Stories and other stuff

 I knew the plates on my Toyota would expire at the end of January, so at the beginning of November, I mailed off the paperwork to get Oregon plates for it.  For the longest time, the DMV has been closed to appointments for renewing registrations.  I had to fill out the paperwork, actually take the car to the DMV to have what's known as a VIN inspection done.  That's where someone from the DMV verifies the VIN on your car for you, gives you a form with said information on it, and separates you from $7 of your hard earned money. You cannot register a vehicle that's not titled in Oregon, in Oregon.  Because my car has a Utah title and the Credit Union still has possession of said title until the loan is paid off, I had to mail my application, my VIN inspection, and a check for a lot more than $7 to the credit union in Utah with a letter explaining that I needed them to send the Utah title, all the paperwork, and the check I enclosed, to the DMV in Oregon so they c...

Back in the day, you used to have tickets to things that required a punch to be validated.  Bus drivers and train conductors were among the folks who used to punch tickets.  The words "ticket punched" became a euphemism for getting dead at some point, largely because once one's ticket was punched, it was no longer good. Today was an unbelievable day.  I mean that.  God had been reminding me He knows that it's not good for someone to be alone and He did some stuff this week to fix that.  Last Friday, I stepped out in faith and attended an interfaith worship and prayer service.  Because I did, I got invited to join a prayer meeting at the church I worship at this past Sunday.  Because I went to that, I was invited to join a small group Bible study that meets on Thursday.  I went.  I had so much fun. Earlier today, I had a fantastic cup of coffee with a neighbor who has a lot in common with me.  Our lives have been eerily on parallel tracks...

I know this guy.  I'm happy that he, like myself, came to Christ later in life and his life is going well these days.  That brings me joy.  We stay in touch on social media and I like seeing the posts about his family and the ones he shares about Jesus.  A couple of them have been quite timely.  I'm always grateful to God to know friends have come to the Truth.  I'm grateful that I can call him a friend. This same friend shares other stuff too.  Political stuff that often is not based on any known or researched fact.  I wonder sometimes how people can see Truth but be blinded to things that are true and based on reality.  Sometimes I wonder if the two things conflict when pointing others to Jesus.  I think about things like that in my own life.  I think it's part of why I feel convicted by the Holy Spirit to stay out of the politics that happen on social media.  I still have my own views, but I'd like to think I'm smart enough ...

We were studying Psalm 35 last Wednesday night at Bible study and one of the things that struck me was that when we're wronged, sometimes we want that vengeance that God promises to happen right away. I used to be like that, but sometime in my late 30s, I began to see a principle at work in life and it changed my mind about such things.  I began to realize that I never needed to get even.  I just needed to live long enough for someone to get what they deserved. Some call that karma.  It's nonsense to call it anything but what it really is, which is a Biblical principle found in Galatians 6:7-9.  I didn't know it at the time, but that's God's view of things. Vengeance is His, and His alone.  He will repay.  And in far greater ways than our little minds could ever come up with.  We reap what we sow.  And God is a just God.  Even when we're forgiven, God is just in that He has us go through the consequences of some of the sins we committed....

 During the October month, many sports teams commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness month and during an October gathering of ladies, one woman in particular caught my attention with the tee shirt she was wearing which in big block letters said: "SAVE SECOND BASE!" Well, that's a for-sure way to make your point with every male over the age of about 14. I'm an ardent supporter of saving as much of second base as we can.  It's a humorous way to deal with a serious topic for far too many of our women but one that clearly got my attention. Up until about a few weeks ago (time flies so fast, I can't rightly remember the day or even how I found myself at the point of having to grapple with this question: Is getting to "second base" a sin? And my first reaction was no.  To me, God has some explicit rules about sex.  Outside marriage?  NO!  But to me you could still be in that NO! and safely get to "second base",  Until I felt the Holy Spirit really tu...

 I'm not a fan of February 14.  Mostly because two marriages broke up; one on Valentine's Day, the other the morning after.  It brings back painful memories for me, mostly because since then, I can't recall spending the day with my special someone.   It's difficult sometimes because I've met a few along the way that maybe could have been...but God has asked me to wait.  Wait for Him.  And in that wait, I've come to remember some things. I have Jesus.  He's all I need.  While it would be nice to have that relationship, especially now that God has led me on a journey to teach me not only what love is, but to actually be able to love someone more than me.  That journey has not been an easy one, but it was most certainly a necessary one.  And in the last few months, God has been busy at work, not only in the places I can't see, but in me.  Changing me and preparing me for whatever is next has been a thing lately. I made a snarky, t...

 The mic drop is a popular thing these days.  You say something strong, and for emphasis drop the microphone to the table or floor to indicate that "BOOM"...that's all there is to say on that!  It's supposed to send a powerful message and when it was first used, I'm sure it did.  Drop the mic...that's all there is to say about that. Sometimes, God has Mic Drop moments that are legitimately powerful and can shake you to the core.  I had such a moment last night as I sat down to do my last lesson in the Bible Study on U-turns.  Last time I posted, I mentioned this, mentioned the U-turn I needed was partly to change my focus to be solely on God and to put some things in their proper places.  It's taken me to re-label some things sin that I didn't necessarily think were (my mom reads this, so that's all ya get).  I'm not always right.  God is never wrong. The last lesson was about U-turns from impossible circumstances.  Some of you know I ha...

About 2 months ago, I saw a Facebook ad about a Bible study from Lifeway and Tony Evans about u-turns.  Now, I've had to do my fair share of u-turns, and there have been a couple of detours but from where I was standing, I couldn't really see myself needing to make one so I just ignored it. And then I saw it again.  And then I got an e-mail about it.  And then, I got convicted that I needed to do it, and I needed to order the study book for it as well.  I did both things. The lessons come out on Wednesdays and up until now, they've really been more about things God has walked me through more than I really needed a u-turn from.  And then today, I sat down and did the week 5 lesson and that's when I realized why God had me complete this study. For a while now, He's been working with me on two things:  The first is to realize that while I want the plan, He wants the plan for today.  Seriously, for me in this season it's day by day.  And for those ble...