Day Sixty Six

OK so I am on my work this morning at 6:15 when I go through the McDonalds drive through to get coffee. As I leave I push the button up to roll my car window back up and it starts, stops, starts, stops, starts, and then stops about three-quarters of the way up. Stuck. I push the button up . . nothing. I push the button down and it goes down. Up . . nothing. I push it down again and it goes. Up . . ..that's right, nothing. So now I am driving with my window down three quarters of the way! I am thinking about all sorts of things, mainly that it will be sitting in the parking lot open, what about rain, what about theft, how much will this deplete my already skinny bank account, etc. At stop lights, I keep trying the up button while pushing up on the window with my hand. . . NOTHING! Ok, now I need a plan to call the car guy, who is reasonable, and see if they work on this kind of thing. Driving, planning, pushing, thinking . . .hmmmm when it suddenly occurs to me the one thing I haven't done! PRAYER! I place my hand on the window and say "Lord, please fix my window". I reach down, lift up on the button and LOW AND BEHOLD the window rolls up!!! I am laughing and crying that I am still so amazed every time God does that. Not so much that he fixed my window but that the One who created the heavens and the earth and everything on it cared enough to fix my window. Only because he loves me so much and knew at that moment that's what I needed. It wasn't a glorious miracle but just a small thing. God DOES care about everything we care about . . .even broken windows! Father, if you care enough to fix my broken window then of course you will fix everything today that is broken in my life! Thank you for your love and faithfulness.

Day Forty-Eight

Amazing stuff today. 1000 backpacks to hand out to needy families. Families who had been lined up outside of the Gaynor center since 4:30 am. I am there as a volunteer and as I walk up to enter the building it is a sea of faces in a line that stretches around the building, down the side,and into the parking lot. Will there be enough backpacks? Child after child steps up to receive theirs. I am line monitor, crowd control, and after an hour of seeing them being passed out someone recommends that we should cut the line off before we run out, afraid of angry people who had waited in line for hours only to be told that there were none left. When this was suggested to Pastor Jay he kindly replied "loaves and fishes people, loaves and fishes, God will provide". OK. The next thirty minutes continued the same, wave of person after person stepping up to receive the backpack, until . . . I noticed a lull in the line. It was slowly subsiding. There were still a few trickling in but not the non-stop bodies stepping forward. I looked around and a there were still a few backpacks and . . . a only a handful to recieve them! How good is our God who provides just what is needed when it is needed, every time. Oh yeah, and the crazy rain storm held off during the entire event only to began 30 minutes after. I love God's world.

Day 44

Wow, it's been a long time since I have had Internet service to log in, well that's one excuse! OK Saturday, Walter the cable guy comes to hook up Internet. I have to make a point to make conversation with him because it is out of my comfort zone. Walter is a guy probably in his late 50's early 60's, VERY rough around the edges, smells of smoke, and makes a couple of jokes that are borderline creepy. I just keep thinking "I must invite him to church, I must invite him to church". I'm getting myself all worked up and stressed out about how to ask him so, I pray. Then the calm comes, more conversation, and finally out comes the words "Walter I want to invite you to church. It's right next door". Oh my, that was easy. Prayer works. First time I have ever invited a complete stranger to church . . . how sad, but also a new beginning. Oh yeah, he turned me down, said he goes with his grandchildren but that's OK. It never hurts to ask! I'll ask someone else, who knows maybe our paths will cross and I will get to ask him again.

Day Twenty 32

I haven't been logging daily. I have gotten sucked into the "busyness" of the day. So much hurting so little time. I am a selfish human being. Traveling, working and now moving has consumed my every thought. I don't like being away from Christ's work. I miss the joy I had and the blessing from God's hand when I was making an effort to make connections.

Day twenty six

Airplanes were always a place for me to put the headphones on and get into a good book. I didn't want to have a conversation with the people sitting next to me. Piece and quiet. I knew this flight I wouldn't be able to do that. Yesterday, I got out of my comfort zone and carried on a conversation with the girl next to me. As I got off the flight I was thinking nothing monumental happened but I made the connection. she does live in my area. If only I had invited her to church. Well, there's always tomorrow. . . . Or is there?

Internet service in the country comes and goes. Couldn't get on at all last night. Hopefully, I'll have it tonight.

Day Twenty Four

No there are no postings for Day Twenty Two and Twenty Three. I didn't feel I had anything to say. My first thought was "I've hit a dry spell, I've lost the fire", but no. I realized I am resting in the Lord. Sometimes I am so busy doing that I forget just being. Being still, being quiet, being with Him. So for now I am just being . . . until further instructions. Father I am so grateful that you will sit and "BE" with me. I enjoy our time together.

