Archive for Encouragement
Reaching Out to Others…Where to Start
Posted by: | CommentsSeveral of you have mentioned to me that you love the idea of using Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve with your children…but the idea of reaching out and doing that many acts of service for people is a bit out of your comfort zone. Or, what if you’re new to the area and don’t really know a lot of people? You’ve asked for advice, so I’ve been brainstorming some ideas to make it (hopefully) a little easier for you and your family to cook “Soup for someone who is Sick” on Ss week, or take a new “Book to B________” on Bb week.
The following ideas are simply offered as a way to get you going. To help ease you out of your fears. To gently get you and your family used to visiting others and putting smiles on their faces!
- Utilize extended family members, even if it means you have to send something through the mail. Family (hopefully) will feel safe to you and will be an easy beginning to getting your family in the mode of making something to give to someone. Plus, I’m pretty sure if your child sends something homemade to a grandparent or aunt…the appreciation and feedback they’ll receive will be pretty huge. Family members LOVE your kids an awful lot. :)
- Pull out your church directory if you have one. Looking through the directory together may help give you new ideas of people you could serve.
- Do some of the acts of kindness anonymously. Don’t rely on this one too much, because you will receive such a wonderful blessing when you deliver something to someone and are able to see the smile on their face. But there is something to be said about the gift of surprising someone by leaving it on their porch for them to find when they come home. (I will caution you though that if someone left a homemade goody on my porch and didn’t tell me who it was from…I may not want to eat it. I’m just sayin’. You might want to reserve the anonymous act of service to be something more inedible.)
- Visit a local rest home to carry out some of your service. Sometimes it’s easier to visit with a complete stranger, knowing that your visit will make their day, than to visit with someone who is, say an acquaintance from church.
- Pick some of your children’s good friends. It’s awesome to reach out to people you don’t know as well…and to people in other generations…but WOW it’s fun to knock on your best buddy’s door to deliver a Jar of Jelly beans on Jj week!
- Make it a team effort. Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve is meant to be a project for the whole family anyway. Piling in the car all together and visiting your recipient all together is so much easier than going alone with just one child.
- Ah, who am I kidding? Your kids are so cute, the person you’re serving will ooh and ahhh over your child and the fact that he/she came to do something kind…and that in and of itself with be a huge buffer in your comfort level. Seriously, if you’re worried about what you’ll talk about when you’re visiting someone…just visit about your project and other things your kids are doing. People love that.
- On the other hand…be sure to ask the other person questions…especially if they are sick or have been going through any kind of struggle.
- Don’t feel like you have to stay and visit with someone for three hours. Have your child hand over the goodies (whatever they are that week!), explain your project and maybe tell why your family chose them and then if the timing seems right, you can then be on your way.
Just think of the blessing you are giving your child! By starting them on the journey of service now, as they get older…thinking of others and serving them will become a natural part of who they are.
And I promise (because I speak from experience!) the more you serve with your children…the easier it will be for you too! God does amazing things when he “stretches us” beyond our comfort level a little bit. You know what you alone are capable of, right? So when you do something for someone that pushes you past your comfort zone, you KNOW that you’re doing it only because of the awesome power of God. It’s an incredible feeling.
God is so good. You can do this!
Chatting With Lisa Whelchel about “Friendship for Grown-ups” + a Giveaway!!
Posted by: | CommentsThis post wraps up my interview time with Lisa. If you missed them, be sure to catch the rest of the interview posts:
- Chatting with Lisa about raising little ones
- Chatting with Lisa about raising teenagers
- Chatting with Lisa about marriage
Here is the final question I asked…
Me:
I’ve been reading your newest book, Friendship for Grown-ups. I’ve really enjoyed how you’ve opened up and shared your story and your struggles with being real and honest about your feelings and needs with your friends.
Why do you think women are so afraid to be real and open and vulnerable with other women about their struggles and sins?
