Yesterday I was attempting to put a file back into the filing cabinet at work when it fell out. I was trying to push the files in the drawer forward with one hand while placing another file into the drawer in the back. Well, the little mechanism that “catches” the drawer to keep it from coming out failed. And this was the top drawer of the cabinet. I wasn’t injured, although it definately could have been really bad. I was wearing flip flops (which might as well have been no shoe at all), and the drawer just barely missed my feet. It landed on the corner first, and it was dented pretty well from the impact with the hard wood floor.  If the drawer had hit my foot, it would have definately broken bones, and seriously bruised and cut it. Thank God for His hand of protection. My back this morning is very sore and tight; I figure I twisted wrong or tried to stop the drawer. I really don’t remember, it happened so fast.

More positive news, my friend whose wife has been on life support for the last several days is doing remarkable. She is breathing on her own, and will be eating soon and starting rehab. There is a long road still ahead, but the fact that she’s made it this far is thanks to God! They have decided to commit to a church as soon as she returns home. God is good!

God is totally into the little things in life. Just look around in nature. Some of the most beautiful creations are the tiniest. The same is true in our lives. The tiniest step of obedience in our hearts, propels Him to us. The smallest advance we make toward Him, sends Him running at full blast toward us. It’s incredible really. To think, the Creator of the entire universe would consider the most miniscule forward movement as the ”yes, Lord” that He has so eagerly been anticipating.

We get so caught up in all the grandure & theatrics, that we forget that He doesn’t need our “great exploits”. What really can we do to compare with all He can do? No it’s the simple expression of our hearts that He loves. The quiet smile of our spirit when we simply rest in who He created us to be is what He adores.

Yesterday I was at Wal-Mart (either I spend way too much time there or just a lot of crazy things happen here), and I was trying to load $$ on a prepaid debit card. I had an old one, so I told the cashier to try to load it first & if it didn’t work I’d purchase a new one. I thought the old card was expired, but thought it might renew if $$ was added. Well the transaction went through. Woo Hoo, or so I thought. Well when I got back to work, I called the company to find out what the expiration date would be since I needed to pay some bills online. I was told that the card was dead, although the $$ was showing up on the card via internet. I was furious! I asked if they could just transfer the $$ to a new card & send it to me, but they said they couldn’t do that. (I know for a fact that they can, they just didn’t want to). Now I have to wait 7-10 days for them to mail me a refund check because my $$ never should have been loaded on the card, and I’ll have to purchase a new card.

Anyway,  I get home after fuming all day, and in my mailbox is a prepaid Visa debit card that just has to be activated & loaded! Now I haven’t yet checked to see where I can load this particular card. It may be too inconvenient, but the humor of it being in my mailbox the very day that disaster strikes is completely hilarious to me. Anyone who says God does not have a sense of humor, just does not know Him at all!

This weekend I had something interesting happen to me at Wal-Mart. I was purchasing some items for the house, groceries and cleaning supplies, and was checking out at the self-checkout. Upon ringing up my toilet bowl cleaner, I got a message on the screen that approval was needed for my purchase. Apparantly, you must be 18 years old to purchase toilet bowl cleaner! I was not aware of this. Now I do understand that items such as paint, paint thinner, airplane glue, sharpie markers, and wite out need approval, but toilet cleaner. When I asked the attendant if there are folks out there doing bad stuff with toilet cleaner, she replied, “You have to be 18 years old to purchase it.” Yes I saw that, Captain Obvious. It appeared that she didn’t appreciated my sense of humor. Many do not.

Another thing that happened at Wal-Mart this weekend….I was leaving the store, and was stopped by the greeter. She wanted to check my receipt because everything in my buggy was in a sack except the bucket of kitty litter. Now I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to steal something, kitty litter is not my loot of choice. I can think of a lot better things to go to jail over. I wish that the greeters would use a little sense before stopping someone. If I had a big TV or computer in my cart, then I would gladly stop & show her my receipt, but a bucket of pooping granules? Seriously folks. This world has gone to pot. (bad pun fully intended)

It was a good weekend. Didn’t do much, but it was good anyway. One of my nieces spent the night with me Friday night. We went shopping & had a good time. Saturday, I had to have her home by 9:30am for her to go with a friend to the lake for the weekend. I was glad that she squeezed me into her busy schedule. Seriously, that kid has a better social life than I do and she’s only 11! It’s crazy. I spent the morning with my sister & her husband, and then went to have lunch with a friend. After lunch, more shopping, then home. Sunday I had church, then mowed my yard. I grilled some fish later that evening which turned out wonderfully. Yesterday, I didn’t do much of anything. I didn’t even change out of my pajamas. Very relaxing day.

