Got a story for ya, Ags...

Yesterday I went to visit my wonderful friend Kelly Nall in the hospital. I don't know Dallas very well. So when I got the call from her mother as I was crossing the street carrying big, flashy balloons that I was told to go to the wrong hospital (and that the wrong hospital was in a bad part of town), I was a little concerned. Jill Nall stayed on the phone with me and I was on my way to the correct hospital.

30 minutes later, I arrive at the hospital and visited with my heart friend. We realized the other day that we haven't even known each other for a year! How crazy and awesome is that?! While I was there, four other people showed up to love on Ms. Nall. She is one amazing lady. She is also undergoing extreme morphine injections daily, hence the incorrect information. Not her fault. I love you, Kelly. :-)

I stopped by Quizno's on the way home. There were about a million and a half people in front of me, and the line went agonizingly slow (Okay, there were only about 6 people in front of me, and I was probably there less than 15 minutes, but it felt worse).

I get back in my car and make it a couple of blocks. I'm coming up on Lovers Lane and smoke is coming out of my hood. Oh, no...

So I pull into the Jack in the Box on the corner. A couple of gentlemen stop and proceed to inform me that my radiator hose is busted. Cheap parts; easy to fix; good news. But we can't find the crack in the hose so we can't fix it yet.

A couple of phone calls to my dad later, he and my mom are on their way to come pick me up. In Dallas. I study at the Jack in the Box until they arrive, and then we proceed to follow my dad (now in my car) to the nearest auto parts shop.

We don't make it. So we go and pick up a tow rope, then proceed to tow my car. From Dallas to Ft. Worth. At 4:00 pm.

For those of you not from the Metroplex, let me explain why this is so daunting. It is easily an hour from the heart of Dallas to my home in Ft. Worth. That's if you're driving with the flow of traffic (which is at least 5 miles per hour over the speed limit unless there's a police officer nearby). You've heard horror stories about the Dallas traffic. It's as bad as the stories make it out to be... Ft. Worth is worse. And we're hitting rush hour traffic time.

It could've been a lot worse. I could've had to drive. The two rope could've snapped. We could've had to pay major bucks to get a two truck. We could've rear ended each other or someone else. But the Lord kept us safe and we got home just fine. To our knowledge. We joke that there was probably a 12-car pile-up behind us as we drive oblivious 20 mph on the freeway.

So we get home a little after 5. We now have to convince my mom that she does in fact want to go out to eat because we are planning a surprise birthday party for her--her mom, siblings, and close friends are all waiting at a fancy schmancy steakhouse downtown.

So I invite myself, talk it up, and we struggle to get all dolled up in an hour to go and eat at Del Frisco's Steakhouse. We get her there, and she had no clue what was going on, thankfully. She loved it and had a great time. We came home and everybody crashed.

Then this morning I slept until the very last minute and went to grab coffee with a friend from junior high that I hadn't seen in a really long time. It was good catching up, but I was exhausted.

Anyway, that was my day yesterday. Crazy. Praise the Lord that He is merciful and gracious. He kept us safe and sane. Worthy is His name. Heh, I'm a poet. :-)

Power

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you..." Acts 1:8a

"And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." Mark 16:17-18

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." John 14:12

"No, in all these things [trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword] we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Romans 8:37

Good cop, bad cop

I was driving through College Station the other day when I spotted a police car coming down the other side of the road towards me.

I immediately tensed. It was almost a reflex.

But then I checked my speedometer. I was going the speed limit. Why did I get nervous? I knew I was going the speed limit... that's why I set my cruise control on it.

Why do we get nervous when we see cops? Why is that such a reflex? Granted, there are myriads of stories out there about police officers that take advantage of people, giving unreasonable tickets, etc. But there are just as many times when the opposite happens. I hear about lots of people getting off with warnings. Or they actually were going 15 over the speed limit and deserved the ticket. Or they were going 15 over the speed limit and got only a warning anyway.

Why do we have such a fear of man? What is it about others that controls us so much? Why is it so difficult to fear the Lord, and Him only?

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10