Court and Stuff

On August 21, 2009, my Mom and I were held robbed in our driveway. The robber pulled a hammer on us (that he'd stolen from under our carport), and insisted that we go into our house to get him some money. I sent my Mom on inside, and kept him detained outside until he demanded we go inside. All I kept thinking was 'he cannot come inside our house', so as he attempted to follow me inside, I slammed the door on him. My Mom came over to help me and we pressed the door and potentially broke his hand. We slid $5 through the open doorway and encouraged him to leave because the police were enroute. He did.

The police arrived, canvassed the area, took statements, etc. They arrested him across the street - broken hand and everything - and booked him on an unrelated charge. They got a DNA sample from him in jail, and 8 month later we were notified that the DNA results matched, and they were going to arrest him on our charges - 5 in all. Two counts of armed robbery, two counts of kidnapping, and one of breaking and entering. On June 29, 2010, he was arrested.

On March 31, 2011, we were attended his Motion for Bond hearing. I had to speak to the court - and face this robber - for the first time. I was terribly nervous, but made it through by the grace of God. Bond was denied. Immediately after the hearing, his attorney approached the solicitor - trying to resolve the case by plea agreement. The solicitor offered 10 years, having to serve 85% of the sentence. The robber agreed.

On April 18, 2001, we were to attend the sentencing. As we pulled into the parking lot of the courthouse, my Mom's phone rang. It was the solicitor's office - telling us he had withdrawn his agreement to the plea - and we would now go to trial at a later date.

I was livid, I was hurt, I was frustrated. Why in the world was this happening? It was difficult enough to face him in March and I was ready to get this over. I was even sick that morning, and forced myself to "make it" that day - and then this? Admittedly, I was doubting God's timing and judgment.

So the next morning, during my quiet time, I decided to read the chapter we were discussing in BSF - Isaiah 61 - when I came across this verse: “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. "

Wow! God Himself was speaking to me - telling me that HE HATES ROBBERY - and that He will reward His people. And such timing! There's no way it was a coincidence!! And when I think that God knew I needed that verse - and He arranged for our lessons to be from that passage....ah.maze.ing

Oh - and as an update - we went back to court on May 9th (my spiritual birthday) and the robber pled guilty. He will be eligible for parole, but is slated to serve 15 years for the commission of this crime. If he gets paroled, he will have to pay us restitution. The guy apologized to us, and on the way out, the Judge gave us two 'thumbs up'. Wow!

When Someone Unexpected Shows Up....

Well I mentioned that I attend a Bible Study each week. And I mentioned the tables and chairs present at said Bible Study last week.

What I didn't mention about the tables/chairs encounter last week was that while at the table, I sat with a few ladies that I didn't know. We all wear name tags that are HUGE so we can easily see each other's names. Well, I saw this lady's name (I'll call her Betty), and I wondered if she was the lady a mutual friend (I'll call her Sally) used to talk about. I'd never personally met Betty, but Sally told me LOTS about her. Sally and I were very close years ago. I had often wondered what she was up to; how she was doing, etc. I thought about asking Betty if she knew her, but I chickened out.

Fast forward to this past Monday night. I entered the room, looking to talk to another friend, when all of the sudden I hear my name - from a familiar voice. Yep - you got it....it was the voice of my friend, Sally! And even better...Sally was sitting right beside Betty!! I told Sally that I thought about asking Betty if she was "THE" Betty I'd heard so much about.

God placed Sally on my heart the week before. I've learned over the years that when a past friend 'randomly' pops to mind, it's not 'random' at all. I have tried to make it a practice to pause and pray for that person because God has brought them to mind.

Father may I never think that "I" just thought of something! May YOU be the ruler of my heart, soul, and MIND so that when seemingly random thoughts come to mind, I'll know they're placed there by YOU!

Little Is Much When God Is In It!

I had my first 'gold' party this weekend. You know the type - you get your friends to bring their gold and get paid for it. I had recently went to one that my cousin had - and I made over $600 off of small items, so I just knew everyone else would love to attend.

I set the date and began inviting people. Young, old...neighbors, coworkers, friends...everyone I could come in contact with. Many folks promised they'd come, and even said they had tons of gold. My mom invited folks who also said they'd come.

Then comes the day of the party. Several of those who had tons of gold and were definitely coming backed out on the last day. My heart sank. "Please, God - at least let me cover the cost of the food we've prepared."

The guests began arriving. Each coming in the door proclaiming "I don't have a lot of gold - but I figured I'd give it a shot." Again, my sinking heart just goes lower and lower. But we had a steady flow of people coming through.

About 3/4 of the way through, my friend told me that people were making tons of money (which in turn meant I was going to make money, too). When it was all over, I made over $900 from my friends coming to my house. Praise God!

But I began thinking about the folks who 'missed out'....one friend was offered almost $400 for some broken, kinked up gold - but she declined. Why? I don't know for sure - but did she think she could get a better offer elsewhere? And then there are those who promised to come - with their tons of gold - who backed out at the last minute. And then there were those who just blew off the opportunity. They weren't interested at all. I had provided them with a way to 'get rich quick'; to make money for the holidays....and they declined without thinking.

