Thankful

I praise the Lord for the Sabbath. I'm so glad I don't have to work and I can enjoy physical rest and mental rest, meditating on God's word. He helped me through this week at work and permitted me to see another birthday. I ordered a bubble umbrella and expected it to come the day after my birthday. It arrived in my birthday and right on time too, for a storm was to come for the entire following day. I paid nearly $40 for the umbrella and it held up. It's the totes one that has a red top and black bottom border.

I couldn't find free parking so I parked in a garage near my office. I was glad that I did so afterwards. I walked one more block and enjoyed a nice birthday indian lunch hour. Those were the best moments of my day.

So this is my testimony. A new year to look forward to, good food, and an umbrella that won't flip with every wind that rushes by. And the Sabbath

Trust in Jesus

Stuff has continued to happen this week, but I praise the Lord for getting me through.

My supervisor scheduled my meeting with a client on the day after the accident happened last year. I didn't think anything of it when she first scheduled. The year anniversary of the accident, I went to two meetings I scheduled, not really seeing the significance. The town I had to go to was the same name of the person involved in the accident. It is a beautiful town, so beautiful it made think I ought to move there.

On my way home I got stuck in traffic and ditched the plans of my GPS. When I went to make a phone call through my car system, I wanted to say where I was coming from and where I was stuck. I looked at the sign where I was stuck at. That sign too had his name. It's only one Avenue in town that has his first name and I never noticed it until that moment.

The next day I attended the meeting my supervisor wanted me to cover and met with my client. His first name is the same as that person. Prior to meeting, I was up in the northern part of the city and the wrong way so I relied on the gps. Guess where it sent me?

You guessed it. That same Avenue that I was stuck at the day before.

But even with all of this, my thoughts and prayers had not stopped about this person. I cannot forget. Other stuff happened too but I won't dwell on it. All I know is that everything that has happened will be explained in the end. I don't know why what happened that day happened, but I know how to leave it in God's hands. He has given me peace and bravery to step outside my home. Jesus did that.

I don't know what you are going through, but no problem is too big for the Lord. If it weren't for His mercies, we would be consumed, destroyed, and removed by the devil. God is bigger than it.

May God bless you and may you continue to grow up in Christ, holding on to His hand and trusting in His power.

His name was Wayne.

Here is what I read this morning from YouVersion:

God, today I dedicate my mind to you. I want to think on things that are good, right, pure, and excellent. I want to take captive any thoughts that aren’t from you. I want to remember your past faithfulness when I am tempted to doubt.

Today, I dedicate my eyes to you. I want to see others the way you see them. I want to view my circumstances through the lens of hope and faith. I want to look at life as one who is confident that you are with me.

Today, I dedicate my ears to you. I want to hear your voice above all the others clamoring for my attention. I want to listen to you and to honor others by listening well to them. 

Today, I dedicate my mouth to you. I want my words to be life-giving. I want to speak honestly and sincerely. I want to think before I speak. I want to let others have the last word.

Today, I dedicate my heart to you. I want my heart to be pure and undivided. I want to master my emotions, not serve them. I want my dreams and desires to please you.

Today, I dedicate my hands to you. I want to work hard at whatever I put my hands to. I want to touch others in love and goodwill. I want my hands to be open for whatever you want to give me and willing to release anything you want me to surrender.

Today, I dedicate my feet to you. I want to go wherever you send me. I want to walk toward the messes, not run from them. I want to stand firmly upon the truth and not stumble.

The most important relationship I have deserves my greatest expression of worship: a dedicated life.

Spiritual Warfare Tom-foolery

I am going through something right now. My parents turned on the offensive when I had a few unsuccessful moments with my son. He is at the terrible two stage something fierce and I still don't know what to do. I have had less sleep than usual and at one point I had to sleep in my car. My watch broke. I'm having trouble keeping up with my load at work and I had a frustrating run yesterday trying to get WiFi at three different locations to work for my macbook in order to get my employers work done. I find that mac is just becoming more incompatible with a lot of things.

In all of this and others left unsaid, God is still good. I could have caught a cold sleeping in the car, but He kept me. Some week ago, I took my son shopping at Walmart and he fell asleep in the cart. I grabbed the first soft thing I could grab on a side aisle which just happened to be a blanket I just knew for sure I wasn't going to buy and I didn't like. But I did need one for the car, and my son wasn't trying to wake up until we returned to the car. That blanket kept me warm.

I could have not made it to work and really has a flat tire. But God had AAA check my tires and show me the tire pressure sensor was malfunctioning because of the drop in temperature. Not a third nail. And I didn't have to pay for their labor.

I could have been too low on cash to pay the toll. In the past, I've always had just enough cash for a toll and avoided certain toll booths because they were too high. But the Lord permitted I have EZ pass and I didn't have to worry about not having enough.

Places closed early on me. I cried in public twice in my frustrations, and although they didn't understand how to give me an egg mc muffin sans the sausage or bacon, I still got a bottle of water to have.

I  know you (the reader) don't understand what mess I'm talking about. You'd have to be there in all this to see.

This is what a version of spiritual warfare looks like.

God is good. Satan will try to drag you down with a bunch of tom-foolery, but God will always help you through.

Praise the Lord

Meeting a Lost Cousin

I could talk about the negatives that happened today, but God is good and I will focus on the good. This is supposed to be about testimony right?

