I Try

So.....I am a little over zealous in my vacuuming skills.

The night before I left for vacation I was cleaning the apartment like a mad women so it would be sparkly-awesome for our homecoming.

I had everything done, except for vacuuming my bedroom. I didn't even look at the clock as I started up the vacuum and finished the last bit. I had just completed my mission when there was a terrible banging at the front door.

I froze and looked at the clock, eleven o'clock.

The man....at least I imagined it was a man....pounded on the door again.

I still didn't move.

There was no way on creation that I would answer the door.
Yes, I was stupid vacuuming in an apartment that late, but I didn't feel like hearing it from someone else.
So I stood stock-still for five minutes feeling like an idiot because the person knew I was home. I spent the rest of evening tip-toeing around and looking over my shoulder.

Neighbor, I really am a good person. Trust me. I will keep my vacuuming rendezvouses to a minimum just for you!
****
We had the parents over for Sunday dinner. I made dessert, arranged the flowers and set the table. Aren't I special?



The plates our mine. They were my grandmother's and given to me by my grandpa. Dad said that the last time he had eaten on them was for a Thanksgiving dinner when he was a kid. That made me happy. I made the mistake of microwaving one. The pop and sizzle made me realize that the gold color actually has metal in it. Hmmm, I get smarter with each blog post.




****

I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills His purpose for me.” Psalm 57:2 NIV

"Here’s what God is using that verse to say to me right now: When I’m in a really hard and hurtful situation, somehow the present difficulty of it overrides my conscious thought that God is going to use it in my life and then through my life. Not one time in my entire tenure on this planet has He ever failed to turn around and use the hardship for good. NOT ONCE. Not when I gave Him enough time and cooperation. Yet, in the midst of it, I often can only hang onto Him for dear life while we ride the wave to shore and then stand there in the aftershock and look like I’ve just been on the spin cycle of a washing machine. Afterward, when He invariably turns it into some kind of maturity, intimacy, insight or ministry, I think, “Why didn’t I just trust Him for that at the time??? Why did I have to take it so personally and injuriously?” I want to learn to CONSISTENTLY claim the victory right there in the worst of the pain or crisis. At the very moment that I’m crying out to God Most High for help, as the psalmist says, I want to proclaim that He’s smack in the middle of fulfilling His purpose for me. Challenging stuff." --Beth Moore

L.s.R