Yet I will rejoice in the Lord!

Well, here I am on night #2 of being "home alone" (hey, that would be a good movie title...!! :) LOVED those movies!).  Seriously, though, I'm here, night #2, and I'm doing JUST FINE - really!  GOD IS GOOD!!  I slept REALLY well last night, waking up at 7:00 a.m., checking the news and falling back asleep until 9:00 a.m. . . . WHAT am I going to do next week when I have to go back to work . . . aarrggghhh!! :) 

This morning brought a light dusting of snow, and it was so pretty!  It wasn't enough though to keep me from running to town to have lunch with my best (girl) friend, Donna!  We met at Applebee's, had a nice lunch, and a nice visit.  After lunch, we walked to Younkers to check on the boots I had been looking at (and had them hold for me!).  I'd looked at the boots at the Younkers in Appleton AND in Green Bay, but didn't buy them - they were a bit more than I usually spend on footwear - BUT, I really liked them!!  So, last night, as I was looking in Rick's "sock" bin, I was surprised to find a basket full of loose change (Rick had jars that we found in the truck, under the bed and I think in the garage, but I never checked in the socks!).  When I found it, I was talking to Donna and commented that maybe that was Rick's Christmas present to me - my new boots.  So I called Younkers and asked if they had and could hold them for me.  I was pleasantly surprised when she told me that they would be going on an even BETTER sale tomorrow (today)!  I was also able to use a coupon that I found on-line for $10.00 off, so they ended up being about 60% off - a nice surprise, and a little gift from Rickey! ♥

They are "EMU" brand, and wool lined - which for someone like me whose toes are always NUMB with the cold, I'm really excited to have warm feet!!

After I was done at the mall, I headed home with the plan to stop at "the shop" to visit mine and Rick's really good friend Blair.  He owns/operates a muffler shop in town, and I was really glad that today hadn't brought him any afternoon customers (he probably wasn't as happy as I was about the lack of business)!  Blair has been friends with Rick for YEARS as they both own part of the hunting camp in Cedar River, and I've known Blair since high school . . . he's one of those friends that it doesn't matter how long it is between times when you see him, you just pick back up where you left off.  This time, the "picking up" was a little harder since we didn't really get to talk at Rick's funeral, so this was our "first" visit . . . and the "firsts" are always the hardest.  But, 2 hours later, as I drove away, I was so thankful that the Lord prompted me to make that stop!  That visit with Blair (who knew Rick SO WELL and could share so many memories with me!) was just what I needed - it did my heart good! :)  I won't wait 2 months to stop in and say "hi" next time!  After I got home, his sweet wife sent me a Facebook message telling me how good the visit was for him (& here I was thinking how good it was for ME!) so it was for sure a "God thing"! 

Once home, my mom & dad popped over to see my purchases of the day (my boots & a TV . . . no, I didn't "need" one, but the tiny one in my room was really hard to see, and considering I got $225.00 off on that purchase, it was a deal too good to pass up!).  I then got phone calls from Liz and Donna, so chatting with them while straightening up the house filled my evening. ♥

One of my devos today had verses from Habakkuk:  Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation, GOD, the Lord is my strength! (vs. 18 & 19a).  These verses come after hardships are listed, fig trees not blossoming, no fruit on the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls . . . YET I WILL REJOICE!  Now, I can't relate to those hardships - I have never even SEEN a fig, don't have a vineyard, hate olives, can't grow crops to save my life, and have no desire to have flocks of anything - I CAN relate to hardships!  Some days they are more obvious than others, but they are always there, big and little.  Another devo (I have a couple I read!) read in part, Trust Me with every fiber of your being!  What I can accomplish in and through you is proportional to how much you depend on Me . . . I care as much about your tiny trust-steps through daily life as about your dramatic leaps of faith . . . Consistently trusting in Me is vital to flourishing in My Presence!"  I LOVE how 2 completely seperate devotional readings can "tie" together so well . . . hhmmmm, wonder WHO makes THAT happen?!  So, again today, I'm reminded that God is in the BIG things and in the little things!  He cares about the "traumatic" events in my life as well as every little detail of my "every-day"!  

So, tonight, as night #2 reminds me that it's bedtime (I do have to go in to work for a little bit tomorrow morning before going to pick up MY GIRLS!), I can REJOICE in the LORD.  I can take JOY in the God of my SALVATION.  GOD the Lord IS my STRENGTH!  He cares about me ALL THE TIME . . . on November 5, and every day before and every day since . . . He did not leave me or forsake me . . . ever!  Each day He gives me those reminders - today in the way of a visit with an old (not as in Blair is old - old as in "long time"!) friend, phone calls from dear "sisters" and Facebook messages (as I was blogging here) from dear friends and a sweet sister-in-law!! ♥  God is good and He does watch over me EVERY second of every day!

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on YOU, 

because he trusts in YOU!

Trust in the LORD forever,

For the LORD GOD  is an everlasting rock!"

Isaiah 2:3-4

"Blessed is the man (woman) who makes the LORD his (her) trust!"

Psalm 40:4