The Mixer-Upper

"Would you like to get something to drink?" Howard asked as we left the Sunday night prayer meeting.

I thought a minute, then said, "I would like a root beer float." He thought that sounded like a good idea, so we crossed the intersection to come on to the fast-food drive-in.

My husband gave the order over the speaker and waited for a reply. Nothing came, so we drove up to the window. A youth was at the window, and said, "That will be $5.25".  What? For a single root beer float?

The young man seemed confused, but replied that they didn't have any root beer floats.

Then I chimed in to remind them that the sign said they would give root beer floats at no charge to veterans, to which he replied that they had never sold them.

"Then why were you charging me $5.00?" Howard questioned, to which the flustered young man admitted it was the bill for the car behind us.

As we drove away, I saw the marquee, which was emblazoned with the words, TACO BELL. "Oh, that's why they didn't have any, we were at the wrong place!" A&W was next door!

We drove to the speaker at A&W and placed our order. "Now, I'm a veteran, so I get it free!" my thirsty driver said to the attendant.

She took issue with that and told him the price, to which I chimed in, "But the sign says free root beer to veterans!"

"That is for August 6." she informed me.

"But today is the sixth!" I insisted, while she claimed it was August 4.  Well, I wasn't sure, and Howard gave her his card, but she returned it unused, gave him a root beer float and closed the window! She hadn't charged us!

What a comedy of errors! Not only did we go to the wrong place to begin with, then argued about a complimentary treat not due for two more days!  We shared the drink, but somehow it had lost its luster.

Just goes to show you that the blessings received at the church service can disappear if we aren't careful to guard our hearts and know what we are talking about!

Vapor of Smoke

We always enjoy a hearty breakfast, even though it keeps me busy scurrying around the kitchen between microwave, range and fridge. This morning I was pouring coffee and forgot that I had left the toast in too long. Suddenly the room was filled with smoke, sending me opening windows and fanning a dish towel to clear the air.

Still the alarm screeched until we got it turned off. Looking out the window a little later, I saw a huge, red vehicle with ladders on the side in front of our driveway. It backed up, then the FIRE TRUCK pulled into the driveway!  What? A fire truck for burnt toast?  Thankfully, they left when we told them all was well.

What a morning! It left me a little unsettled. Thank God, it wasn't a fire, only smoke. Fire is mentioned many times in the Bible. It even relates an unbridled tongue to fire, as in James 3:5-6:

"Even so, the tongue is a little part of the body and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles. The tongue is a fire, a world of evil. The tongue is among the parts of the body, defiling the whole body, and setting the  course of nature on fire, and it is set on fire by hell."

Another mention of fire is from Jeremiah 20:9 where he writes: But if I say, "I will not make mention of Him nor speak any more in His name," then His word was in my heart as burning fire shut up in my bones.

This reminded me of an incident recalled in a preacher's sermon. A young girl had gotten saved at his revival meeting and was speaking in tongues as the Holy Spirit gave her utterance. She continued in her heavenly language all the way home from the services. Her father was very disturbed by this, saying "Shut her up!" Her mother locked her in a closet, but it was to no avail,  for it was burning in her bones!

Praise God for the Holy Ghost and Fire!

Lost Phone!

"Where is it?" I wailed.  I had just come in from the porch and put the phone down. Now when I needed it, it was nowhere to be found! Maybe I put it somewhere else, I reasoned. But after looking high and low, I woke up our grandson and had him dial my number.  Several tries didn't locate the phone!

We had to go out, so I gave up and headed toward the door.  Going back to turn off the kitchen light, I couldn't believe my eyes. There it was, on top the cookie  jar! Evidently, I unwittingly left it there! I examined it and found that the sound was off! How that happened, I don't know! No wonder I couldn't find it!

Not having communication was a strange, empty feeling of being disconnected. Nowadays, we take for granted the ability to be in touch instantly with almost anybody in the world!

I got to thinking that the inability to communicate is inconvenient, but it would be nothing to compare with being out of touch with God, our heavenly Father! Sometimes we may feel as if God is far away, but it is usually because we have not sought Him or have been neglectful of prayer and His Word.

I have been reading my One Year Bible since I bought it at the beginning of the year. I got a little behind, though, when I accidentally left my Bible at the home of our son in Houston. It was a while before he got it in the mail back to me, and I am still catching up, but if I miss a day, I do feel as if something is missing and try to make up for it the next day.

I'm reminded of an old song written when telephones were always in the same place, attached to the wall, called "Royal Telephone."  Some of the lyrics are:  "Central's never busy, always on the line, you can hear from Heaven almost any time."

It is still true! Jesus is waiting for us to contact Him! Being disconnected to Him is so much worse than misplacing a phone with the sound turned off!

What's in a Name?

Not long ago, a Mississippi friend posted a picture on Facebook of an old time singer. She got a response saying what a great singer he was.  "He was the best!" my friend exclaimed.

"Who is that?" I wrote. A few minutes later, I got a message that said, "Thelma, watch this!"

So I tuned in on the video to hear Jimmie Rodgers warbling out the words, "T for Texas, T for Tennessee," then a few minutes later, he yodeled and sang, "T for Thelma, the girl that made a wreck out of me."

