Monday Freewrite

I am really on a roll. Maybe I will go for two weeks in a row of Freewrites. (I know I have said it here before, but Paul HATED freewrites growing up, but as an adult, he does a freewrite on his computer every single day. Go figure!)

Yesterday, I had a lack of direction. We had a wonderful time at church. I love Mike King's preaching. This month, he is preaching on the different songs in the advent story. Yesterday, we Zechariah's song. Loved it. Simple and sweet. 

I also loved praying from the pulpit. It is not that I am nervous, but I ALWAYS cry. ALWAYS. This week I prayed for the 800 kids in foster care throughout the state of Oregon. That made me VERY SAD. I also prayed for our lovely church away from church (like home away from home if you didn't get that): Calvary Chapel. My directions were to specifically pray for their outreach to internationals since that is a big part of their emphasis, and I love all those people and what they do, but I held it together and did not cry so that anyone could notice. I texted Reuben to tell him we were praying for them, and he gave me more specifics on what to pray. So that was all good. I especially liked that the verse that God gave me to open up my prayer was one of the verses referenced in the Scripture reading that Mike had for us. So I love it when things coordinate so well. :) That is the Holy Spirit for you. 

It was such a great Sunday morning at the 8:15 service (I want to see if we can always go to the 8:15 because I just love the vibe in that service). Oh, I also noticed such friendliness of everyone when we came to church. The staff seems to be so much more in tune with talking to anyone who is coming through the door. After the service, I got an email from the person in charge of the order of service to ask for any feedback or concern. I love that they are so open and wanting feedback from anyone. YAY Suburban Christian. It truly is our home church. 

After the service, I was going to settle into reading my book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, but believe it or not, I was just tired of reading. So I asked George if we could go on a date. So, we went to Pastini's and were going to run some errands after. We went to Trader Joe's for their famous lemon curd (the best and cheapest IMHO). Then as we were walking out this man was almost dancing on the sidewalk looking at us and smiling. It was BILL DONALDSON! I have been Facebook messaging with Amy because she told me they moved back to Albany, and we had been talking about getting together, but there they were. We went back inside the store and talk for about a half-hour. Old friends are the best friends! Loved that. 

Then we went to Bi-Mart for some Saint Nicholas Day treats. Chocolate Oranges are very hard to find these days. Did the tried and true company go out of business? After this, we went to Fred Meyer for the National Candle Day sale. Twenty dollar candles for five dollars! We ran into others who were loading up and laughed with them in line as I smelled their candles. While in Fred's we did run into an old and dear friend of thirty-four years. I could tell immediately that something was not right. We talked for maybe an hour in the aisle. Oh, dear, I cannot go into it here, but I am burdened to pray. I am not in her life at this point as we have had divergent paths, but she is still in my "sphere of concerns" since she is an old and dear friend from the past. I listened and am burdened to pray for some things that have been uber challenging for her. 

(The timer went off but will continue.)

We came home three hours later. The kids had already decorated the tree for us. I think I just needed some face to face time with George to talk through things (we are so burdened about both our kids being unemployed). But I think I needed some face to face time with other people. Both talks with the people we ran into were deeper. 

I came back and listened to Dear Bob and Sue (It is getting a bit tedious to listen to. I liked it at first but now it is a bit boring. I only have a little over an hour though. Must soldier on.) Then we watched a few episodes of The Man in the High Castle. After four episodes, we needed to stop. I was getting battle fatigue, but it is SO GOOD! Anywho, I fell fast asleep at about 8:45! 

It was a good day. Now, I have got to read Fearfully and Wonderfully Made because I am leading a book club discussion of it in 55 hours!

Going to meet with Nancy today FINALLY! Then I am hoping to have Skype time with Fran. Reading and studying the Enneagram are also on the agenda also for today. And praying for Foster care in Oregon and for the friend we talked to in Fred Myer! 

(While writing this, Fran texted, and we are on for Wednesday at 8am. YAY!)