Happy Thursday!

What a wonderful day! This evening it wasn’t too hot and a nice breeze came through seemingly at just the right time for us to be outside for dinner once again. It was so pleasant. The wind caught the umbrella a time or two, but it was so very nice we did not even mind.

Geni finally got her summer classes scheduled. Her summer is going to be really tough. She will be taking classes on two different campuses. By day she will be a Mean Green Eagle at UNT and by night she will be a student at TCC (Travis calls it the Texas College of Champions) with her classes not ending until about 10:20 at night two nights per week. Please pray for her!

Matthew 7:3 “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

The other evening there came a knock at the door. There was a woman I did not know at the door. She was wearing pants, a button down shirt and brown sandals. Her hair was a bit of a miss and looked as if it could use a good washing. She was a bit dirty, but very eloquent in her speech as she spoke to me. Her basic story was that she was living at the Oasis Hotel with her son who had just been released from prison. He was an epileptic. He really needed his medicine and told me several graphic scenes her son had experienced. She was from Lufkin and just needed $8 more and she and her son could go home. I do not know if she was telling the truth or not, but I went to my purse and gave this woman what she said she needed.

When she knocked and I did not recognize her I told Travis to go and lock the back door. How sad I felt to think that if she was distracting me at the door while her son could be coming in the back door to steal from us or to cause us harm. But then I had two more thoughts. First, “there by the grace of God go I,” and “What if this woman is Jesus and I do not help her?” I was standing in my house that I love and is filled with the ones I love who are healthy, with food in my fridge and all of the utilities on and cars in the driveway with varying amounts of gas within and all this woman asked for was $8 to go home.

I don’t know whether she really needed the money to go home or if she wanted the money for another purpose. I just know it was not my place to make that decision. I prayed for her and her son, gave her the money and watched her go on her way across the yard and go on down the street. I have not seen her again so maybe she and her son made it to where they needed to go.

And then I thought “There by the grace of God go I.” How many of us, including myself, think that we don’t have enough or forget to count the blessings of health, family and a relationship with a loving God? Yes, I worry about money and concern myself that there will not be enough to get through the month. This is sin on my part. But worry is not of God. I must learn to remain secure and believe with certainty that whatever needs we have will be met. God’s faithfulness to us is so much stronger than our faithfulness to Him. So, whatever was wrong in this woman’s life, my prayer was that God would make it right, that her needs would be met and that she would trust in God. Maybe she already does.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes, count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all so very much, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.