Lord, I Want To Be Like The Ant!

Sometimes, in life, we are required to accomplish certain tasks and we may get tired and wonder why we do the things we do... God has a purpose in our lives and He uses each one of us to take care of certain jobs. 1 Tim. 1:12 says,

"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;"

I am thankful that I am able to be a minister for Him, in whatever capacity He can use me. But when I may get to wondering why I may be required to accomplish certain tasks I will remember this little story...

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens.
'Great', she thought. 'Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry.' She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she might find her contact lens. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the Bible verse 'The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth.'

She thought, 'Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me.'

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, 'Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?'

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens...

God is so amazing! He brings simple things into our lives, just when we need them. I love Him!

Wednesday... Here And Gone

Today was another busy day. I woke up at 5 something but didn't get out of bed until after 6:00. It just doesn't seem right to be up and around at 5am... Although I did hear Grandma shuffling around.

I got up, started the coffee, put a load of laundry in the machine and took Duke out for his morning duties. I sat for awhile, watching the news and drinking my coffee. I woke the kids up at 7am and got them going... While they were eating their breakfast, I cut Grandma's hair... Then Tommy's hair. We did a little school, cleaned and washed and folded three loads of laundry, then I fixed some lunch and we ate... Grandma went to a luncheon at her church.

After lunch I took the kids over to Papa and Grandma's house for the kids to Papa sit, since he is supposed to be taking it easy... A lot of good that did, the kids said he wouldn't let them help him. I came home (Grandma's) with Duke and I worked in a quiet house to organize our finance books. I also cleaned out and organized under the bathroom sink... Oh joy! Finding the school books was the next item of business. I found the boxes and unpacked them so I could pack them again... Doesn't make much sense, I know, but I just through them all in a box to get to Grandma's... Now I have to go through the check list and make sure everything is accounted for so I can mail them back to AZVA at the end of the year (May 20). I unpacked the boxes and started sorting them... About 3pm it was time to start dinner so I didn't run out of time. I cooked Salisbury Steak and put it in the crock pot to keep warm while I ran over to pick up the kids. Picked up the kids, came home and ate supper, while watching the service in OKC (via Skype). We are now officially members of the Church of God in OKC and the boys were set forth as Lay Ministers... Very exciting.

The service ended, we cleaned up the kitchen, watched Wheel of Fortune and then I started to pack Jacob's school supplies, checking them off of the list as I went. One box down... Four to go.

Now I am about to fall over, I am so tired. So for now, I must say goodnight.

Goodnight!

Departure Day

Colin, Jacob, Philip and Sara left yesterday morning at 6:30 after a sleepless night. Problems with allergies, because of all of the dust that was being kicked up while moving stuff out of the house, and thoughts of the changes going on in our lives, made it difficult to sleep. They left and it was time to get to work, here on the home front. Megan, Tommy and I got dressed and headed to the hospital to be with Bonieta and Marcy, while Paul was in surgery. We are thanking God that He kept His hand on Paul during this procedure. He had to have his bladder scraped due to cancer. Thankful that everything went well.

The kids and I left there at 11:30, when they allowed Paul to go home. We headed to the grocery store and bought Grandma's groceries and picked up some TV dinners for lunch. We then went to the house, ate lunch and started cleaning. We were able to completely empty out and clean the master bath, bedroom and Jacob's room. Three rooms down, six to go... Then garage sale.

Today I have washed three loads of laundry, cut Grandma's hair and Tommy's hair. Beds are made, kitchen is clean, Megan has done a Science lesson already. Now I must do some school with Tommy, clean Grandma's house all before lunch. Grandma has a luncheon today, so when she leaves I will take the kids to lunch and then drop them off at Papa Shuler's house... The kids are Papa sitting today, since he is unable to get up and around for the next week to ten days. They will stay with him and be his gophers... I will come back to Grandma's and start organizing stuff and get rid of some boxes. I will go back and pick the kids up and be back to Grandma's by 5pm so we can Skype with the OKC church and be a part or their service tonight... Tonight is a special night for us. Not only will our memberships be accepted (I hope) there, but they will be setting Jacob and Philip forth as Lay Ministers in the Church of God. Very exciting time. I am truly grateful for the calling on my kid's lives and their willingness to accept. God is good!

Now I must get started on school with Tommy.