were most UN-welcome. I guess I should say Thursday's visitors, because we only found evidence that they'd been there today. First thing this morning, I noticed some little black dots on the counter in the kitchen. Showed them to my coworker and we thought they were dead bugs. Five minutes later, I noticed some of those same little black blobs on my desk. "Uh, Amy, these aren't bugs! It's mouse droppings!" YUCK! EWWWW! NO!!!!!

We (OK, it was mostly me) freaked a little bit, then called the exterminator, who came and verified that we had, in fact, had visits from Mickey and/or Minnie, and maybe Mighty, too. Actually he said that what we saw could have only been done by one mouse. He also proceeded to use some exterminator "humor" by asking if we knew how to tell if the droppings were fresh. (EWWWW!!!) Then continued to tell us some of the physiological functions of mice and what we'd see if he shined a black light in the room. (I said, EWWWWW!). He investigated further, found the probable entry point under the sink, left a bunch of glue boards in strategic places, and left us to the task of cleaning up the office.

Since two of the glue boards are by my desk, I will be MOST unhappy if I come in on Monday to find Mickey or Minnie hanging around. And let me tell you, that glue is industrial strength! Later in the day, I accidentally stuck the leg of the step-stool on one of the glue boards in the kitchen and it was not easy to remove it!

My morning devotion this morning was an admonition to do everything without complaining, so I've been trying to find the positives in this experience and tried to look for ways to be thankful in this circumstance. I've been hoping that maybe the no complaining thing didn't count when you found mouse dookie on your desk and counters, but somehow, I don't think that's the case.

So for starters on the positives:

1. We have an incredibly clean kitchen at the church house (not that it was that awful before, but it's Clorox clean now).
2. And we got rid of mustard packets that expired in 2007 and various and asundry other things that had been stashed in those vintage cabinets.
3. I was not stressed out with other pressing matters this afternoon and was wearing jeans, so it could have been a lot worse.

I hope that Mickey and Minnie don't bring their friends to party at the church house this weekend, and if they do, that someone else finds them on the glue boards before I get there on Monday. I'm pretty sure that if I do see evidence of them, I'll need another reminder to be thankful and not complain!

God's grace is amazing!

Amazing Grace
How sweet the sound
Amazing Love
Now flowing down
From hands and feet
That were nailed to the tree
As Grace flows down and covers me

I hesitate to even write about this, but it's on my mind and heart, so I waited until the day is almost over. It's not about pity or sorrow, as much as I just have to tell you about God's amazing grace to me.

October 4th and 5th are days I will always remember. Four years ago, on October 4th, my divorce became final. It was pretty anticlimatic for most everyone involved. It had already been a year and a half since the marriage had broken up, but it became official on October 4. Ironically, October 5th is the day the marriage began. Today would have been the 18th anniversary.

I won't tell you that I didn't think of these dates coming up and that they went unnoticed in my mind. Thanks to my gracious Lord, He brought me through these past two days with true joy in my heart. Not joy because of my circumstances, because I still hate divorce and what it did to my family. But true joy because of the grace that I have received from the day I was born, and because of the grace that God has shown me over these past years of being single again. He has truly upheld me with His righteous right hand and has never left me or forsaken me. I can believe those promises from Isaiah more now than I could five or six years ago.

Some evidences of His grace that I've seen and felt over the past couple of days are:

* Being able to be with friends and fellow church members for worship on Sunday
* Being told that just seeing me is an encouragement to a friend who is going through a marital separation
* Receiving unexpected compliments
* Receiving a text from my sweet sister today
* Reminders from scripture when reading today's devotion in "Jesus Calling"
* The fact that these days being in October don't ruin the whole month for me

So, I just had to write about this tonight. I didn't want to make a big deal about these days, but wanted to let others know of God's wonderful acts and encourage others to seek His face and His strength. It's His amazing grace that covers us and gets us through the tough things in this life.

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always."
1 Chronicles 16:8-11