The Odyssey

Now that the power is back on at my house, I can tell you all where we stayed the almost eight days we were living out of suitcases.

WW and I both had to be at work Wednesday so we made arrangements with two friends, one kept our three dogs, and the other loaned us his house. The first night at Tom's his heater needed to be repaired so we slept in his house without any heat whatsoever. I wasn't even able to use my CPAP because the air, even with my CPAP's heater cranked up almost full blast, was so cold it felt like I was breathing ice daggers. Also, condensation built up in the hose (this is called rainout) because my breathing was warm, the air inside the house was cold, causing water buildup. When I'd breath in, it sounded like a soda can filled with pennies, making sleep all but impossible. The good news was Tom had the heater repaired so we had heat the remainder of our stay

Even though the outage was frustrating and I will have to replace all my refrigerated food, I have a lot to be thankful for. While staying at Tom's, the only exception the first night without heat, we had adequate warmth. We even had the house to ourselves since Tom was out of town. It wasn't lost on me that during the entire outage, not once did we have to stay somewhere without power. I thank the generosity of my family and friends for this. Heck, we even had a place lined up Tuesday night in case our power was still out. I also didn't have to worry about my dogs as they were taken care of . As for my food? ALL of it can easily be replaced. WW, myself and WD all came through this without harm.

About the dogs? All three were very happy to see WW when she picked them up and were more than ready to go home.

I can honestly say God did provide for our needs, even though much of the time, I was a little too frustrated to see his handiwork.

Boy if that ain't an example of His grace (continuing to provide for us even though we were frustrated and sometimes didn't see Him in all this) I don't know what is.

Opening Night

Last night was the opening night of our church drama "The Christmas You've Always Dreamed of." Overall, the play went very well and from what I saw of the audience, they enjoyed both the dinner and performance.

I've enjoyed helping and participating in the play (I have one scene and a whopping one line) Although I wasn't happy about many of the late night rehearsals, I'm thankful God used this event to move me out of my comfort zone. This was a much needed spiritual lesson. Many times God may want his children to serve where they may not feel qualified. In ourselves, we are unable to accomplish His will, through Him, however, all things are possible. This is what Paul meant in Phillipans 4:13, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me."

I'm also thankful my daughter is able to participate in the production. She is one of the Christmas Tree dancers. She told me she has enjoyed performing for the church and is looking forward to participating in the future. She is also looking forward to her mother coming tonight for the second nights performance.

I pray many lives will be touched and those who usually are not in an area to hear the Gospel will be changed by God's grace. All glory goes to God in this production.