I did weigh myself this morning, and I’m pleased to report that I’ve lost almost 10 pounds! I’ve done pretty well on my eating, not so much on the exercise though. But at least I am seeing some results. This is very motivating. I should be getting my exercise equipment soon, so that will help. Yeah for some progress!

Last night a storm blew through parts of Texarkana and Arkansas. I had just left my office and headed to the tanning salon when it hit. I was actually in the tanning bed when it happened. When I left the salon, I had no idea what had just taken place, because all of the damage was northeast of where I was. It was only after I had gotten home and received a phone call from Mom wanting to know my whereabouts, that I learned of the storm. It was raining and there was a little lightening when I headed home, but I didn’t think it was any big deal. Boy was I wrong.  I was very lucky. Apparantly I missed it by about 15-30 minutes. This seems to be a pattern for me. I missed the tornado that came through Hooks a few weeks ago by only 10-15 minutes (I was ahead of it). And I missed a tornado that ripped through Dekalb, Texas in 1999 (I was about 30 minutes-1 hour behind it). That particular tornado happened on my birthday.  Authorities are saying that yesterday’s storm was caused by straight line winds, but many seem to believe it had to be a tornado due to the extensive damage. The world may never know.

Not even a drop of rain fell last night at my house only 25 miles west of Texarkana. Crazy East Texas weather!

Last night a friend of mine stopped by. We are both going through some stuff, and basically were needing sounding boards. We do that well for one another. We are a lot alike, but oddly it rarely conflicts. We discussed some of our processes and were able to help each other see things differently. Sometimes, I just need a different perspective. It was really good for both of us. We used to spend a lot of time together (some people get nervous when this happens), but we haven’t been able to lately for various reasons. We decided that we need to make the time even if it just an evening each week. We both function much better having the other to bounce ideas off of, and having someone to just listen to our rants.

Yeah, it’s Wednesday! This really means nothing, except that the weekend is a little closer. I really love my job, so even that is not a big deal. Although having Monday off for Memorial Day sounds good. I can grill more! Woo hoo!

I got my letter in the mail yesterday informing me that the government is going to stimulate me with money. According to their information, I should have it by Friday. That will be like a double payday for me. Now I’ll be able to take care of some things and get my elliptical machine.  Another woo hoo!

I have come to understand that everything in life is a process. Although I understand this, I do not like it. I have grown up in the generation of drive-thrus and microwaves. I want it, and I want it now! I don’t want to wait. The things of God are of no exception. He works in us the deep concepts to make us better, but these mentalities take time to fully develop. My impatience wants to wake up one morning having all that pertains to life and godliness fully grown in my life. It’s like being born one day, and waking the next as a completely mature adult. Sadly this does not happen, and I think that God laughs at my immaturity in wanting it to be this way. Not laughing at me to make me feel condemned and worse. But laughing in the way that parents watch their children play dress-up and try to be bigger than they really are. Oh well, here’s to another day in diapers!

I’m glad it is finally Monday. Saturday I got up and started my weekend rituals of laundry, cleaning house, and mowing the yard. The yard only took about an hour & I was feeling tired, but pleased because it really needed to be mowed. I took a shower and laid down for a little nap. I woke up 2 hours later with a severe headache. I took something and went back to sleep for about an hour, and felt a little better. I got up to start dinner; I cooked on the new grill. I had a good dinner and while I was just sitting there the headache came back. I took some more medicine and finally went to bed at 7pm. I woke up Sunday with some residual pain and feeling very “swimmy”. I don’t know if it was from the headache or from the medicine, but I stayed home from church (something I never do). The headache lifted sometime last night, but I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night, so it’s trying to come back on. Therefore, the only exercise that happened this weekend was mowing the yard. But I continued to be careful of what I ate and at what time. I really enjoyed cooking on my grill, so that will become a regular for me now. Have a great day!