Day Twenty-One

A meeting that I attend reminds everyone in the group to rely on "the God of their understanding". The God of my understanding is of course the father of Jesus Christ. But that's not the way it is for everyone. Listening to the radio tonight on the way home the guy was talking about how his dad was the kind of dad that would say "straighten up and fly right". Not the kind of Dad that would say "shape up or ship out".

It's interesting how for some the God of their understanding is the "shape up or ship out" kind of father. Very sad! I am so grateful to have a God who is loving, nurturing, disciplining, and forgiving. A father who says to me "straighten up and fly right" and gives me the tools to do it, and doesn't say "shape up or ship out!"

Day Twenty

God has blessed me with so many wonderful friends and an awesome family. Having connections is the key to a contented being, which would not be possible without the ultimate connection with Jesus Christ.

Day Nineteen

Got the go ahead to post actual scripture in our Teacher Resource room at work on the morning board. No more beating around the bush. Thank you Jesus for this journey.

Day Eighteen

When I got home tonight it was late. I walked up to the front door to find a note stuck in the crack. When I got inside I read it and was blown away. It was from my neighbor across the street! She was answering my note and thanking me for the brownies. I read down the page about the rocker I had "rescued" from the trash, how she had rescued it from someone else's trash, how the arm is broken but can be fixed, then I got to the best part . . . . She said "Hey, let's get together for a cup of coffee sometime. Just let me know when". Oh my gosh! This is so cool! To some this would seem pretty normal, but not to me. Kinda out of my comfort zone. But I cannot stop smiling!

So . . . .pray for me and my neighbor, for continued conversation. God, I love how you work!

Day Seventeen

As I was leaving the house this morning I look across the street and see a rocking chair by the neighbors trash can. I walk over, it looks to be in perfect condition. Excitedly, I pick it up and bring it to the garage. Now . . . before God put this 365 thing on my heart I would have taken the rocker without saying a word to anyone, gotten in my car, and been on my way, relishing in the blessing God had laid before me. Instead, I bag up a few homemade brownie bites, write a personal little note on a note card, walk it over and leave it on the front porch (ringing the doorbell at 7:00am, not a good idea). How simple is that! OK, so I get home after a rain storm to find 9 mangoes on the ground. I pick them up and take a few to the next door neighbor and have my second conversation with her. How simple is that! Building relationships for Christ does not have to be as hard as we want to make it. Thank you Jesus for reminding me how simple sharing your light can be.

Day Sixteen

Realizing again how I can not do this life thing without Him every step of the way. "The one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders".

Day Fifteen

Well, nothing out of ordinary today. I'm not going to beat myself up but I didn't make any real connections, nothing more than a polite "smile" or "thank you" or "have a great day". I know that I am a work in progress but I also know that time is limited and I MUST do my part. I am so grateful that God does not give up on me.

Day Fourteen

Today was a day of reflection and affirmation. As tough as things are, will be, I know that I am in the right place at this time. Saturday night service was about sacrifice, cleaning out, getting rid of, clearing the slate, peeling back the layers, and being an open vessel for the Lord to do his work. Sunday morning Catholic service that my friend attended was about witnessing, sharing, and experiencing Christ's love through thought, words, and deeds. Thank you Jesus, for loving me enough to give me trials and tribulations that will draw me to you.

Day Thirteen - Jewish Barnes and Noble Girl

My oh my, last night in Barnes and Noble, after our wonderful fellowship,I took my "Walking With God" book to the register and laid it on the counter. The girl behind the counter rang it in and ask if I had my discount card. After telling her it was in the car she said "I'll give you the discount this time but you need to bring it from now on". My friend said "Oh that was a Christian thing to do". She said "Um hah, I'm Jewish". I said "That's OK, I knew a Jew for Jesus that went to my church". She just giggled. My friend said "You're Jewish, I'm Catholic, she's Christian". Once again she just giggled. We took our purchase and walked away.

Tonight at dinner in a local restaurant I look over and low and behold who is sitting at the next table . . . . THE JEWISH BARNES AND NOBLE GIRL! We get her attention and wave and smile and say "Hello, remember us from the store last night?" Then back to eating for us all. OK, here's the kicker. We leave there and go to Target to pick up a few items, take them to the check out and guess who was in front of us checking out . . . YEP, you guessed it - JEWISH BARNES AND NOBLE GIRL!

OK GOD, I can see you are making this easy for me. I said something about a coincidence which is pretty weird because I don't believe in coincidences and she says "Well, I don't believe in coincidences but I don't really know what this means to see you so much". So we strike up a conversation and find out her name is Jill. We make small talk about her cute sandals and find out that she is working again on Monday. So . . . guess where we will be stopping in on Monday! Yep, BARNES AND NOBLE.

