Thank God For Cancellations!


We've been running around like crazy the last two weeks - on top of our normal daily stuff, we ordered, picked up, and assembled new children's furniture at our church.  And we put together a Valentine's party for our homeschool group (which I loved doing - it just sort of added to the busyness this week)  My husband, head pastor of a local church for less than 5 months, has had to conduct 2 funerals, one last weekend and one this, on top of his normal workload.  A very stretching experience for a man whose ministry was pastoring teenagers for the last seven years.  He did a fine job.  As a family, we tried to support him in every way we could think of.  But stress is stress - there's no two ways about it.

So our Valentine's Day started out with a funeral.  Hubby came home just before nap time, so I greeted him before I headed up for my nap. Yep, I nap too.  Parenting is exhausting!  I awoke with 1/2 hour left to talk to hubby about his day and how the funeral went.  You see, I was planning to go to work this afternoon, doing childcare for a local church, which would mean taking another chunk out of our Valentine's Day.  I really, really didn't want to go.  Usually I enjoy going and it's no big deal because we've had the rest of the day together.  Tonight, I was at the point where I felt like I was going to pop if we didn't get a break.

I didn't even pray a break because I thought there was no way it could possibly happen.  I wished to stay home with my family instead of rushing out again.

And then...a miracle happened!

A tremendous blizzard blew in - right in our backyard!  Whiteout conditions.  People on Facebook were posting their pictures of their "can't see 12 inches in front of you" backyards, so I checked the church's Facebook page and there it was - the service had been canceled!!

Reminds me of the time I worked as a temp in a cubicle of a big corporation.  Everyone clickety-clicked and tippety-typed on their computers, answering and making phone calls.  The copier was always running, as was the printer.  A constant hum of electronic devices running at full tilt.  And then...a storm came.  We didn't even know it was storming because our section of the building had no windows.  It knocked out the power and then...the amazing happened.  All the work came to a grinding halt.  People stood up and poked their heads above the cubicles.  Given a reprieve from the work work work, people started talking to each other.  God unplugged our work so we could have a much needed break.  I love the way He works!

"God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.

He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’

So that everyone he has made may know his work,
he stops all people from their labor."  Job 37:5-7

My heart is light, my spirit rejoicing.  I'm going kiss my husband and ask how his day went and 
I'm going to play board games with my children.  Guess Who, anyone?  Checkers?  Yahtzee?

I pray that you will also have time with the people you love this weekend, too.  Carpe diem!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Snow Day!!!

Image
Ah, the first snow day of the new year!  The kids are so excited - they can't wait to don their snow gear and plunge out into the snowy world for fun fun fun! I personally look forward to putting layer upon layer of shirts, hats, socks, mittens, and snow-proof outerwear on my children - 30 minutes of effort for an hour of fun. Yes, I have finally reached the point where the 30 minutes of snow-garbing is less than the time they spend outside.  Except for my 3-year-old.  It's his first year where snow is actually fun, but I don't see him lasting out there more than 10 minutes. When they were two or under, my children would reappear in the house within 5 minutes of their release into the winter wonderland to announce that they're cold and they're finished and can I please help them take all their soggy things off. So, if your children aren't quite old enough yet, or your children become cold easily and can't hack playing outside in the frigid temper...
Read more

Unexpected Item

Image
Do you remember when Walmart first installed the self-checkout lines?  They were so cool! Over a decade ago, I went with my future husband to pick up a few items at Walmart and had a funny surprise:  while I was waiting for him to check out his purchases, I leaned up against the checkout area.  When he placed his purchase there, the machine loudly declared, "UNEXPECTED ITEM!"  Josh looked at me with a funny grin on his face and said, "Yep - You're my unexpected item!"  He realized all the items had specific weights and my leaning on the scale (of which I was unaware) caused the alarm to go off. Neither one of us expected to find the perfect match, yet there we were! As married life has progressed, I've heard the mental shout of "UNEXPECTED ITEM" many times.  After two years of marriage, we decided it was time to try to have a baby.  When the baby came, it was an Unexpected Item.  I thought having a baby meant having a sweet little someone...
Read more

Let Dads Be Dads (Part Two)

Image
I recall my husband's first adventure with our daughter - he wanted to take her away for a few hours to give me a break and show her off to his best friend.  I packed up the diaper bag and prepared a bottle, clicked her snugly in her carseat, then kissed them both goodbye.  I cried.  I know, sappy - but it was the first time since the day she was born that we'd been separated.  I prayed for their safety - I couldn't have the two people I cared most about in the world getting in a car accident.  It just wouldn't do!  I spent the next few hours washing laundry, catching up on dishes, and resting on the couch.  Something I hadn't done in months.  When he returned, he was shell shocked.  He said the baby was fine on the ride up, but began crying after his arrival and refused to take a bottle.  After a half hour of crying, neither of the men could hear each other, so he gave up and came home.  Defeated.  Discouraged. But I ...
Read more