This one has all the pieces of random decisions being made that put me in the right spot at the right time. I thought I’d be busier with my workload today, but not so much, so I was able to walk already and have time to type this out, too.
As I was getting ready, I pictured our walk being the Little Cove Transformer walk. I’m fairly well hidden for most of the walk there, and that was how I wanted it today. As I approached my small town, however, I realized I might as well just walk there instead. Doggy girl did her business much quicker than usual, so I didn’t even need to walk the lap around the park, and took off into the historical neighborhoods. Today I was listening to yesterday’s Jack Hibbs sermon, which I will link to at the bottom. He is covering Romans 8 and he is very interesting, funny, and engaging. So glad to have found him (shout out to Mic!).
There were a couple times I stopped to text with the director of Graces of Gurley, Denise, about a volunteer opportunity coming up. (I am not coordinated enough to walk the dog and text at the same time.) It also stops YouTube each time I switch to texting. When I got to The Spot, I didn’t shut the sermon off, and just briefly stopped and told Mo how much I miss her and that dad and I are going to see a documentary movie tomorrow night about NDE (Near Death Experiences) called “After Death,” put out by Angel Studios, the same studio that did so well with Sound of Freedom during the summer. I’d heard about the movie from a clip in my YouTube subscription to Reasons to Believe that had caught my eye a few days ago. I told her we’re going to see where she’s been living! I didn’t cry or even get teary, and kept on walking.
Here’s where it gets really interesting, but all of those random decisions had to put me right there at that moment! In the sermon, beginning at the 25:18 minute mark, Jack is commenting that the believer knows when God is smiling down on them. He says, “You can’t describe it. You can’t explain it, and you dare not tell anybody about it because they won’t get it.” I’m thinking to myself, Hmmm, in my blog, I tell about it every time it happens. A minute later he’s saying, “Lord, smile down upon us…” At that moment, the first cardinal I have seen in a very long time, flew right across my path and landed in the tree. Boy did I smile and I thought, “Okay, God, WOW!” And I stopped to take a picture. And then I thought, nobody will believe it. So I screenshotted both my picture and YouTube so you can see they were at the same time, give or take the few seconds it took to do it.
I know God doesn’t reward us one-for-one like quid pro quo, but I have finally felt like I’m writing again with a goal in mind to get the first draft done by the end of the year. I worked on it for three hours yesterday afternoon and plan to do it today since I’m not busy with work. Is it any coincidence I’m in a job where I sometimes get a lot of free time? It’s been that way for years. I think He gives us surprise gifts when we aren’t asking for them or looking for them, if we are on the track He has planned out for us.
By the way, there is one thing from my last post that I want to clarify. The main reason I am upset with the holidays coming is not actually due to Morgan not being here for Thanksgiving and Christmas themselves. It is because the anniversary of her death is December 23rd. It is the nearness to Christmas that has me sad, not so much the fact that we are now going to have to celebrate holidays without her, although that is definitely a big piece, too. I’m not so sad for Thanksgiving next month. For various reasons related to distance, schedules, health, and unknown, our little four-person family had several, if not many, Thanksgiving dinners on our own in Ohio. We think it is unlikely we get to spend it with our son this year as well. It will take a long time to feel like Christmas is Christmas though because the date is just too close. Does that make sense?
Thank you fir posting this.
I think you said before that the signs are there if we pay attention enough to notice them. You definitely notice the signs. Losing Morgan so close to Christmas has to be tough but maybe sometime that will make sense too.