Lisa:
We feel like we’re supposed to be perfect like Jesus. We act like everything is fine because we think it’s the right thing to do. We feel like we’re letting God down if we admit failure. But when we do this, we miss out on connection and grace. Are we trying to earn salvation through works, or are we accepting that we are sinners who need grace?
Laura’s follow-up thoughts…and also, let me tell you about Lisa’s new book…and also, maybe you could even win a copy! ;)
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Lisa Whelchel’s latest book, Friendship for Grown-ups! I anticipated that it would be a book to encourage moms to maintain great friendships as we raise our kids. Yeah, I was wrong. It really didn’t have anything to do with maintaining my friendships while I’m raising my kids. This book really is about what true and godly friendship is all about, no matter what season you are in your life.
Friendship for Grown-ups is about breaking down walls. It’s about being real. It’s about setting boundaries. It’s about being a friend and accepting friendship. It’s about being open and honest.
Oh my, is it ever about being honest. Being honest with yourself, and being honest with the people God puts in your life to love on you. Lisa shares some of her biggest struggles through her years as a child star and how that shaped who she became as an adult. Through the years, Lisa built some gignormous walls that were ever so hard to break down. But she…
Wait a second. I think I’m saying too much. I think I should stop and just really, really recommend that you read Friendship for Grown-ups.
As Lisa shares her story in her latest book, you’ll find that you get to know her on a much more personal level. While reading this book, I felt like Lisa became my friend, even as she taught me what godly friendship should be about. That happens when someone opens up and shares from the deep, painful places in her heart. That’s exactly what Lisa did. You will be blessed by reading her story and by hearing how God worked in her life and gently led her into whole and healthy friendships.
I just so happen to have five copies of Friendship for Grown-ups to share!! (Well, I actually have six copies but one of them is mine and I’m keeping it to re-read another few times during the next few years!!)
If you are interested in winning one of the five copies of Friendship for Grown-ups, by Lisa Whelchel…please leave a comment at the end of this post! Receive extra chances to win by subscribing to my blog, or tweeting/blogging/facebooking about this giveaway, or by becoming a fan of Heavenly Homemakers on facebook. Leave a separate comment for each entry!
I’ll draw five random winners on Monday!
I’d like to give a big thank you to Thomas Nelson Publishing for this great opportunity to read Friendship for Grown-Ups, visit with Lisa on the phone and share more of her books with my readers!!
This giveaway is now closed…thanks!
You Can’t Drown A Bug
Posted by: | CommentsWho knew that looking at a big ugly bug crawling around in the bottom of my kitchen sink would give me pause for reflection into my own life?
It was a bug. What was there to think about? Normally, I don’t have to think long when I see a bug of any kind. The question usually is as simple as, “Where is the nearest shoe?” Whereas snakes and birds may have me running the other way…bugs don’t tend to scare me very much. They’re creepy and they get on my nerves, but squishing a bug doesn’t usually faze me. Well, except for the crunch. Ick. I’m not a big fan of the crunch.
Anyway, there it was scratching its eight or twelve or thirty little bug legs (I didn’t stop to count), trying with all of its might to find a way out of the bottom of my slippery, wet sink. While the question may have normally been, “Where is the nearest shoe?” I wasn’t too keen on taking off my flip-flop and putting it into the bottom of the sink to squish the bug.
Therefore, I resorted to Plan B, which of course in the case of an ugly bug in the sink means: Run Water Over the Bug.
If you’ve ever run water over a bug, you will learn that a bug is quite unusually determined. It will put all of its eight or twelve or thirty legs to work at the same time, scratching as frantically as it can in the opposite direction of the flow of the water. And about the time you think you have surely captured the bug in the flow of the water and killed it, you will turn off the water and see that the bug was hardly fazed at all. It will, in fact, blink and sputter a time or two, then begin to crawl around again as if it only just experienced a lovely refreshing shower…not a near death experience.
You will then resort to Plan C which is to turn on the steaming hot water to kill the bug. Again, the bug will only act as if it just experienced a delightful dip in the hot tub at a spa resort.
You can try scooping the bug up into a cup of water. It will go for a swim. You can try pushing it down the drain. It will come up for more like it just went down a cool water slide.
