You know us Southerners. A little ice on the roads and we’re a mess.
Believe it or not, I do actually know what NOT to do while driving on ice. I’m not really all that skilled at what TO do.

Like, what do you do if:

The roads are solid sheets of ice, you go through a dip in the road, through “the one” melty spot, get your tires wet, and then lose traction halfway up the hill on the other side? In a standard. Front wheel drive. Little car, little engine.

The answer is probably “STAY HOME.”

If I did, I wouldn’t be sharing this story with you — now would I??

So as I’m driving up the incline I feel the tires slipping, I try to stay on the gas and keep the car moving at a steady speed but slipping changes to spinning and I’m going no where. I didn’t want to add skidding and turning to spinning in place so I stop. Brake. Take a breath and say, “PleaseGodPleaseGodPleaseGodPleaseGod PLEASE help me get up this hill!”

I try again. It’s not working.

“PleaseGodPleaseGodPleaseGodPleaseGod PLEASE help me get up this hill!”

Nada.

I call hubs, “Um? Any advice?” Not really. Not anything that was working. I didn’t want to slide back down the hill because the bottom of the hill was a “culvert bridge” over a creek with no guard rails — I didn’t want to accidentally slide OFF. And besides, when I did let the car slide back, it kept slipping back and to the left. I figured I was better able to be helped it I was still mostly straight and on the road.

So I stopped again.

In the middle of the road. At an angle. Almost but not quite blocking the other lane’s passage.

Nice, huh?

I called my friend, whose house I just left, who had a 4X4 truck and a tow chain and a bag of sand. She was hopping in her truck right away to come help me. Hubs called in (at home with the kids) and I let him know she was on her way and we hung up.

And I’m not kidding that within 30 seconds, another 4X4 truck came pulling onto the little county road coming towards me and stopped to help me.

Praise God for Good Samaritans, right?

He didn’t have a tow chain but he wanted to wait until my friend showed up in case we needed help. So he sat in the other lane across from me and we chatted a few minutes.

And I’m not kidding that within a few minutes ANOTHER 4X4 truck pulled into the county road coming toward me.

Good Samaritan #1 pulled forward and off to the side of the road so the truck could pass by us, but would you believe that he didn’t? He turned off the road right in front of me, backed up right in front of my car as close as he dared and hopped out with a tow strap in his hand and began hooking it to his tow hitch without saying a word.

By this point my friend is pulling up behind us, I mean, I was only a few minutes from her house so it didn’t take long for her to get there. She’s looking at all my help and says “I brought sand! You want it?” Good Samaritan #2 says, “Yeah, we might need it. Let me see if I can get her up the hill without it first.”

Well, it didn’t work, because I still had no traction and he lost traction once the tow strap was taut and I wasn’t going anywhere. So Good Samaritan #1 carried the bag of across the little culvert bridge for my friend so she didn’t have to.

At this point I should mention that walking on this stuff was like ice skating in sneakers!

Well that sand was just the trick and a little sprinkle in front of his 4 tires and my front 2 got me up that hill on the very next try. I was free!!

You’d better believe I said “Thank you” about a million times!! My friend was still looking around at the two Good Samaritans and telling me, “I got here as fast as I could,” as if to say, “Wow, it didn’t take me that long to get here, how did these people even have time to happen to pass by??”

Hopping back in my car I gave it gas gently and was able to get moving on that icy road. It felt so good. And I couldn’t help bursting out in my car, “ThankYouGodThankYouGodThankYouGod!” I mean, God is good ALWAYS, but I was just bursting praise and thankfulness!

Then I remembered the bewildered look on my friend’s face and I just started laughing to myself. God DID answer my initial prayer, “help me get up this hill.” I had kinda meant, like, on my own four tires. But God doesn’t always give us the answer we expect right? He didn’t just send me help. He sent THREE 4X4 trucks, a man with a tow strap and a friend with a bag of sand to my rescue.

~~

I realized after the fact that this post is perfect for Michelle’s Popinjay photo prompt this week, BEWILDERED.

bewilder

1 : to cause to lose one’s bearings

2 : to perplex or confuse especially by a complexity, variety, or multitude of objects or considerations

One week down. 7 Days. 168 hours. TWO books of the bible already!

Well.. almost two. Me, I’m actually a smidge behind. I’m halfway through Exodus and I was supposed to be starting Leviticus today! I thought I’d be able to sneak in lots of reading time today and get caught up… (excuse me for a moment while I go laugh hysterically.)

TODAY WAS A MONDAY FOR SURE!

Last week was really busy and crazy, school was full — and I was sick, too! But I still managed to almost keep up and I’m going to get caught up over the course of the week. I will!

Things I’ve learned about this endeavor already:

1.) I do better when I read at least a few chapters in the morning, and read the rest at the end of the day.

2.) I really like reading on biblegateway.com and listening to the audio as I read along with the words. It helps me pay attention, and the narrator doesn’t read it monotone or boring, he adds feeling to the words. (Sometimes I read out loud to myself, but he’s a better actor.) ;0)

3.) I should go ahead and get that full size ESV study bible I’ve been wanting.. my pocket bible is great but the tiny print isn’t ideal for reading ten chapters at a time!

