Weather, a rebuke, our guest

When we left for church Sunday morning it was 45 degrees with a blistering 45 mile per hour wind. The sky was turning brown with the sand and dust being vacuumed into the clouds by the wind. As we got out of church, it began to rain. It was dirty rain; like driving through a mud puddle. By the time we got to Wal-Mart, about ten minutes later it was beginning to hail. I dropped Mama and Victoria off at the door and waited in the car.


People were running for their cars and trucks with grocery bags over their heads, their coats of little use unless they were securely zipped and snug fitting. They were tossing their purchases into their vehicles, abandoning their shopping carts and fleeing the scene as those carts became errant parking assailants, driven by the fierce winds. More than three cars were struck, that I could see.

By the time we sat down to eat dinner, the sky was clear and the sun was shining. All that remained of the storm was the water running down the full ditches. Pastor told us that night at church that was vintage Texas panhandle weather.

Victoria missed church last night because of a cold and cough. She really would have disturbed the service if she had gone, but it was a little sad that she missed her last Sunday night here before we take her to Bowie this weekend. Mama and I are going to miss her help in Children’s Church and I know Mama will miss having her around in a lot of other ways.

Pastor came by just after we got home on Saturday to tell us he was against her moving to Bowie. He was disappointed that we had not conferred with him about the decision to seek her transfer to the Wal-Mart in Bowie. I assured him we had been praying about it for several months and God seems to have answered. We cannot know for sure for some time to come, but we were confident in the move; less so about the church, which is where his objection was focused.

Mama and I have prayed more about it and we are going to let her go through with the move. It will be a blessing to Grandma and Grandpa. I hope in the long run it will be a blessing to Victoria; again, there is no way of really knowing for sure until we see God work in the situation. As I told the pastor, it is a choice between better and best and there is rarely total peace in those decisions.

Pastor did ask while he was in our home if Mama was still babysitting children. There is a young couple attending our church that has twin two year old girls. The mother is looking for a job and she will need the twins watched if she gets the job. Pastor is praying against that also, but we will see how it turns out. Mama may need the company with Victoria and Chase gone, but she does not want to tie herself down. She wants to be able to go with me to Bowie every time I go – which is not a bad thing. That idea limits the scope of foster care we will be able to provide also.

Makaliah, Chase’s sweetheart, came to church with us last night. It was obvious that it was a new experience for her. Our “traditional” services are not what she is used to, but she adapted and seemed to enjoy the church as a whole. I have asked that she come with us on Sunday nights so she can see where Chase’s faith and doctrine comes from. I cannot know how things will work out between them and they seem set on taking the relationship to a more serious level. At the least, going to services with us will expose her to the expectations of his belief system. At best, it will expose her to the plan of salvation if there is that need in her life.

Chase is at Winter Camp this week. Please pray God is very clear with him. It often takes more courage than we can anticipate to act on the issues God lays on our hearts in those teachable moments.