Nothing you can do will drown the bug.
There is only one thing you can do to get rid of the bug. You have to squish its guts out.
Lovely to think about isn’t it?
The moral of this story is a simple one: If you have sin or strife in your life, you can not merely “run water over it” and try to get rid of it. Taking the easy way out will not result in cleaning up your life. Running water over it will only temporarily fix the issue, making it appear as if it is gone…but it will quickly resurface itself the moment the water is turned off.
If you have a sin in your life, you have to squish it. You have to hear the crunch. It will likely hurt.
But then it will be gone. And you can clean up the guts that are splattered all over the place then fill that void in your life with something healthy, whole and good.
Yes indeed. Who knew you could learn so much from a bug?
In His Hands
Posted by: | CommentsPlease join me in welcoming the final guest poster for this week: Brandy, The Marathon Mom. You know how I have four boy children? Yeah…Brandy has SEVEN. Boys. Uh-huh. And I thought my grocery budget looked scary for the future. You’ll love Brandy’s insights and thoughts entitiled, In His Hands.
As a mother of many, I find myself regularly facing the challenge of trusting God with my children. It’s an interesting place, being so close to my due date, trusting God for a wonderful birth and a healthy baby, and at the same time, trusting Him to help me guide my pre-teen son as he grows into a man. And not to mention, the 9, 7, 5, 4, and 2 year old boys in the middle, who I am also responsible for trusting to God.
It’s a struggle of the heart, for sure, as I want to pull my babies close, protect them, shelter them from the ways of the world, and for some ages, that is entirely appropriate. But at some point, as my child’s mother, I am confronted by the fact that all of the hard work, love, commitment, sheltering and training must come to fruition as I ultimately release my child from my hands and into the world, and allow him to go and do and be all God has called him to go and do and be. I am not quite there yet, even with our oldest, as it is a process. But God has definitely started the work in my heart and has even begun to illustrate for me quite graphically, what that process will look like as I begin to release my sons, one by one, into their God-given destinies.
God reminded me again last night that I could trust Him with my children, when one of our younger sons narrowly escaped a potentially bad crash on a bike. Our four year old, Drew, went ahead of me on his bike, still with training wheels, in the dark last night. Not far behind him, I assumed my normal position behind the stroller and watched as he began to coast.
Downhill. FAST. FASTER…..and FASTER STILL.
And suddenly I realized, all within a split second, that there would be no way I could abandon the stroller and sprint with my 9 month pregnant belly in his direction to save him from a terrible fall right into the street. And I began to yell, “Drew, fall in the grass, FALL IN THE GRASS!!!” And the next split second I realized a car could be coming to meet him at the exact time of his crash. The other half of that second, I prayed the fastest and yet most heartfelt prayers a mother could muster up – out loud – “Jesus, protect him!!!” Boys from the neighborhood and some of our older sons saw what was about to happen and took off at lightning speed to catch up with Drew, but the momentum he had built up on his Spiderman bike was too much and they came to his rescue just a second after he was a pile of little boy, half on the curb, half in the street. And there was ….
NO
SOUND.
It was dark, so I couldn’t see him, and still trying to get down the hill, I began to yell again, “is he okay???” And then I heard him cry. The cry that let me know he was not seriously injured. “Thank you, God,” I mumbled as I made it to my sweet boy who had screamed with blood-curtling shrieks of terror as he had flown down the sidewalk.
With only a few scraped toes, he had survived, and it didn’t take long for the lesson to sink in. As I questioned Drew for not listening to my instruction to fall into the grass, which would have perhaps saved us from some of the drama, I realized a few things. His response was, “I couldn’t hear you.” And he couldn’t because he was screaming in terror. His own fear actually prevented him from hearing the instruction that could have saved him from the whole experience. And next, he wasn’t trained. I knew I had never told him to fall into the grass if he couldn’t stop. I wondered why he didn’t use his brakes more, but he’s only been riding since this spring, really, so I knew he was just inexperienced.