I had to laugh. It seemed funny to hear my name being sung in that song, although I had heard it many times and often sang it myself.  Once I was even tempted to buy an artistic picture of Texas with the words,  "T for Thelma" in very large print at the bottom. Something about hearing the song blaring in a famous voice from the past made me happy and giggly in spite of myself.

My mother named me "Thelma" after her sister, my Aunt Thelma.  I'm sure it was a popular name back then, but I had never liked it, seeming old-fashioned and outdated. I even started going by the name "Thea" for awhile, as a more contemporary-style name, but I soon went back to the familiar.

This morning, a newcomer to our church came up and introduced herself to me, saying, "I haven't met you," and we exchanged names. "Thelma!" she exclaimed, "That was my mother's name!"  Of course! I told her it was also my aunt's name.

Since I was born in June, that is my middle name. (Being that I was the sixth child, I think Mama was out of ideas for names.)  Now my delightful little great-granddaughter has June for her middle name, too!

The most important name of all is Jesus! We finish our prayers and requests, "In Jesus' name, Amen."  His is the Name above all names!  Scriptures indicate we will receive a new name in Heaven: Rev. 2:17; Rev. 3:12; Isaiah 62:2 and others. I'm sure mine will be a name I will like!

Sunday Surprise

Saturday night I was very tired and went to bed at 9:00 o'clock. This made me awaken Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m.  Oh well, I thought, "This will give me plenty of time to get ready for church." I went through  my routine, got Howard out of bed, selected my clothes, and, since we would eat breakfast at church, there was nothing else to do.

Then I got an anxious report from my husband who had been getting dressed. "My wallet is gone!" he announced in alarm. He was frantically searching everywhere, then I realized it wasn't his wallet that was missing, but a packet where he kept important cards and his driver's license.

Oh, no! Our lifeline! I thought. Time slipped away as we checked clothing pockets, desks, bureaus and everywhere else we could think of.  Trying to re-trace our steps from the day before, we called the stores and businesses where we had been on Saturday. No one had found any of our cards. Of course, we prayed that the lost  would be found.

Distressed and running late, we missed our Sunday School class, but made it in time for church. Our pastor had just returned from a mission trip and was on fire with his morning message. He invited anyone who had a need to come to the front for prayer.

"I have a need," Howard nudged me. I knew what he meant, and we made our way to the front with dozens of others. All we could do was trust God in our dilemma.

We decided to get lunch in town and called our grandson at home to see if he wanted to eat with us. He agreed, and we headed home to pick him up. I got out of the car to go into the house, when a small brown object on the ground caught my eye.

"Howard! I found it!" I exclaimed jubilantly. It was his packet of cards and driver's license! (We had driven with no license!)

He was beside himself with joy and praises to God!  How could we have missed it!  But of course we had parked at a  slightly different angle which revealed the lost treasure!  We don't know how it got there, but we know Who showed it to us, keeping it safe from wind, doggie nibbles or tire tracks!

Needless to say, we enjoyed a very lighthearted meal with plenty of smiles and thankful hearts. As the song goes, "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." Amen!

Reflections

Things I never knew about my husband:

 At age 12, he was the janitor of his church. Sweeping, mopping classrooms and sanctuary and cleaning restrooms.

At age 13, he was the song leader at his church.

During these years, he played the main wise man in Christmas plays, memorizing endless lines of script.

At age 14, he accompanied the church pianist with his guitar and was on the worship team.

No wonder I fell in love with him when he was 15! When he came into our church, I was smitten.

Things I did learn about him as a teenager:

In the contributions received each Wednesday night for the Friday radio program, he always gave the last dollar.

After the service when we as teens wanted to go get a coke, we had to wait until he was finished praying at the altar.

Here, too, he often led the song service.

Later, I learned he was a good example for our six children who were also brought up in church!

Jumping to Conclusions!

Not long ago we got into our van to do some errands, and instead of the motor purring like a kitten, a horrible grinding noise emitted from the hood. The vehicle wouldn't budge, no matter how much we tried.

"Must be the transmission," was the conclusion.  Oh, no! That would be expensive! Prices were investigated, all of which were thousands of dollars. We let the van sit for weeks, relying on driving our trusty Nissan, even though it had been hit by a hit and run driver a couple of years ago. It wasn't pretty, but it got us where we wanted to go.

(A couple of days ago, we were loading groceries into said car, when a passerby in Walmart's lot stopped and remarked cheerfully, "It don't look like much, but it gets the job done!" ) I had to agree.

Earlier, one of our church friends had taken it upon himself to search for us a good deal on a tranny. We appreciated it, but all was still out of our reach. However, his helpful suggestion prompted my husband to explore a little further rather than abandoning ship, so to speak. He called a mechanic friend who agreed to look at our Honda.

After his inspection, the knowledgeable man announced it was not the transmission, but something less costly! Howard called our road service, had the van towed in, and yesterday it was repaired! Running as good as ever at a fraction of the price!

How often we expect the negative in any situation!  We might hear of illness or accident and worry unnecessarily, instead of believing for the best outcome. Or we say of someone's blessing, "Oh, that could never happen to me."

But the Bible says, "For I know the thoughts I have of you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11.

Or the scripture in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

I especially appreciate Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean
not unto thine own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path."

Using the van today and enjoying the cool air-conditioning, I could only thank the Lord for everything turning out for the best, and learning not to expect the worst!