An Inconvenient God

Today I was thinking about how God is not always convenient and how that's a hard lesson to learn. I wonder if more people would follow Him if it was easier.

Would they have crucified Jesus if he hadn't told them to leave their father and mother? Would the rich young ruler have been Jesus' biggest supporter if he hadn't been asked to sell all he had? Would my co-workers go to church if it was comfortable?

It would be incredibly convenient if God delivered me completely from my anxiety.

It would be convenient if God would heal my friend so she and her husband could have a baby.

It would be convenient if God removed all of the cancer from my Mom's body.

Yet God stays his hand from changing these circumstances. He is asking me, my friend and my mom, "Do you trust me?" and the answer has to be "Yes." He reminds me that He didn't come to make my life comfortable; He came to seek and to save those who are lost. Jesus didn't come to run for office; he came to die for my sins.

He asks for not only my anxiety, but for all of me. All of my friend, all of my mom, all of me. He asks for our complete trust and surrender not just when it is easy, but when it's soo hard. He knows what He is doing. He knows the result of this anxiety, empty home and cancer and He promises that it will be good. It just may not be convenient.

Sometimes, I think, that I get more mad at God for not taking my problem away than at the problem. And maybe that's the lesson I need to learn right now, to wait for his goodness.

A surprising beginning to my weekend

My grandfather was a pilot during WWII. He had some amazing stories about from that. After the war he maintained his pilot's license and actually owned his own plane for a while. My uncle was able to track his plane down and I got this e-mail from him about it today:

Hey everybody,

This was Grandpa' plane. He sold it when I was about 7 years old. It's worth a small fortune now. We did loops in it and Mom would get sick, Dad let me land it once when I was 5 years old. One time we ran out of gas over West Alexandria, Ohio and did a forced landing in a cornfield (the corn was about a foot high). One time we flew to Kokomo, IN and visited Aunt Dudie and Uncle Don. Back then the plane was blue and yellow, had a wooden prop, and you had to pull the prop to start it.

I was able to track it down because I never forgot the ID #.

Uncle Tom


I miss my grandparents...

3 Things

1. It's cold and rainy outside and it makes me mad. I moved South and it's April - it should be warm and sunny. I mean it was never in my life plan to move South, so since I did, I would like to reap the benefits of warm weather and sweet tea. This weather reminds me of Ohio. I want my money back.

2. Has anyone ever heard of Belle Brezing? No? You really should look her up. She was an internationally known Madam here in Kentucky, Lexington to be exact, around the turn of the century. Great role model. Now generally cities and states try and down play the role prostitutes had in their history, but not so here in Kentucky. Here she gets displays at museums and even a bed race. Yeah. A race where people dress up, in drag even, and roll beds down main street. Lexington and Louisville both honor this madam with a bed race around the start of famous horse races. You can't get any classier than that. Oh Kentucky how I love you...

3. Last night someone knocked at our door and started yelling. Ben jumped up and opened the door. Ok. Pause and reread that. Ben opened the door to our HOME to some guy banging on the door and yelling. Yeah. I was not happy and if this guy didn't get Ben first he was going to hear it from me. Fortunately, my husband does have a head on his shoulders and had looked out the window and knew he was opening the door to the plumber we had called.

The burly plumber and his equally large assistant looked at our shower and told us that they would need to come back on Tuesday with the needed parts. Then the plumber gave us his name and phone number and told us to call him if we weren't going to be home on Tuesday. Can you guess what his name is? I have no idea what his real name is, but the name that he gave us was Animal. Yeah. Animal. Our landlord's plumber goes by Animal. He has three teardrop tattoos and large hands. Tuesday should be interesting.

All I wanted was some Sun Chips....

Yesterday the vending machine died and ate two of my quarters. By the end of the day there were signs all over the machine stating that it was broken and that it owed Michelle $1.00!!!!!!!

Today I watched a guy remove the sign that was covering the coin slot, insert his money and then get mad when it ate his money.

He's destined for management somewhere in this world. He may be your next boss.