Clearly, there is an age when we can know that they know when to brake so that they don’t go too fast and crash, and it’s obviously NOT at age four. Surely, there is a time when we can trust that we’ve done our jobs and recited with our children the rule that states, “when you’re about to fall, choose the softer landing…” Hopefully, the time comes when, as parents, we can be confident that we have trained them up in the way they should go, and that God is with them, that He will protect them, and that we can trust Him, and that our prayers are effective on behalf of our children.
God will show us as mothers, how to guide our children, how to train them. He will show us how and when we can and should begin to trust that they’re ready to fly on their own. Walking alongside, and even behind our children (in observation), God will show us where we need to place special attention to help prepare each of our children as individuals, so that when it’s time, they are fully equipped to go and do His work and His will.
Thank You, God, for this reminder. I couldn’t do this on my own.
Be sure to visit Brandy at The Marathon Mom!
Frugal, Cheap or Poor?
Posted by: | CommentsHeya…just wanted to edit this post to clear up any unintended miscommunication about my use of the word “poor”. I am very sorry if any of you found this offensive. I in NO way want to communicate that I think being poor is a bad thing or that I look down on people who are poor.
The thoughts from this post really just came from the fact that my family has a lot of people in our lives that love us, but don’t always understand our frugal lifestyle. If we aren’t careful about how we communicate our “lack of spending” to people, they take our actions as meaning that we “don’t have enough money” and they feel sorry for us or go buy things for us (things that we were intentionally not buying, not because we don’t have the money but because of choices not to spend).
Does that makes sense, or did I just make it worse?! ;)
Recently my husband and I were talking about my torn jammies.
Great conversation piece, huh?
It’s just that in this post I had mentioned that I *only* had two pairs of jammies and one of them was literally falling apart. So, I finally bit the bullet (yum) and bought a new pair. And then I wrote, “When Malachi saw my new jammies he exclaimed with happiness then asked why I got new ones (cause it’s a big day when anyone gets something new around here).”
This led Matt and me to talk about how that may have sounded.
Does that sound like we’ve been too poor for me to buy new pajamas for myself? Does it sound like buying things we need, like new jammies, is just a far off dream?
Oh that poor family. Can’t even afford to get new pajamas for the missus.
I really and truly hadn’t bought new jammies for myself because for Pete’s sake, we are a throw-away-society and I don’t feel the need to throw away the old and buy new things until I really, really need them. That’s why I hadn’t bought new jammies for myself.
Do you ever feel like, because you are carefully watching your pennies and working hard not to spend money on things you don’t need, and trying to get a good deal on the things you do need…that you come across to others as looking…poor? Or cheap?
If we aren’t careful, we might come across that way. Are we the poor family with the stay-at-home-mom who has to make all of their food from scratch and cut every one’s hair herself and put her kids in hand me downs and grow a garden? Are we the poor family who can’t afford family cell phones and frequent eating out and new furniture and new vehicles?
I think it is super important for anyone who is frugal minded to come across to others as people who are happy, cheerful…downright FINE!
Avoid using the words “can’t afford” or “not enough money for…”. You truly may not be able to afford the subject you’re talking about, but those words portray a “poor me” attitude, literally. That attitude will not encourage others to want to spend wisely…it may instead cause others to feel sorry for you and try to avoid being in the state you’re in.
As we talk with others about what we have or don’t have and about what we do or do not spend our money on…I think it is important for us to share in a way that inspires others to want to be wise with their money also. Share your frugality in a way that sounds exciting and attainable! Say things in a way that lets people know that a frugal lifestyle is in no way boring.
Saving money, spending wisely, being frugal…it’s a joy! It’s fun! It works!!
Spread the love!
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This post is linked to Frugal Friday.
Guest Post: Choosing to Adopt
Posted by: | CommentsToday Jill from CampFunk shares her story as she and her family are working toward adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. I hope you will be as inspired as I am after reading about the Funkhouser’s journey…
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First of all I want to thank Laura for letting me post on her blog.