Other thoughts:

4.) Even though it was last summer that I started reading the bible through (and made it to Deuteronomy before getting out of the habit)… it feels like it was just last month that I read Genesis and it all feels so fresh in my brain. At the same time, I noted several details that I didn’t remember or didn’t notice before. So. All the more reason to re-read and re-read, right?

5.) Genesis is RIPE with lessons for today. Who says the Old Testament isn’t relevant? Among these are: “A half truth is still a lie” as Abraham learned when he lied about Sarah being his wife and said, “Besides, she really is my sister.” I had at least 3 others but alas, I didn’t write them down. Which leads me to #6.

6.) I should write things down. I need to keep a notebook handy for jotting down thoughts as I read. Reading ten chapters at a time, if I think of something at the beginning of the reading, I’m likely to forget by the time I get to the end.

And that’s pretty much it for this week’s wrap up.. My brain is really fried from all of today’s Monday-ness. And I still need to read at least 10 chapters in Exodus tonight! (Or more.)

For more Bible in 90 Days participants, check out Mom’s Toolbox.

To say that yesterday “sucked” would be an understatement. I realize that’s probably the strongest language ever I’ve used on this blog, but, yesterday completely sucked. A series of unfortunate events. A very bad day.

It started off that way, so what should have been a VERY GOOD DAY really never stood a chance. No matter that I tried to get a handle on my mood constantly throughout the whole day. No matter that I did manage to improve my mood, briefly, several times throughout the day. It didn’t matter, the bad just came rolling in like waves.

It was the kind of day where you’re brushing your kid’s hair, trying to get out the door because you wanted to leave 15 minutes ago and the hairbrush literally breaks in your hand.

It was the kind of day where you’re running late to get your husband from the airport and when you get to the north entrance you find that construction has made it virtually impossible to go where you want to go. And so after circling 3 times and still not finding a way through the construction, you spend AN HOUR driving to the south side of the airport because you don’t know what to do.

The kind of day where we SHOULD have been home at 10pm but you’re all crashing silently, crankily, into bed at midnight.

It was the kind of day that could easily bleed over into today. And the kind of day that makes me pray:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24

Say it with me: “It’s a brand new day.”

Photo Credits: Lightning Some rights reserved by flickrimglas and Sunrise: Some rights reserved by jjjj56cp

Hey, check out this month’s free download from Christian Audio!

This is one of those books that I have on my bookshelf, that I have started reading, that I WILL finish one day soon! But you can get the audio version free, with no catch!

**The Amazon link is an affiliate link. If you decide to buy the print version from Amazon.com, I will receive a very small commission.

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” (Deuteronomy 6:6)

Contemplating early morning, coffee in hand, pondering the steam that rises between cup and mouth and nostrils and mind. Breathing in the aroma that awakens as surely as God breathes breath and life and His word into me. Write your words on my heart, God, your handwritten script, curlicued and looping across the chambers of my heart to every corner: bright red like words from Christ in a red letter bible, permanent like toddler doodles on walls with magic markers.

“You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:9)

Wheels turning, heart knowing, Spirit whispering.. the hands scribble words and references as the pastor repeats these words of long ago, calling us to ask ourselves, to challenge, to push. “FAITH” in plaques and words on walls cannot bandaid the gaping wound that oozes truth. All creation calls out glory but inside a different cry; the truth cannot be quelled. My heart, my head acknowledge in unison with Spirit; Home fails to point to God with the same glory the simple rocks and trees find so easy. Home which should be Haven, should be Reflection of HIM, should be… more, better, peaceful, testimony, witness. Conviction stirs to action.

“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,…” (Deuteronomy 6:7)

Family circled, children with ears closed who begin to soften as Word is read, who recite together verses of recent past that have been memorized. As if each verse, layered upon sweet layer of truth has been drawn to our lives like magnets to metal. As though there were reasons unseen for these verses to come together and collide at this point, at the timing of God’s hand.

“Serve God by the way you live.”

A toddler lesson from Sunday School etches into family life, bearing lessons and meanings far outliving the morning hour, impressing it’s truth on the weekday. A gaze around, a glance from front door to back confirms the stark contrast of “should” and “do.” The mess and clutter invites the inevitable question and it’s clear the answer to the question is ‘No.’ The ‘No’ echoes through each of us.

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as to the Lord and not for man.” (Colossians 3:23)

Beauty of truth is that in its complexities there are simplicities, simplicities even obvious to children. As plain as the noses on our faces and the freckles on our noses – we see the truths before us. We know we cannot say we give our best, “heartily” is not an adverb we can claim. We pick it up and dust it off and put it back in its rightful place. Family which commits to changes that must be made, not for man, not for self, not for any other. To do what is right because it is right fuels the fire, urges on. Conviction pushes, indifference and unwillingness fall paralyzed behind as action moves forward, onward to completion. God calls us to action. We feel. We hear. We obey.

“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” (Deuteronomy 6:8)

As children are often inclined, words are soaked in like sponges full of eagerness. Scriptures are taken literally and instructions lead to actions. Surprise, unexpected lessons from children eager, as if ripped from Inkheart’s pages children emerge with truth upon their skin.

A mother’s smile at the simplicity of the reminder, and the prayer: “Yes, LORD, write your words on my heart, and my face and my hands, as I live and love and work… for You. Amen.”

Inkwell Photo Credit: Kathleen Conklin