No Room in the Inn #write31days10-10-16

Driving home from southeast Florida after a get-away, we were shocked to see all the carnage left by Hurricane Matthew when it attacked the east coast in a few short days. We'd seen news coverage. But, the actual things we saw with our own eyes were surreal. As we drove along, limbs were snapped or violently twisted off; trees uprooted; billboards & signs destroyed; numerous areas flooded; power lines down; landscape crews & power crews hard at work. The shoulders of the road were covered with waves of tree litter & debris - leading me to think that a fire truck hose might have been used to clear the driving lanes of the interstate for travel. 

Our travel northbound that afternoon went smoothly heading toward our Kentucky apartment. The hurricane

Beginnings... Peaceful Rest

I sent a note to a friend today & said "I'd rather be writing..."  

What is it about putting my heart on paper that brings me such joy?

However, truth be told, I have a LOT of things which need to be accomplished today. If those tasks are completed, there won't be any leftover time for writing.

So, here's the BEGINNINGS of the post on my heart now...

Ayla fell asleep in my arms this morning...

... as the fire glowed & gently crackled a few feet away. Her entire body relaxed as her little arms stretched out. Her breathing became deep & regular. All expression of emotion melted from her face. I felt the weight of her tiny head, cradled in my hand, as she slipped into peaceful rest. An inquisitive cat watched from the back of my wing-back chair purring loudly. I drank in the moment & tucked it in my heart for forever. 

Hopefully I will be able to finish my post soon.  Look for it if you are interested in peaceful rest :)

Blessings my friends!
stuckinindiana

Crazy Driver! - 31 DAYS OF CRAZY - 01 October 2012

In keeping with the true me... I've begun the lovely month of October (my BIRTHDAY MONTH) out with plenty of craziness!  I opted for a nice bike ride with a friend on country roads for my morning "temple maintenance."  I'm trying to get back into that after taking an extended period of time off after 3 fractures in my foot in less than a year :/ 

My biking partner for the day is NOT a speed biker.  But, that's totally fine with me.  I love chatting with her.  And, I figure... an hour pedaling a bike is better than 15 minutes sitting at home eating bon-bons :)  

On a slow turn-around as we approached a busy state road, I encountered some loose gravel & went flying OFF my bike.  It really wasn't that bad of a fall but, I did manage to scrap the front of my leg on the way off.  Nothing but a flesh wound & nothing that kept me from hopping back on & biking more.

When we arrived back at my house, we loaded her bike into the back of my grocery-getter* and headed to her house a few miles closer to the city.  After delivering her and  her bike home, I headed back to my home in the cornfields.  Imagine my surprise when all of a sudden I noticed what I had failed to remove after the bike ride...

I sure hope that the few drivers I passed on the way to my friends house appreciated my concern with safety.  I posted a pic of the injury via Facebook & Twitter with the post, "Helmets save lives... but, not legs."  

I suppose an accurate caption for the first picture could have been, "Helmets save lives... but, not pride."    

31 DAYS OF CRAZY - beginning with more than one day's worth of CRAZY.  

That would be me!!

Don't leave home without a helmet!

FARM TALK:

* grocery-getter = what my neighbors call ALL small trucks/light-duty trucks (any truck having a curb weight plus payload of no more than 8,500 pounds; designed primarily for purposes of transportation of persons & property)

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in the 31 days {of change} with...

Pistol Packing Mama - Beware!

And... they say that living in the country is sedate & boring!  Well, not when there's a brutal murder a mile down the road in the wee hours of a Saturday & the murderer is still afoot weeks (yes, I mean WEEKS) later!  When the conversation with your walking friend along country roads, fields & woods is interrupted by the sound of a low-flying helicopter buzzing over your head, life out here isn't boring.  When on another day you & a different walking partner glance over your shoulders to see three 4-wheelers slowly approaching while combing every inch the ditches along your walking road, it's not boring.  As a matter of fact, it's a little unsettling!

My friends & I have joked about running into the corn in the opposite direction - if someone walks out of the woods toward us. We've begun wondering actually whose DNA is on those discarded water bottles (shame on litterers - another blog) that we pass along the roadside. One friend is glad she brings her Akita along. Another friend has begun carrying pocket mace. My city-friends are telling me to be careful... to be safe.   

In a little sleepy town like this, how can he still be missing!?! Even America's Most Wanted has gotten in on the search.  

I've had several friends tell me that I need to get a gun to take along with me. And, I'm not really a "gun person." However, when I was in 2nd grade, my best friend's father made her a toy gun in his wood shop. She was a true "country girl". We had decided that her older brothers (19 & 21) had guns. Why shouldn't we?!?!  Hence, her father supplied us each with a "piece" to protect her family's farm from the notorious LIONS, TIGERS & BEARS that are so prevalent at the foot of the North Carolina mountains. (Ha!)

That gun has been going along with me on my walks for over 20 days now!  I guess you could say that I am a pistol packing mama.  Carrying a gun like that adds a whole new meaning to the term "pistol whipped."  

Do I put my hope of protection & safety in my neighbor's Akita, in my other friend's pepper spray, in the gun which slayed countless "scarey sounds" in those North Carolina woods many, many years ago?  

No!  I put my hope of protection & safety in something far greater... the One who hung the stars... the One who lovingly created me inside my mother's womb... the One who lovingly created the man who has eluded the authorities & needs a Savior now more than ever.  

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."

Psalm 20:7 NIV

"We faithfully preach the truth. God's power is working in us.

We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack

and the left hand for defense." 

2 Corinthians 6:7 NLT

I am not oblivious to the potential dangers around. I will proceed with caution as I am out & about.  I won't be careless.  But, I will trust in the Almighty God for protection from our "local fugitive" & so many other things in the world over which I have no control.

UPDATE:  Still looking for him... 5 weeks later...

Sweet Dreams

Trusting in Him enough to turn my cares over to Him during the dark times in my life (sometimes just the night); wow, what a concept :)

I've thought of a favorite scripture many nights when I was unable to sleep. I've claimed it.  

"I will both like down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

And, the perfect scripture for the following morning: 

"I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the LORD was watching over me." Psalm 3:5. 

As a friend of a friend says, "Turn it over to the night shift."

God's in control 24/7 and watching out for us 24/7. So, go ahead & turn your cares over to the night shift. See I Peter 5:7 too! He's got your back!

(written 14 Sept 2009)