I am writing this entry as a guest here to let you know about this wonderful journey my family and I are participating in. My name is Jill. My husband Dave and I live in a small town in Northeast Wisconsin (Kiel) where Dave proudly works as the police chief. We have 4 wonderful children, three boys and a girl, all who are ages 6 and under and all who have a deep love of God.
Even with our God-loving and fun-filled house, we decided we wanted more from life. So, this past fall, we started the process to adopt a child from Ethiopia. Dave and I felt that God was laying something heavy upon our hearts, that we had more love to give and certainly room in our home and more importantly in our hearts. Every time we thought about it and put up obstacles against adoption, God smashed those obstacles with an overwhelming need that is so evident in our world. There are so many children who need our help.
So what makes a woman who already has 4 little kids of her own want more? People often think (and say) “you’re crazy!” but adoption has always been something I had dreamed of, even as a child. Soon after our youngest child was born, I felt we were getting too comfortable, even with the craziness in our life, and that we were meant to do more and to help more than we do. I had this sense of “Okay, God…We’re ready for whatever you are about to put in front of us…Bring it on!”
My husband Dave was more reluctant to just dive right in so we spent a solid year of research and connecting with other families talking about the many risks, problems, and extremely high costs of adoption. Even with the information, Dave was still reluctant but he told me that he would ask God for direction and did. Dave prayed and asked God for signs on what to do. The very same morning he told me this he stopped for gas on his way into work and a van pulled up on the opposite side of the gas pumps. Written in block graphic letters across the back window in bold print was “Adoption is the only Option” and out of the van popped a whole bunch of kids, all who Dave learned were adopted. They smiled and laughed and talked to Dave about how their life now was so wonderful. It was truly a miraculous experience for Dave.
As if that obvious sign wasn’t enough; Dave and I both were repeatedly exposed to numerous other encounters with children who were adopted from other countries. Our waitress on a dinner date was adopted from Africa, the family camping next to us had adopted a little boy from Africa, our tour guide on a mini-vacation we took had adopted three children and so on. Everywhere we turned, we received God’s signs that this is what we were meant to do. It had become our mission and we made the commitment to move forward with it.
In November 2009 we submitted our application to adopt a little girl from Africa and our mission began anew. Our adoption story is one of faith—a mission defined by our desire to participate with God in restoring what’s broken in this world. We realize we cannot help all of the 147 million of the world’s lost children, but we know that we have room in our hearts and in our home for at least one.
There have been a lot of road bumps along the way with the forces of evil working against us, but for every roadblock, we receive a small blessing and we know that if we stay focused and faithful our loving and wonderful God will provide for us. We humbly ask you to join us on this journey. We ask that you pray for us as we embark on this adventure to bring our little girl home.
We might not have the answer to the many questions you have but we do know that we have a gracious, kind and loving heavenly Father that delights when His children follow Him– even to uncharted territory. We wait expectantly for all that God has for us along this journey and we would welcome you to come along for the ride! God is good!
The Funkhousers will be hosting many fundraisers along the way and have set up a blog site online so that you can follow them on this journey (www.campfunk.blogspot.com). I encourage you to check out their site and get to know this family. Maybe there’s a way you can help them out!
Becoming a Christian: Share Your Story!
Posted by: | Comments
I was in the seventh grade. I hadn’t been able to sleep well for days and would instead lay in bed wrestling with my thoughts…knowing I needed to DO something. I wasn’t at peace and I knew why. Even though I was being raised in a Christian home and had been a pretty good kid, I knew I was a sinner. I needed to make things right with God.
It was pretty cool, because while neither of us knew it, my brother and I had BOTH been wrestling with the same lack of peace. We made our decision to commit our lives fully to Christ at the same time. It was a special day when our dad baptized both my brother and me. I remember very clearly the moment I came up out of the water feeling like a new person! Whole…loved…clean…forgiven!
I’ve done a lot more wrestling since that night as I’ve learned more and studied more and grown into a deeper understanding of what it means to “take up my cross daily and follow Jesus“.