Then yesterday after our church service - it hit me. Aren't our lives like that? I felt tremendous sympathy for God as I thought of what He offers - so much more than money for gold - and what do we do? Some have a right relationship with Him and bring their 'little' to the relationship and allow Him to foster it and make much out of it. Some decline His offer - thinking they can find more somewhere else. Some promise to give Him their all - but they don't hold up their end of the bargain. And then there are those who ignore His call to something great - either out of indifference or ignorance.

Where do you find yourself today? Will you accept His generous offer and let Him do much with your little? Will you make grand promises to Him and back out? Or will you ignore Him?

God things...

It's been a while since I've written. Thankfully it's not been a while since God has worked!

I attend a weekly Bible study called BSF. Our meetings are held in a huge local church facility. The place is gi-normous and very comfortable. We are blessed indeed.

Now once you reach a certain weight and/or age, and you have to sit for a couple of hours at the time, you become concerned about the furniture you will be sitting on. I guarantee you that if padded pews had not been developed when they were, I would have been the one to come up with the idea! I mean padded pews make ALL the difference!

Well last night's meeting wasn't going to be in our lovely sanctuary with the padded pews. The local church already was booked. We got kicked to...are you ready for it.....the GYM (ok they call it "Activity Center", but it's a GYM!!). Chills went up and down my spine when I first heard. You can imagine the images I conjured up in my mind. Cold, hard chairs. You know the type. Those cold, metal things that were not meant to hold as much as I try to put on them, and certainly not for the length of time required. AND we have to take notes at this meeting. I have never had a lap in my lifetime!

I reluctantly went to the meeting. I really wanted an easy way out, but couldn't come up with good reason to stay home. "Sorry, but I didn't want to sit on hard chairs 'cause my bottom goes numb" isn't a really spiritual response! When I finally got my car parked, I trecked across the grass into the "activity center" (aka GYM) and what did I find? Padded chairs AND tables!

I've been wanting tables for such a long time! I've downsized my Bible and upsized my magnification on my glasses (in order to see the tiny Bible) all to keep from having to maneuver so much stuff on my non-existent lap. The majority of these ladies are of average to lower than average weight (aka skinny and plum skinny!) and for them, the sight of padded chairs AND tables meant nothing. But to me, it was simply divine!!

At the end of the evening, I had to sort of laugh. Why on earth would I get so excited about padded chairs and tables? Because my Heavenly Father knew my "need" (or desire!) and met it. And why would He do such a thing? Because He can.

Father, may I never take You for granted. May I always bless you as you have blessed me. And thank You for padded chairs and tables that make my life easier sometime!

Stickers and all!

I teach 4th graders in Sunday School at my church. This past Sunday's lesson was about how all of us have sinned, and that God gave us the ten commandments (law) to reflect the condition of our hearts. As a means of explanation for the children, I was to place a sticker on a child's forehead and ask how the child could 100% know what was on his/her forehead. The answer of course was to look in a mirror.

Well, last year I used some of the cute smiley faced stickers sent by "Highlights". For days I wondered, "where in the world did I put those stickers last year". Then on Saturday (the day before I am supposed to teach), guess what came in the mail? You got it! A brand new page of smiley faced stickers from "Highlights"!

Did I need those specific stickers? No. Did I want those stickers? You betcha. They fit right into the lesson illustration. Why did God provide those stickers like He did? Because HE is God, and because HE can.

God loves to provide for His children. But so many times - He gives extras. Extras just to let us know that He is paying attention to every detail. Don't you just love that about Him? He provides for our needs and sometimes our wants! Stickers and all!

Other Things I Just Want to Record.....

Last week was birthday week for our household. We celebrated my Mom's birthday in rare fashion...big night at the S&S cafeteria! LOL Once we got outside, my Mom said it sure would be nice to have a piece of Publix cake for her birthday.

Well since neither of us needs the temptation of a whole cake lying around, I discovered a few years ago that buying cake by the slice - although terribly expensive - was the best for us. So I drove down to Publix and got out of the car. As I was walking to the store, I remembered that my Mom loves cake with lemon filling. Not icing....lemon filling. So I prayed "Lord, please let there be a slice of cake in there - with lemon filling. After all, it's HER birthday."

So off to the cake counter I go. And guess what I found? ONE slice of cake with the icing she liked, and LEMON filling! I grabbed it (and one for myself - no lemon filling though!) and paid my way out of there.

When I got to the car, my Mom, who was waiting patiently, became almost child like with anticipation. She could not wait to see what I had in the bag. So I presented her with HER piece of cake...the one with lemon filling. She said "oh, good...I thought about telling you that I wanted a piece of cake with lemon filling, but I just didn't."

Again, "God thing" or coincidence ?

You'll Never Believe This One!

We always start our Christmas Cantata practice around this time of the year. Yes, it's hard to get into the Christmas spirit with the weather running about 90 degrees each day, but if you crank the A/C in the car, you can do it!

Anyway, I finally put my CD into my car's cd player and listened to the first song. Not bad...but I had finished my trip, so inside I went. Then I started thinking of an old song we did in a past cantata. You know how your mind gets stuck on a song? Well that's what happened. Song was stuck...all night.

Listened to song #2 on the way to work. Then song #3 came on - and guess what? It was that song that was stuck in my head the night before!! Now I don't recall EVER listening to that song this CD. What in the world?

A "God thing" or a coincidence?