Stories and other stuff

According to Rasmussen Reports, 30% of Americans knew a murder victim.  I am among that 30% and I was reminded of that in an unusual way today. The other day, I was wondering when the trial for the alleged killer was going to take place.  And in the midst of that, something else during the week reminded me that God hadn't forgotten a promise to me that more and more, I'm understanding is real.  He, the way the reminder put it, has that promise on the FRONT of His mind all the time. Perhaps that's why this story unfolded the way it did.  There is more there than I understand about it, and sometimes writing helps me make sense of things. Wendi is from Richmond, Indiana, which is a small city located on the Indiana/Ohio border along Interstate 70.  It's so close, you can drive to New Paris, Ohio to buy beer on Sunday and be back at her dad's without even needing to buy ice to keep the beer cold. And so was Willie.  Willie has a last name which I forget...

Some days I know, and I mean I just know.   And there are days I think I know.  And then there are days when I know I wish I knew and sometimes I just quit trying to figure it out and go where God leads. And some days, they're all in one. My day yesterday kind of started out with a reminder of a promise I believe God for.  I hadn't forgotten it, but it was just kind of in the back of my mind and while I won't talk specifically about it, it's just a reminder that God hadn't forgotten. It's something I'm counting on Him for so something bigger can happen.  And I wrote it down someplace so I wouldn't forget what that promise was.  It was nine months ago, tomorrow, to the day, and I'm still waiting. And believing.   And knowing. But nine months.  When I heard the promise, and believe I got confirmation, I thought it would be days.  And then the days turned into weeks; the weeks into months, and still....... So did God make me a promise? ...

I don't believe anything happens by accident.  I do believe accidents happen, but usually they're caused by not paying attention or some other thing.  If I don't see the car in front of me stopping and hit it, it was an accident caused by not paying attention or following too close, etc.... So accidents have causes and sometimes we have little divine appointments that are arranged for us. I believe that, too.  I see it often in my own life but sometimes those divine appointments don't lead where I think they will. I read about that today.  A guy my roommate follows on Facebook is one who is same-sex attracted and has renounced that lifestyle for one of following God.  He's one that thinks, as do I, by the way, and most Christians, that those two things are mutually exclusive of each other.  He was talking in a post I saw how he thought his ministry would be to the LGBT community but God had other ideas. I think about that too.  I thought I woul...

Sometimes I wonder. Today's wonderment comes from yesterday's post and has to do with the crux of why I don't write as much as I used to about the things that go on in my life. Quite frankly, I wonder if I should. The two stories I told really happened.  I didn't make up, nor embellish a word of it.  If anything, I left a couple of the details out; things that happened that I figured were just better left between me and the Lord.  But I wonder in hindsight if it weren't better to leave the whole thing that way. God does some and allows some things in my life that I just don't understand and sometimes I'm torn between telling them and keeping them silent.  If all you read yesterday was some crazy story about a pizza then it was better left unsaid. If you, on the other hand, saw how God appoints a task, leads, or in my case, prods, you into doing that task; how when a door closes, God finds a way to open it again (for that you'll just have to tak...

I'm kind of hesitant to tell this week's stories.  OK, last  week's stories.  But sometimes the stories in my life write themselves, so here is just a bit of what happened last week. I used to have a collection of shot glasses that Wendi gave me when she came out here all those years ago.  I put them away at Christmas and take them out afterward, mostly just to take up space in the china hutch that runs along the wall of my dining room.  By wall, I mean about 20 feet of china hutch shelves.  It's a built in thing.  I was dusting them the other day and a thought popped into my head: "I really should get rid of these." I don't know why.  They're just there.  But the thought was there enough that I actually thought about putting them away in a closet. A few days later, a friend on Facebook who is a childhood friend of my sister, posted the oddest thing on said Facebook:  She was looking for some state shot glasses. Ask, and ye sha...

Sometimes, you see something and it just grabs you by the throat. Since January, that's happened to me twice.  Once was a Facebook post that reminded me that going back to the past would take me back to where I am already at, only it would take me a lot longer than it did the last time to get here. Hey, I'm already here and I know what here cost me.  I paid a lot to get here, both emotionally and financially.  So, I'm agreeing with God that here is where I belong.  I think though it was still wise to ask God about things because of what was going on.  And clearly, to me anyway, I'm headed in the right direction. I have a firm belief that God's word tells me He guides.  So I'm following as best as I can.  Warning heeded. The next one was something I saw last week was something from Tony Evans.  It was another warning and it turns out it was one for me to again heed: "Things may get worse before they get better." And they have. Last Sa...

So this really happened... We were installing doors on an airplane, which involves the compression of springs.  It's tough to do this by hand, but possible if you have strong hands. I don't.  But I understand that with some help from above, I can do this.  And I did, the first time.  Things matched up, the spring stayed compressed and we got the pin in the door in about a minute. My co-worker said "You must be living right." I stopped and thought for a split second about giving glory to where it belonged and chose to instead tell him that it wasn't that hard if you knew what you were doing.  I tried to take the glory for myself, and I'm telling you, the conviction was instant.  I corrected myself almost immediately, and told him, "Watch.  I won't be able to do this one because I tried to take the credit for myself." And I couldn't. The glory is not mine and I don't want it.  The glory for the things I do goes to God.  My tal...