I remember especially wrestling during my college years, when I was out on my own and needed to figure out for myself what I believed and why I believed it. I’m very thankful for that time, even though it was quite painful to tear myself away and make my faith my very own.
When my babies were born, it was then I realized how REAL God is and that truly, only He could create…well…anything so amazing and perfect.
The most humbling, terrifying, horrible, incredible and beautiful time of my spiritual life came while my mom was sick and dying. It was during those months of intense pain and grief that I learned to accept God’s comfort in a way that only He can give it. He gives His comfort at the level that we need it. At that time, I needed an incredible measure of comfort…and He gave it. I would lay in my bed and sob and cry out to Him, then I would feel His comfort and love so real and full as if there was no one else in the world and all the comfort He had in His entire Being was given to me at that moment. As an incredible result, all I could do was praise Him. He truly turned my mourning into dancing. It is powerful to feel so much pain and so much love, comfort…yes…even joy at the very same time. Powerful.
God is so real. His love is absolutely unconditional. His forgiveness is for everyone. No matter what. I hope you know the same God I know. If not, please search for Him. He is an awesome God!
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So, what’s your story? How did you come to know Christ? Share with us, either by writing about it on your blog and linking up with us, or by leaving a comment on this post.
Also, please visit as many blog links as you can to be encouraged by everyone’s story!
- Jodi at One Blessed Mama (Lord, You’re All I’ve Got)
- Carrie Smyth at Heavenly Homesteading
- Hallee the Homemaker
- Laurie
- Rebekah
- Jolene ~ A Random Woman’s Life
- Shonda
- Jenna at Homemaking Pilgrim
- Jen
- Trusting in His Name
- A Voice Crying Out
- Stephanie
- Barb
- Travelin Pilgrim
- Elizabeth
- Melanie
- You’re Next!
Mr. Linky is acting up…if you have a post to link up, leave it in the comments and I’ll add it manually as I can! Thanks!
Giving Thanks: HE is ALL We Need!
Posted by: | CommentsThis song by Kari Jobe has been a great source of praise to God as I prepare for the holidays! (I love having a radio in my kitchen!)
As we give thanks to God this Thanksgiving…let’s remember that truly, He IS all we need. He is our healer. He is our portion. He’s more than enough.
He is.
God bless you and your family this Thanksgiving.
Know Your Limits
Posted by: | CommentsLast Tuesday night I fed the YC women’s soccer team a lasagna dinner, then spent 4 1/2 hours at a meeting where a few of my friends and I were working through a painful and difficult situation. I got home just before midnight completely exhausted and emotionally drained.
Wednesday I woke up (after a fitful night’s sleep mixed with sorrow and prayer) and looked ahead at my day. I had a lunch date with my friend who had just lost her house in a fire. Adam and BryAnna were coming for dinner to celebrate her birthday, which meant I needed to make a birthday cake as well as cook the dinner. I was teaching a ladies class at church that night I needed to finish preparing for. Matt was at an away soccer game until 11 that night.
I knew how tired I was and everything about the day ahead of me seemed completely overwhelming. After praying about my day, I made a decision.
We would take a day off from regular school work.
I knew the small amount energy and strength I had inside of myself. Working through a school day with my boys while my mind was so preoccupied felt like climbing a mountain.
I knew that if I tried to explain a math concept to anyone or keep everyone quiet while I read through History…my patience would wear thin and I’d have a hard time keeping from being grumpy. My boys do not deserve my grumpiness.
Never, ever, EVER should I be so busy and caught up in doing “good things” for others and for the church that it wears me out and makes me grumpy at my own family. Never.
Instead, we had a movie morning. Then we baked a birthday cake. Then we made hot dogs (yes, I know my limits and it was a hot dog day!!). I went to lunch with my friend. When I got back, the boys and I read three chapters of our read-aloud. Then the boys read on their own. We frosted the cake. I read through my notes for the ladies class. We started dinner. Adam and BryAnna came over. We had a lovely birthday dinner.
And I was completely calm and peaceful the entire time.
