Thursday, March 17, 2011

Driving!

Driving
Have I mentioned that I LOVE to drive? There is nothing better, (as long as you don't think about "travel laundry" or the cost of gas)......  My wandering ways are currently mostly curtailed by my 12 year old car with 96,000 miles on it.   However I fully intend to drive my car for as long as possible. I love to drive but take great pains to avoid commuting so there really is no point in getting a new car for as long as this one can get me back to my embarrassingly close place of work.

Walking
I really should walk to work,  especially now that it is nice and springy outside.  Being outside in Houston when the weather is like this reminds me of why I'm glad that I live here.  If only I could take this "I love Houston" feel with me into the deeply uncomfortable days of  late August and early September then I might have better walk-to-work habits...... But alas, all I think about in August is how much it would cost me to get one of those cars that folks start with an app on their Iphone...... I wonder if they can start the air conditioning with an iphone app. too?  When they can also cause the car to climb the stairs and pick me up at my front door, then I might have to get one.....

Running!
My spring break is running out of time!  Me and my old car got to DRIVE to Austin and see bluebonnets, even with the drought!  We saw  my sweet friends and their sweet 7 month old baby with the chocolate brown eyes, AND we made it back in one piece with a 1/2 tank of gas to spare.    It's times like these that I'm especially grateful for my little tin can car.....
Now it's Thursday and I'm looking around my apartment (which is cleaner than before I cleaned) and wondering where all my time went?  My biggest strength and weakness is that my idea of what can be done in any given amount of time and what is actually possible is usually  overly optimistic.  Unless you are asking me whether or not I can get my desk cleaned off before RUNNING out of school on the Friday we got out for spring break...... in that case, I seriously underestimated how quickly two people could get things done who were ready to start their free time last week.  I'm not making it up when I say that my desk clutter was mountainous and that I got the entire thing cleaned up (the right way) in less than an hour out of shear force of will and good help from a very kind co-worker who took pity on my miserable state and helped me....  

Be Still
This week I've been reminded to take notice of the things that the Lord is doing.  The Lord is taking care of the big things and the small things in our lives and when I get caught up in "doing" I quit noticing what the Lord is doing, which is a real tragedy since we were made to notice what the Lord does first of all.   The song is true when it says, "He's got the whole world in His hands.."
The Lord does so much more than we can recount, but this week in the midst of the extraordinary mundaneness of my spring break I needed to be reminded of how He takes care of both the huge and the tiny matters of my life.  So while driving through a very dry route to Austin, soothing a teething baby, running errands, doing laundry and visiting with friends the Lord brought these words to my attention.

"1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
   where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth.

 3 He will not let your foot slip—
   he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
   will neither slumber nor sleep.

 5 The LORD watches over you—
   the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
   nor the moon by night.

 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
   he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going 

   both now and forevermore." Psalm 121


If this is true during ordinary times when we often fail to notice His work, then how much more so during times of joy or pain when we earnestly seek Him out of great need? 


"Consider how the lilies grow.  They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." Luke 12:27

This week I've had beautiful weather, great friends, baby drool, an old and reliable car and bluebonnets.  I feel like a lily!


1 comment:

Jagette said...

Enjoyed this! So true. Glad you have had a good week off and was able to get some work done.
Hugs and Prayers,
Jane