My sister Becky visited this past weekend, at the end of a conference she attended in DC.
We had dinner together, she went to church with me, we roamed around DC, and then roamed around Manassas Battlefield Park.
And did lots and lots of talking.
I’m so blessed to have my sister — and so blessed to have a chance to spend time with her.
Hooray! I’m a first round judge for the Cybil Awards in the category of Young Adult Speculative Fiction!
I’ve been a Cybils judge four times before, but this is the first time for this category. I’ve done Middle Grade Speculative Fiction and Fiction Picture Books. This will be a LOT of reading!
The cool thing about that: For three months, I need to feel guilty when I’m not reading instead of the other way around!
Another cool thing: This is going to be much easier since I’m single and have an Empty Nest. So it’s a *good* thing about those two things! Yay!
Saturday night I went to a concert with Graham Saber, Ryan Stevenson, Hawk Nelson, and the Newsboys.
Now, I’m an old fogey and the flashing lights gave me a headache that lasted a couple days.
But the songs were worth it!
I bought some Hawk Nelson CDs and a Ryan Stevenson CD, and I’m listening to them now.
“Eye of the Storm” and “Diamonds” reaffirm what I believe — God used the hard times in my life, and He was there with me.
“Drops in the Ocean” and “Live Like You’re Loved” remind me how loved I am.
And a song I’d never heard before, “Thank God for Something,” just helps me be joyful.
So I’m thanking God for that song!
I had a bout with migraine this week. It started with a vestibular migraine with no pain (dizziness only) and ended with just slight pain. And I *think* it’s done, after four days. (I’m not pushing it, though, it still feels like it’s hovering around the corner.)
But whether it’s gone or not — It had been EIGHT WEEKS since my last migraine. And this one was just not very bad. It hit at a time when I had some time off work and was able to take it very easy, and that made it even less of a problem. (Tension exacerbates migraines. But it’s hard to not be tense when you have a migraine. This time, I was able to do it, mostly.)
So I just had four days with a migraine — and they weren’t bad days! This is crazy!
And I’m thankful. And also reminded what a blessing it is to be healthy. A little reminder not to take it for granted.
Today was a good day. I’m trying to figure out why, so I know what to be thankful for.
I got some good insights via various things, including reflecting and posting about Eighth Grade last night. I talked about those insights with some friends whom I email. I talked a little about my Empty Nest with others and how my son seems to be learning what he needs to do to find a job and how it was time. I’m thinking about how I’m in a waiting time in some sense — but a time I can deepen my relationship with God in another sense.
But what it all adds up to is a feeling of Joy. And I’m thankful.
In the last 11 years, since my marriage fell apart, I’ve learned to listen for God’s voice (metaphorical) and what He has to say to me. I’ve learned to dare to believe that He will speak specifically to me and have a word for my situation.
Now, I thought for a long time that God was telling me that my husband would come back and I should wait for him.
If I was wrong about that, does that mean I’m not hearing God’s voice at all?
But I’ve been thinking about that lately — I’d been asking God about something else, something personal. Did I even dare believe what I thought He was saying? Since I’d been wrong about the other?
And God’s answer again involves waiting — Am I hearing right?
(But I’d been thinking. Even if I was wrong about the eventual outcome, the *action* I felt God was asking for back then, 11 years ago — to wait — was a good thing.)
Today, in the sermon, a verse was mentioned — and posted up on the screen — that was one of the first verses I believed God gave me for my husband.
In fact, I had even closed my Bible, opened it and pointed! I was that far gone in wanting direction. I had prayed specifically for a verse for him. (This was 11 years ago.)
And I’m not going to get specific on a public post. But this is also a verse that I have never, ever before heard mentioned in a sermon.
When it was mentioned, my first thought was — Is God telling me this verse still applies?
And the section of the sermon was called “God’s Apparent Delay.”
And then, in the next sentence — the preacher gave an interpretation of God’s delay (in the sermon context) that cast a whole new light on that verse.
And that new light applied to my life and what I’m waiting on God for today. But it *also* fit with the previous situation and showed me why waiting was important back then.
It was amazingly specific — and convinced me that God was speaking directly to me.
(If friends want more details, you can ask me.)
And WOW! That’s a blessing.
I didn’t have a good reason for it. Today was my sixth day in a row working, which I don’t like doing.
But today was also Day 15 of my Experiment with Joy.
And it was just a Joyful Day.
And I’m thankful.