Sunday, August 3, 2008

August 3, 2008 reflection of daily devotional

"For everyone who asks receives; those who seek find; and to those who knock, the door will be opened." – Matthew 7:8

Don't curse your hurts. Don't nurse your hurts. Don't rehearse them. Disperse them! How? As Max Cleland, author of Strong at the Broken Places, suggested, you can disperse your hurt by looking for another open door. When you look for the open doors, your back is to the closed door. And every time one door closes, God opens another. You disperse your hurt when you reverse it. Reversing it means you turn it inside out. You turn the problem into a partner. You turn your scar into a star. And you turn your frustration into a fruitful experience.  Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.

Trip to Houston w/Jackie

I went to Houston this weekend with Jackie & Isabel. We left Saturday afternoon around 3pm stopping by the Crowley Library on our way out of town for Izzy to pickup some books for the reading on the road. Jackie and I chatted a lot on the way down. We made fairly decent time on this hot summer day. We had seen a lot of tire pieces along the road and I made the comment, I sure hope we don't get a flat. :) A little over an hour or so out of Houston, I had a strong pull to the left of the vehicle...I kept thinking it must be wind and so I didn't get alarmed. A bit later, I asked Jackie if she was hearing a lot of road noise, and she said no. I was, most definitely and decided to pull off...Sure enough!!! A FLAT!!! I must have jinked us good. Jackie had AAA and insisted on calling them for roadside assistance. It has been a long time since I changed a tire, but I wouldn't have minded and probably would have insisted if we had been under a time constraint to get to our destination or it had been 3 hours since we had placed a call with AAA. As things worked out, we received notification about 40minutes or so later that they were on their way. I got the mini doughnut out so that it would be ready when he arrived. As it happens, two people stopped to offer assistance once that was on the ground. We thanked them, but said we would wait for AAA. We laughed ourselves silly when it seemed like the whole world new we had had a flat and I mimicked us being talked about on a call list message. When the guy arrived, he didn't appear to be in such a good mood about being called out on a Saturday night about 7pm, but when all said and done, he was alright. All in all, the delay in our trip wasn't too bad and we were on our way within the hour. We made it to WalMart 15minutes before they closed and were able to get a new tire since this one was shot (per the wrecker & technician at the tire center). We then got gas and stopped to eat dinner at Taco Cabana and then headed on to our hotel. We got settled down, checked email, Jackie showed me Jennifer's blog as I had not seen it in some time, and then we went to bed.

Sunday, Jackie & Isabel headed out early to see Modesto. I slept in, which I must say felt absolutely wonderful! When I got up, Jackie had breakfast for me from the hotel (yogurt, eggs & coffee)...boy did I feel spoiled! I have been working 6days a week and long hours at that as of late that the break and pampering was just a pleasant change of pace for me. After getting ready, I checked email, balanced my checkbook and looked into creating this blog. When Jackie returned, we started her one too. Then we packed up and hit the road. We ate a bit out of town at Panda Express. We had rain and severe wind on the way back, about the same spot where we had the flat. Then it was bright, sun shinny and hot again. We visited some and Jackie took a snooze. We made good time again in spite of the weather and after dropping off their things at the house we went to the gathering at the meeting hall.

I enjoyed my weekend very much and the time with Jackie is always encouraging, to share in each others lives and provoke one another to love & good works and to keep to the courageous life of faith!