If I would have tried to get through our whole regular school schedule in the middle of everything else…I’d have been a mess by 10:30 a.m. Instead, I enjoyed my boys. I enjoyed my friend at lunch. I enjoyed surprising BryAnna with some of her favorite foods.
Can I choose to “not have school” EVERY DAY that I feel a little tired or overwhelmed? No way. That would be a big cop-out.
Should I always be so involved with outside ministries that I have nothing left for my family? No way. That would be very wrong. Our families are our number one ministries, which means sometimes we have to say “not this time” to a ministry opportunity.
But when you find yourself waking up to a day that is too full…know your limits. Figure out what you need to cut out, stop, cancel, reschedule or give up so that your family life stays healthy, strong and God filled.
God knows your limits better than you do. Ask Him and listen.
Disclaimer: No children, young or old, were academically crippled as a result of this day off of school. The very next day they were all still able to multiply, spell words and write creatively. Just in case you were worried. :)
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This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday.
Becoming One with the Airport
Posted by: | CommentsMonday I flew all by myself to California for a few days to be with my CA sisters-in-law. Every other year we work pretty hard to make this trip happen. I’m so thankful that I have sisters-in-law who are my friends.
Matt and the boys dropped me off early so that I’d have plenty of time before my first flight. I had two hours to wait…but no problem…I had books to read and no boys to chase. Then the flight got delayed. And then it was delayed some more. And then I realized that I’d miss my connecting flight in Dallas.
By the time I finally got to Dallas and rescheduled my continuing flight to CA, I was super bummed to know that I’d have to be at the airport waiting for FIVE hours since there was simply no other flight that could get me there. Sigh. I mean…we had plans to go to Cheesecake Factory that night. I spent quite a bit of time feeling sorry for myself and missing my boys and husband.
Oh…and I was freezing cold in the airport.
I decided that I could not possibly be freezing and miserable for five hours, so I set out to look in the airport shops for a sweatshirt. I didn’t really care what it said and I almost didn’t care how much it cost because I was THAT cold.
I quickly changed my mind about the “I don’t care what it says” idea when the one and only sweatshirt I could find in the entire DFW airport said, “Texas Brewing Co.” And then it had this handy little pocket pouch in the front to keep your beer bottle in (no I’m not kidding) with a little insert that said, “Keep your hands free…and your beer cold!”
Okay…maybe not.
I finally found a simple long sleeved t-shirt that said TEXAS across the front…for only $10…and snatched it up. If only I could find some long johns and wool socks, then I’d be set.
Once I got my long sleeved shirt on, I set off to figure out how I was going to kill the other 4 1/2 hours of my lay-over. I thought about getting my shoes shined…but no…I was wearing flip flops. I thought about sitting down for a nice meal…but didn’t want to spend my entire CA budget on one burger.
I had no cell phone and I hadn’t brought my lap-top (was kicking myself over that one). Funny how you can be surrounded by thousands of people for hours, yet feel very lonely. It made me wonder who else in the airport was feeling lonely.
I started “people watching”. I saw someone with her zipper down. I saw people wearing some very interesting clothes. I saw people wearing hardly any clothes. I thought at one point that I saw my cousin. But no…it was someone else’s cousin.
Hmmm. I got out my journal and a Bible study book and enjoyed that for quite a while. I was feeling much more refreshed and less sorry for myself after that.
Then came the highlight of my day.
I met a couple (who had grandchildren my age) who had been delayed all day like I had been. We were waiting for the same flight (which, by the way, was by then delayed yet another hour and a half). I can’t tell you how this sweet couple refreshed my spirit. They were believers. They were frustrated by the delays like I was, yet trying to be patient. They were on the way to his brother’s funeral. They got me through the last few hours with cheerful conversation and talk about our families. We laughed. We shared. We made the most of our bad situation.
I knew I would be okay when at one point the grandmother lady (why didn’t I even ask her name?) started singing, “This is the day the Lord has made…”
Seems I found a sister before I was able to make it to CA to meet my sisters.
Isn’t God good?
