“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and
lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”
--Proverbs 3:5, 6
12 December
2014
Some days, it’s hard to tell if God is even around, and then,
there are days like this, where His very presence is woven so thickly throughout
the fabric of the day that it feels like I cannot get away from Him; I have to
acknowledge His very existence, because those reminders of Himself are like,
slapping me in the face! Today was such
a day. I used to refer to these moments
as “love taps” from God, and my sister calls them “God hugs,” but in the last
year, since I have been reading David’s Psalms about his relationship with God,
I have come to refer to them as glimpses of God’s steadfast love.
It all began with that crazy storm in T-Town last night! I bet many of you were like me, hearing the
booming and banging and whooshing and gusting and unfamiliar sounds that caused
you to wonder what you were going to wake up to! My day was so jammed packed with things that
I was up at 4:45 AM. I was doing great,
ready by sixish, to begin another day on the endless “raging rapids,” and
rather proud of myself for managing to crawl out of bed and get the car loaded
up ahead of time. Then, I spied it. My several hundred pound scooter that I had
parked and covered in the driveway was lying on its side, toppled by the 50 MPH
winds last night. So, at least I figured
out what the boom was!
“Now what?” I ranted
at God. After trying five ways to Sunday
to budge it back up and failing miserably, I sort of yelled at Him even more,
because I could smell the gas, and I was sure the tank was already
flooded. That is when I kind of insisted
that He help me pick it up and place it back on its full length kickstand, so I
wouldn’t be late for my appointment at Jacobsen Middle School. And, guess what? At about 6:15 AM, in the absolute dark, with
the rain pouring down on me, God and I picked up that scooter up off the
driveway, placed it back into the exact position it had been in the night
before, then dumped all the excess water out of the cover and rewrapped it nice
and snug. And that’s how this day with
my Heavenly Father, the “I AM,” commenced.
Next thing I knew, the dogs were fed, the dishes were done,
the bed was made, and I was on my way to Golden Hills Elementary, where I work,
by 6:30 AM, so I could make my field trip deposit to the secretary, and leave
notes for my colleagues, before the buses left at 9:15 for the field trip to
the Nutcracker Suite in Bakersfield.
From there, I met my daughter at 7:30 AM to pick up Brick, her bulldog
for the first Annual “Kiss Brick” fundraiser. A quick stop at Starbucks to rub
the sleep out of our eyes, and we were good to go! When we arrived at JMS, they were running
ahead of schedule, which was more than awesome for both of us, as I was already
going to be late for work after the assembly, and then have to rush to catch
the field trip bus, and my daughter had to hurry to work, as well. The fundraising assembly was so much fun, and
about a dozen teachers kissed my daughter’s bulldog, to raise money for a local
pet rescue in Tehachapi. Brick cooperated
beautifully, and we took some amazing pictures of the event. The students were happy and excited to see
me, but I think Brick stole the show!
When all was said and done, we were out of there ten minutes early!
By the time I arrived at school, the kids were in line to
board the bus, my teacher friend had taken attendance, my other colleague had
picked up the check and the meds, and we were on our way! We found out the rain had stopped in
Bakersfield, so we wouldn’t have to wait in the pouring rain to get inside
Rabobank Arena. On the way down the
hill, one of my students asked if I would pray with her, so I moved over to
listen, while she asked God to give us a safe trip and have fun on our field
trip day. What a heart stopping moment! The next one came when another student
pointed out a rainbow through the bus window, after the sun came out, around
the outskirts of Bakersfield, and it lasted for a while. It soon faded, but it came back, bold and
bright right before we got off the bus!
The students were near perfect, and all of them loved the
play and never complained about being hungry or bored or thirsty or having to
go to the bathroom. I also had another
optimistic twinkling, as one of my students who had been very naughty, almost
didn’t get to go, because her mother was going to yank the privilege from
her. I asked her mom if I could have her
stick by my side, so she wouldn’t miss it, and that day she was an angel. It was so awesome to be able to email her
mother to say she had been great, and to be able to reinforce that positive
behavior. When the Nutcracker Suite was
done, we had a mom find us a bathroom upstairs, all to ourselves, so we didn’t
have to wait in the long lines downstairs.
Even though we were over time on the play because of the storm, we were
only about 7 or 8 minutes late to lunch when we got back. Somehow, we got through all of the work I had
planned for the rest of the day after lunch, and we even made our little paper
dolls for the Christmas snow globe craft we were doing the next week. I was even able to drop them off to the stationary
store to laminate for Monday. Man, was I
cruising! Back to the ranch! Wait, though!
A last minute parent popped in after school! Yikes!
But, when I told her I had a flight to catch, she was in and out in five
minutes. Phew!
Home by 3:45, and I needed to get the dogs’ meds and feed them,
the cats in to the garage and fed, the litter boxes cleaned, and make sure I
had everything I needed for my trip to Phoenix, to see my folks. On my way to the airport, I had to make a
quick trip to my friend’s house, the location of the annual Ugly Sweater
Christmas party that I was going to miss, to drop off presents for the
staff. Again, I was there early, and I
was privileged to have a meaningful visit with my friend and her husband before
continuing on to my flight out of Bakersfield (my second visit to Bako for the
day, mind you!).
By the time I got to Bakersfield, I was very hungry, and when
I stopped at the drive-thru of Fabuloso’s Burgers, there was no one in line, so
I got my meal in five minutes. The line
at the airport was short for checking in my bag and getting my boarding pass,
and I finished my burger and onion rings with nearly an hour to spare. What is funny is that the news had reported
that all flights were cancelled out of Meadows field that morning, so all day
long I wasn’t even sure if I would be making it to Phoenix. But every time I called US Airways, they told
me the flight was on time. It was smooth
sailing, and I even got in early, and my folks caught the fact that the flight
was early before they picked me up, so I didn’t have to wait for them. It was a magnificent visit, and we traded gifts
and memories and pictures and laughter, since I couldn’t be there for Christmas
Day. Another blessing from God!
In stark contrast to the above happenings, my best friend,
Tina, says, so often (and it’s mostly true, I think, for widows, in general)
that everything is now so difficult, because we are living without our spouses,
who went to Heaven prematurely. I am in
complete agreement with her on this point.
Sometimes, it gets old to keep fighting this life alone and having to
problem solve the “grind” by ourselves.
But God so lovingly gives us reminders that we are not alone in this
world, and we never were, with or without our husbands. And, I continue to find that when things get
really bad, to the point where I don’t think I can take on another struggle or
push through one more of life’s complications, or toil up one more mountain of
inconvenience, God melts them all away with His love and mercy. He comes through, as He always does, with
flying colors, and reminds me that I am HIS child, and that He died for me,
paid for my sins, forgave me, rose again, and CONQUERED DEATH, so I can live
with Him forever someday. His steadfast
love pours down from Heaven, and I am once again covered under His feathers,
like a baby chick under its Mama’s wings, and I feel safe from life’s storms that
have been plaguing me, and for a little while, the raging rapids calm, and
finally, I am floating peacefully in His living water and basking in the glow
my Father’s love.
.jpg)