Connections, connections, connections, it's all about making connections!

Day Twelve

Hmmm . . . the coolest things happen when you least expect them. I stood in the middle of the bookstore reading the back of a book called "Walking With God" to my best friend of 31 years. The narrative told how we trudge through life, doing our best to figure it all out. Some of us however figure out that we can walk with God and learn to hear his voice. As we stand there we realize a gentleman over our shoulder peering into a Will Rogers Quotes book. As we turn around he looks up and smiles and said "What book were you reading from?". We spoke for a while about the book and how interesting it sounded. We continued the conversation of books, the connection of Will Rogers to my friend from Oklahoma, the bible study he is in, how I came to Florida by way of my husbands job transfer, how he was transferred here with Pan Am many years ago, and how we both lived at one time on the east coast of Florida. We marveled at the similarities and things we had in common. One thing led to another and my friend said something about being here for my birthday. He ask when it was and when I told him he said "No way, that's my birthday". Of course, we didn't believe him so he pulled out his drivers license to prove it. Sure enough, low and behold, July 18th, same exact day as mine. We had a nice talk about churches and he told us about First Assembly in Ft. Myers. Standing in the middle of the book store I thought how amazing God is, that in all the places the three of us could have been, doing who knows what, that at that exact moment in time he chose for us to make a connection.

God really is everywhere connecting one human being to another for the mere purpose of fellowship. Walking with God means taking the time to slow down long enough to strike up a conversation after a smile, and if we listen long enough we just might hear his voice.

Day Elevan

Well tonight was another amazing night at prayer ministry. God reveals himself in of course the least expected way. He is there, waiting to scoop you up at the most unexpected time, a time when you have no idea that you need him most. Didn't make it to the neighbors tonight, maybe tomorrow.

Day Ten

Nada, zip, nothing. I did nothing out of the ordinary today to work for and with Christ. Yes, I was a nice, cheerful, helpful person who didn't lie, cheat, or steal but . . . .that's just not good enough anymore! Time is short. I hope I have another day to try. Thank you Jesus for your love and acceptance of me.

Day Nine

I prayed for the driver who cut me off on 75 while coming home tonight instead of getting frustrated. Apparently, He needed to get to where he was going alot faster than I.

Day Eight

Hoorah! I finally met my next door neighbor! I took her two mangoes and introduced myself. She is really nice and was really friendly. So now the door is open. I told her I would be back with more mangoes . . . and an invitation to church!

Day Seven

Great fellowship at church today, great lessons about forgiveness! No outreach, not good, time is short. Need to regroup and plan better. Today was a day of focus on self, need to turn that around tomorrow . . . I hope there is a tomorrow!

Day Six

I prayed with my family tonight at dinner and invited my husband to tomorrow's church service.

Day Five

Neighbor next door is not home. Took two mangoes to the woman that lives across the street. Knocked on the door and she answered. She didn't like mangoes but we talked for a little bit. More important I got to introduce myself and make a connection. So pray for her to be open and for me to stay courageous. The neighbor next door has not been home so I haven't been able to meet her. I will try again tomorrow! Thank you Jesus for this awesome opportunity to work with you.

Day Four

I spent time in prayer group tonight and am learning to "listen" to God. I experienced his love and the freedom he so generously gives us when we are ready to recieve it. It is really so simple but we humans make it so difficult. Thank you Jesus for setting me free!

Day Three

I went to Awana Training tonight and heard more about the importance and urgency of how we need to connect with kids now and share Jesus. So much of it is, as our Awana Commander reminded us, "Listening, Loving, and Learning". I love the fact that our job as Awana Leaders is to build relationships with the children and their families! I just love lovin' on people in the name of Christ. Thank you Jesus for giving me the opportunity to share your love.

Day Two

I called a co-worker tonight who, like many of us, is going through a very tough time in a relationship. I wanted her to know I was thinking about her, am here if she needs to call me, and that Christ already knew the outcome, loved her very much, and was with her. I told her I would pray for her. She appreciated it and said I was on her prayer list. Imagine that . . .give and get! My neighbor didn't get home until late. I'll try again tomorrow.

Day One

Driving home after doing 100 mundaine things that I do every day I realized that I had not done anything extra to share Christ's love. I got home, I went to pick up mangos from the backyard when it hit me. I have been living next door to a mom and two daughters and have never met them. I took the mangos, went next door to introduce myself but no one answered. I will try again tomorrow. Time is short.