So. A very humbling experience last evening. But empowering, as well. I was sitting in the lane at the credit union, waiting to transact my business. It was later than I usually get there on a Thursday, and consequently, there was a bit more traffic. All three lanes were two-to-three cars deep. There was a lot of waiting going on!


Anyway, I was sitting there listening to a sermon CD by John Hunt. It was hitting home with me and I was listening intently. I was focused. I was not going to give in to impatience, but instead had resigned myself to the wait. I finally pulled up to the teller window and sent my transaction in, but knew I'd still have a bit of a wait. As I sat there, listening to the sermon, I noticed that credit union employees were leaving and walking to their cars. One woman in particular stood out to me. She came out alone and was smoking a cigarette. For some reason, my first thought was, "Ugh. She's smoking. Not attractive." Then our eyes met, and God overwhelmed me with the sense that I could continue to look intense, disinterested -- and look away, or I could engage her with a genuine smile. But it was my choice. I chose to smile, and her face was transformed by a returning smile. And in that exchange, I knew that I had initiated (prompted by the Holy Spirit, of course), something that made a positive difference in a stranger's day. And the ability to do that was rather overwhelming.

Josh Hunt had a tremendous quote posted on his facebook yesterday:

You can measure the character of a man largely by what it takes to put him in a bad mood.

And it was really cool to me until I started really reflecting on what that meant and looked back at what last put me in a bad mood. Talk about convicting!

Back to Isaiah. I finished up the book in NASB and started over in The Message. Wow! For all that the wording may not be technically accurate, the message makes far more sense! I actually think when I finish it the second time, I'll go back and re-read it in the NASB just to see if it makes more sense. Then I'll start looking at commentary.

But for now . . .

Auf Wiedersehen!

:)

So, for some odd reason, I find that I cannot sign into my blog from the firefox browser. Ugh. I hate it when technology tries to get the better of me! :)

I can blog. I have thoughts! But would I really want to spend a year cooking every recipe in a cookbook? Maybe. But which cookbook would I pick? Therein lies the dilemma!

Perhaps, instead, I just stay focused on my daily quiet time in God's Word, and working on quilts. One thing at a time, right?

I had planned to be so faithful to journal my way through my quilt-making projects. You'd think it would be easy, as much as I really do enjoy writing. But for some reason, I just can't keep at it consistently. I guess, with only so many hours of the day, I choose other things. I also suppose that if I *really* want to be faithful, I'll set aside a pre-determined amount of time every day and JUST DO IT!

Well, then. I'm currently behind on every quilt project I have on the burner. My Patches & Stitches BOM are now two months behind (and I'll have to pay $5 to pick up this month's installment)! Joc's wedding quilt squares are just sitting there looking like they want me to get busy. Although, to be fair to myself, I am waiting on the next installment of the Round Robin to send out additional squares for relatives to sign. Ben's Boy Scout quilt is waiting on me to cut and sew borders. And there are at least two baby quilts I need to be working on! Hahahaha (psychotic laughter) . . . no wonder I'm not journaling my quilt making processes!!! OH! One positive; I did fill out the entry form for The Grand Hand's quilt to be in Huntsville's quilt show!

The thing is, I don't wanna just talk about quilts. Not when there's all of life out there too!! There's our ministry, and our church activities, and our new RV, and our empty nest, and our soon-to-be grandbaby . . . I mean, WOW! Why limit it to just quilting (or cooking, or whatever)????

My current quiet time is in the book of Isaiah. I just got to the section that really starts focusing in on Christ. I'm reading through it in the NASB version, but I think I'll go back and re-read it in The Message (for the sake of readability). I'm amazed at the levels of prophecy in Isaiah, as well as the message of freedom it contains (and the One who frees). But I still sometimes feel like I'm reading the words, but not understanding the meaning. Hence the reread in a different version. Who knows of a really good commentary or study of Isaiah?

Back to food. We're having chicken packets tonight. I let Todd pick. Why not? I've already done the prep work; it really doesn't matter what he picks! Isn't that FUN?! That's why I love monthly cooks!

Perhaps the Mitford Cookbook. Maybe I'll cook my way through that one. On the RV.

Or perhaps I'll just write wide open.

Arrivederci!

:)