Class, catching up, crazy times, following His lead

Last week was a busy week. We had church service Monday and Tuesday night. We missed the service Tuesday night because Victoria flew back from Honduras that evening. After hemming and hawing about going with Mama versus going to the service, I decided that the DFW area is not  a place I should have Mama go alone at night when I am available to accompany her. Wednesday through Friday I had OSHA classes. In order to make it to church Wednesday night I went to class dressed for church and drove straight there after class. Traffic being what it was, I got to the church at about 6:45. Thursday and Friday, I got home just before 7 pm. It was a long week. A productive week, but a lot of late evenings.

The OSHA class was a good one. By the afternoon of the second day, it was becoming obvious that the majority of the ten attendees in our class were churched people, as was the instructor. When that came to light the class took on a different air, an openness, a willingness to share as we discussed the content of the course, a participation level that is rare in such class settings. Not only was there a commonality of religious views but a commonality of political views. It was a fun class which made the late dismissal every evening a bit less painful. The certification is good for four years – far longer than I will require. At least, that is how I see it from this vantage point.

Mama and Kimberlyn are traveling to Dallas today to finalize to collections that have been gatherer for care packages for the troops Kenny and Kimberlyn serve as chaplains to. So far, the donations collected from Dollar Tree and Dollar General have been enough to fill my truck with boxes filled with those donations. I believe the gifts will be given to the family members of the enlisted members in service away from home, many of whom are on a foreign field. It is a lot of running, gathering, organizing into care packages followed by more running to distribute those packages to get this done. It is all for a very good cause. Mama and I are always glad to help with this ministry when we can.

Meanwhile, I am hurrying to catch up to those things that did not get done while I was in class last week. Mama and I are trying to keep ahead of the requests for documentation required in our work with a lender and that is proving a challenge, but we at least have a functioning printer at the house now. That is a huge help, because without that printer, I had to go to the office to get documents printed and scanned. I will still need to go to Pack-N-Mail to get those printed, signed documents faxed to the lender, but they are ready to be sent. Hopefully, I can catch up today because I have classes scheduled to teach both tomorrow and Friday. That will limit the access I have to those persons who can only be reached during business hours.

At home, boxes are being packed with Christmas presents for the children and grandchildren. Those will be sent out this week to allow for the long delays some areas are seeing in the delivery of mail. What time Mama is not spending getting the work done for the Boots and Badges ministry she is splitting between Color Street, crafting and getting our Christmas presents packaged and sent. My time is being split between work and home and farm. It is a happily busy time with Christmas just around the corner. Special events at church. Parties each weekend. Redoing Joanne’s nails each weekend. Bouncing back and forth between preparing for a freeze and undoing those protective coverings and line warming wires once the danger has passed. From twenty-seven degrees one morning to ninety degrees a few afternoons later. A crazy time.

Still, all things considered, Mama and I are encouraged. We are taking things one day at a time, but overall, we have a hopeful outlook. God is fully and totally in control – of our lives, of our nation, of our world. What He allows may not be to our choosing, but He is always looking to do good to us so that we can glorify and honor Him. Those things that may not look like good right now will certainly produce the outcomes HE has set for them to produce. In His love for us, we can be assured that every one of these trials will eventually bring Him glory and produce some good thing in our lives.

I got to see that in a microcosm last week during the OSHA class. When God shows up, great things happen. We just need to invite Him into our lives and follow His lead.