The Lord has blessed me the opportunity to meet my cousin. My dad's oldest brother died in his 20's when he got out of the military. When he died, his fiancé was pregnant and she was denied acknowledgment from my grandfather  (one I never met). Her mother raised her alone and some where along the line she moved to Louisiana. After her mother's death, she decided she wanted to find her dad's side of the family and had first contact with my second oldest sister.

She is here touring and meeting others in the north eastern US for the first time and it is wonderful. Never did I think it was cool to have my dad's eyes until now. All of his seven siblings have the same eyes. I have them. My brother and two sisters have them. A boat load of cousins, children, and just about 99 % of those who bear our family last name have them.

She has them.

She's one of us and it's cool that we can identify this way. God makes us amazing, even when we choose to do crazy stuff (but that's a story for another day).

I met a cool cousin and it really is a pleasure

The Middle of the Sargasso

It's Sabbath and cooler this week due to a hurricane and nor'easter  that rolled through.

Yesterday was a great day and I was blessed. I was blessed by having everything I needed to brace the elements from the hood on my new toggle coat and green crocheted neck thingie (best name I could come up with) to my hunter boots that I made such a big deal out of having to have. I don't normally go after expensive things. I like quality and try to get it when I can.

God permitted several humbling moments to come my way because He knows how my heart is when I am wearing them.

I wore them for the first time Wednesday and expected rain. I really wanted it to rain so I could show the world I owned these beautiful, but silly pair of boots. I parked my car after an awkward drive in them and arrived at the train platform to find my train was running late. I finally got on the train and to arrive for another train and those trains were having trouble too. 

I got the next train and arrived at my stop point. I got up to the street level to decide : Well, I didn't make it to work at 8:00am so since I'm  late, I can show more of the world my awesome shoes by showing up at that new food mart the mayor made a big stink about that just opened up a week or so ago. Surely they'll appreciate seeing such great shoes!

I marched down the street in my shoes and suddenly a car raced by and splashed gross city water on my shoes and me. That hasn't happened since 2005 and this is what, the second time?

I  get inside the store that is packed with hungry people. I order and pay for my food. Then I wait for my number to be called.

And I wait and wait and wait.

Although I paid for my purchase, my number was never called. I ended up thinking they called 22 when they were on 122. After 25 minutes of me staring these food workers in the face, I got my food after showing them.

It wasn't their fault.

I felt important and that I needed to show the world my boots. God had to humble me. I left the store with my last memory of having those purple headphones (I might add) because I still can't find them! I went to my office building to run into the man who hired me and he said his train was running late. I told him all my supposed misfortunes as we stepped into the elevator. He said to me, "well at least you have your rain boots."

Ha ha ha.

Rain never touched those boots for the rest of the day.

Yesterday, I wore them with my coat and neck thingie I made last month I think. I really appreciated them yesterday as I saw some people less fortunate and those who didn't anticipate getting cold rain at that be fully exposed to the storm. On my ride home, I sat on the last train and a woman sat next to me. At the start I didn't realize she was a lady because I didn't look at her. I don't like people sitting next to me on trains because of one dude trying to molest me and others striking up crazed conversation devoid of sanity and sense, my past self trying to appease others. Now I feel far from it.

This lady had an odor of liquor and dirt and she was falling asleep which meant that she might fall asleep leaning on me. But know I still thought she was a man at this point. In the past I would not recoil. In the past I would be kinder in thought to people like her. I went through some mess involving people like her that no one would believe and that is part of why I felt the way I did on that train yesterday.

I  did move when she leaned on me which startled her awake and helped her reajust. Then my thoughts turned to my beautiful wool toggle coat (second day worn like the boots) is getting ruined. I fought those thoughts because NONE of them were Christ like.  I fought the thought that she might vomit whatever liquor she had to have consumed on my hunter boots, oh what would I do!?

I fought the urge to poke at her with my umbrella instead of tapping her politely on the shoulder to let her know I need to get off the train when my stop arrives. I ended up doing neither, but started planning my escape. I tried waking her before we arrived because by now I realized she had a cane And wasn't moving anywhere fast. When she woke up, I realized she was a woman and the liquor smells were coming strong from her. I was polite and didn't come at her in a way I would regret. But I do regret my thoughts, my heart towards her when I rode the train.

I need to work on this and I am thankful that even the uncomfortable moments were brought to me. We go about feigning perfection as Christians and we are far from it.

My testimony is that God thought it fit to work on my humility issue. He is still working on us all and will present us with situations every day to challenge us, fix us, and reveal His love and concern not only for our lives, but the lives of those with shame I will say that we at times "despise" without any worthy reason.

So no matter what your hangup is, know that God will help you work on it.

It seems when I have humility issues, I get pooped on, splashed by dirty water, or sit in something nasty.  I forgot to mention that as I went into the office, I noticed bird poop on my umbrella where I handled the closure strap. So that meant bird poop was on my hand and who knows where else.

Praise and Thank God that He does these things. I am not better than His other children.

I called this testimony, In The Middle of the Sargasso because I just learned there was a sea in the middle of the ocean after glancing at a weather map. I've always looked at maps and love geography, but never came across this. The Sargasso sea is a sea without any coastal borders and remains relatively calm despite the turbulent waters that surround it. I compare my experience yesterday with it as one that had me warm, protected, and of a calm mood when I walked around in stormy weather. I had minor issues that God worked on with the train ride. I was at peace for the entire day and I am thankful for that. I was at peace like the Sargasso.

May you be at peace like the Sargasso for today and the new week to come.

Happy Sabbath  :)