A Godly Blessing

This past Sunday, after spending an awesome week with my brother here in town, Keith and I needed a little down time.  It was a really gorgeous day, albeit a little cool, so we decided to check out a trail near our home called the Nonconnah Greenbelt.  We loaded up Brinkley and her water dish and decided to spend the afternoon together outside. 

There are a couple of trails on the Greenbelt.  We started off on the paved one.  Brinks was in heaven, running and sniffing everything! We had been on the trail, I don't know...maybe for .75 miles when we came to this...

Keith was like, "We can just take our shoes off and wade to the other side." Umm...excuse me, what?! First of all, no.  Second of all, that water did not look so safe nor did I want to walk under the road where its dark and filled with water...seems like a great snake hangout to me.  I'm not sure if the water is just high at the moment, or if the pier/bridge wasn't built very stable and has begun to sink...either way, there was no way I was going down there...so we turned around. 

Luckily there are a lot of other trails that have been cut out through the woods and we spent the next hour and a half walking those.  We came to a great spot on one of the trails and I decided to climb down to the water...straight down. Keith took Brinkley a much safer way down through a small crevice in the cliff.  Once we got down there, it was so peaceful!  All of the rocks have been smoothed over by the water that, I'm sure, at one time rushed though here.  It was a great spot for a family pic!

Then the fun began.  As I was proving my bravery and running down the side of the cliff, I wasn't giving much thought to the climb back up...or to the fact that it had rained the day before leaving the ground wet and soggy under all of the leaves.  So, I decided to follow the hubs back up the way he came down.  And all was going smoothly...until it wasn't.  I almost....ALMOST...landed face down in the mud!!! Luckily, thanks to all of that planking Josh made us do at CrossFit...I caught myself before I landed on my face.  I didn't save my jeans, but oh well...can't win them all.  I was laughing so hard that it took me a good minute or two just to get my footing and climb up to the next level, with a hand from my love.  

So...why the blog title? Well, on a day filled with NCAA tournament play, my love wanted to take a hike with me. (Granted, we went after the UK game was over...I was the one who couldn't miss that one!) He puts spending an afternoon with me at the top of his list.  I don't take that for granted.  During the season of Lent, I gave up Facebook and we both gave up caffeine and sweets.  But more importantly than what we gave up is what we decided to do.  We were both off work on Ash Wednesday, and as we were talking about Lent I was looking through my YouVersion bible app for a new reading plan.  I came across a plan for the season of Lent that has you read the entire New Testament over the 46 days of Lent.  When I asked Keith if that was something he'd be interested in, he didn't hesitate to agree. So, every night, for the past 24 days, we have read five or six chapters of the NT before bed.  We talk about the context and the connotations. We laugh at some of the crazy names of the cities. When I have been out of town, we read it together over the phone.  And every night, every single night, we pray together.  We take turns praying...mentioning small prayers and big as well.  Covering our family and friends, and most importantly, our marriage, in prayer.  

Do you know how blessed I am?  A long time ago, I made a commitment to my Heavenly Father that I would not settle for anything less than what He had planned for me.  And as I waited, sometimes patiently, sometimes in fervent tearful prayer, I knew that He had a plan.  I didn't meet the love of my life when I was 20 years old and attending a Christian University that jokingly used the tag line, "Meet your mate".  I didn't meet him when I was in the mission field, or struggling through my 20s as I watched my friends get married and have babies.  I had opportunity to marry in my 20s....but had I chosen to do so, I would be among the statistic of girls who got married because they were afraid they weren't ever going to meet the right one.  I was in my 30s.  Seasoned in patience, but definitely no master of it, and filled with purpose for other things in my life.  And God knows it was worth it.  I have a husband who reads the bible with me daily. A husband who studies and talks to me about spiritual and Godly things.  A husband who prays for our marriage and our family and lets me pray with him.  A husband who puts spending time with me at the top of his list of priorities.  

So, if you're reading this...and you're single...hold on. God will fill you immeasurably...maybe with a husband...maybe with a life that is spent in service to Him and the kingdom in ways you never knew possible.  If you're married...I am praying that you are as blessed as I am, and if not, maybe now is a good time to have a conversation with your mate about sharing your faith openly and honestly.  If you're dating....don't ignore this. The more you discuss things when dating, the less surprised you'll be when married.  Don't, please don't, overlook spiritual things because you are afraid of being alone.  

Before I start to sound too preachy...don't get it twisted...there are things my hubs and I do that drive one another nuts. We get frustrated, we bicker...we are human.  But God, I am so thankful to all of the Godly women you put into my life that told me repeatedly to wait on you...that the waiting was worth it.  Girlfriends, you were soooooo right!

And then this happened...

I know, right?!?!?!

So, I've been a resident of Memphis for two months.  And in the last month I have had not one, but TWO wrecks.  Neither one my fault, but none the less, this is not helping me in my quest to find a new found love for my new hometown.  This latest travesty occurred last evening on my way home from work. I was traveling home on Germantown Parkway, a six lane road, during rush hour traffic. We were moving along relatively easily, the speed limit is 50 mph, but ask my husband, I don't tend to go above 45 because I don't know the area that well.  But I digress....so...I was driving home, had KLove on the radio, hands at 10 and 2, not distracted at all.  When all of a sudden a driver who is coming the opposite way, decides to turn left...right in front of me!!! So, what happened? I slammed on my breaks, hit the horn, and tried to avoid a major accident...and failed.  I had the green light. He made an illegal turn.  Well, the rest is history.  

His car ended up making the turn and landing in a ditch...I was able to move my vehicle to the side of the road since he had already moved...but the pieces of both of our vehicles littered the road like confetti and beads in the French Quarter on Fat Tuesday.  To save all the boring details...he got a ticket, I got a sore shoulder...and a rental car for the next 30 days. But at the end, as the policeman was finishing the report, the man and his wife came over to take pictures on her phone because his doesn't take photos.  

Did you catch the significance of that last sentence...his wife.  His wife was in the passenger seat.  Had he hesitated a moment longer, had I applied the brakes a second later...I would have t-boned his car.  I would have slammed into the passenger side of his vehicle at about 30 miles per hour.  I have no doubt in my mind that I would have been hurt, but I know I would have killed his wife.  She'd be dead...and no matter who had the right of way or who made an illegal turn, her life was in my hands.  Maybe I am overreacting...I don't know.  I can't shake the image of the wreck, of her face as she looked at me and patted my arm, silently acknowledging what could have been.  

So, now, along with trying to love this place I appear to be destined to live for the time being, I have to try to figure out how to have the desire to drive again...

My best friend told me yesterday that sometimes things just happen. There isn't always a lesson to learn or a reason for things. And boy did I need to hear that.  God is not punishing me, or even trying to teach me anything.  Yet, how I react to things and handle situations shows my relationship with Him.  Here are the facts. I live in Memphis (for the time being...someone, anyone, help me find a job back home...please!!). I have to drive. People make mistakes.  Although we are all flawed individuals, we are made spiritually whole through Jesus Christ.  We have been given life...no guarantees for how long, nor guarantees that it will be good all the time.  As the theme song from my all time favorite childhood TV show states, "You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have...The Facts of Life." :)

Through all of this, there has been a silver lining...I came across this gem the other day.  It's a commercial for an Auto Dealership here in Memphis called It's All Good.  And believe me, after you see the following, I think you'll feel the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm7bLIVnaKU 

Oh...and this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtBcaSBwauE 

Light and love to all of you!