I finally made it! I didn't get home from Phoenix until 2:30AM on Wednesday. I drove the last half of the trip and got so wound up it took me another hour to get sleepy.

Let me back up and give you the story from the beginning. My youngest son is in the high school band. The band was invited to compete at the Fiesta Bowl National Band Championships in Phoenix, Arizona. The previous year they were National Grand Champions at that same competition.

I didn't go last year because my husband didn't want to go. We didn't have the camper yet and I would have had to get a hotel room. I just was tired of going to band things by myself and decided not to go. This year, my son's senior year, I was determined to attend. As it was, we had the camper and I was going to park in the hotel parking lot. During marching season I pulled one of the two band trailers with a golf cart on it. My husband ended up going. We bought two tickets for the Fiesta Bowl football game so he and my son could go to that after the band went home.

Well, the band won National Grand Champions for the second year in a row! It was very exciting! The drum line (my son is in the "pit" section of the drum line) took first place as well. They took first in all areas except music and the parade portion of the competition. In those areas they placed second.

When we arrived in Phoenix on Friday our football tickets were missing. The game was on Tuesday. The band left for home on Monday morning. We drove towards the stadium and parked in a parking lot. We still didn't have any tickets and were having difficulty getting hold of the people in charge. We didn't know whether to go home or get a campsite in a campground. Finally the travel agency told us they would get us a hotel room while we waited to hear if they could replace the tickets. It was a nice room! It felt so good to take a real shower. We have a tiny shower in our camper, but I have long hair and would have used a lot of water getting it clean, so just took spit baths.

About 1:30 on Tuesday morning my husband noticed the message light on the phone was blinking. The front desk had an envelope for us. Inside the envelope were two football tickets (the seats weren't together) and a cash refund of the money we had paid for the tickets!! Wow! My husband checked at the hotel to make sure the camper and trailer could stay in the hotel parking lot after we checked out. I was planning on staying in the camper while they were at the game. They took a shuttle to the game and left me in the room for the last two hours before checkout time.

About an hour later I realized that they had taken the two sets of keys to the truck and camper with them. :-(

I went to the front desk to check out of the room and the clerk gave me the phone directory to find a locksmith. The one we found that would come on New Year's Day wouldn't arrive for a couple of hours and charged $75. Great! I sat by the pool and began my wait.

After a short while it occurred to me that I should go check to see if the truck and camper doors were locked. Over the period of time we were in Phoenix I once found my husband hadn't locked the truck doors and another time found he had left the camper door unlocked. GLORY HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD!! THE TRUCK WAS UNLOCKED!! (In all fairness I have to tell you that it was my son who was the culprit that time.) Recently I had made duplicate keys so that I had a set of camper keys in the truck and a truck key in the camper. So, I was able to cancel the locksmith and get into the camper to spend the day. WHOOPIE!

Meanwhile, at the game my son ended up sitting with people from one of the other bands that had competed in the band competition. At half time they all scooted down so my husband could sit with him. Then, when the game was over, we decided to head home. My husband drove to the California border and I drove the rest of the way.

There is a part called the "Badlands" about half an hour from home and the freeway twists and turns through that area. It isn't bad while driving in the slow lane, but when we have to pass someone in the fast lane it gets a little hairy, especially pulling a trailer. The fast lane is narrow and other drivers aren't always careful about staying in their own lanes. Instead of waking my husband up and making him drive through that area so I could close my eyes, I drove right through myself! OK, where is my badge of courage? Don't I get a trophy or something?

The next 4 or 5 miles I was breathing large sighs of relief that the worst part of the trip was over and we were in the home stretch when ALL OF A SUDDEN..... MAJOR FOG BANK! Right where two freeways merged, the fog was so thick you couldn't see four feet in front of you! I glanced in the side mirror and saw large truck headlights. I was trying to look forwards and backwards at the same time. I was merging onto a freeway in a 26' vehicle pulling a trailer! Praise God! We got home in one piece! It was foggy off and on all the way home. So, like I said, it took me about an hour to wind down so I could go to sleep.

God handles lots of things while we are busy going through our daily routines. He handles football tickets and getting seats together, unlocking doors, and driving in the fog. Isn't He wonderful?

I need to get this online. When my husband comes back from his bike ride we are going to be trimming bushes and trees in our yard. I can't let him alone with a chain saw.... he gets a bit carried away. Once a tree limb is gone... it's gone. The only thing left is an angry wife.

Link to the 1/3/02 Bible study.

My goodness! We're already one week into the new year! Only 50 more weeks until Christmas! Where does the time go?

I still have my Christmas decorations up. Being gone over New Year's has put me somewhat behind schedule. Oh well, it will get done. I will be having a smidge more time now that the band marching season is over.

I'm sitting here looking at the decorations on my Christmas tree. All of my decorations have meaning. There are some old glass balls that no longer are shiny that my mom gave me. They mean a lot to me because they were hanging on Christmas trees when I was a young girl.

I have decorations that were given to me by friends and relatives. I have decorations that have pictures of my sons on them. I have decorations that I made. There are some that commemorate special occasions.

I also have some that my sons made when they were very young. One of those is a paper cup with a pipe cleaner hook to make it look like a bell. The cup used to have glitter all over it. Now it is just an old, yellowed paper cup. I still love that "bell" and hang it on my tree every year. The prettiest thing on my tree is the angel at the top. She wears a beautiful be-ribboned gown and has porcelain hands and head. She holds two white lights in her hands and her hands and head move when the tree lights are on. Yet, if I had to give up one of those two I would give up the angel because of what the paper cup bell means to me.

Sometimes I feel like I am that paper cup bell. I feel worn out and unattractive. Yet, God looks at me as if I am the most beautiful person in the world. As far as He is concerned, each and every person is the most precious person in the world! We are never too old, too ugly, or too sinful for God to love us. Isn't that a comforting thought? Unconditional love is the love that God has for us. . . UNCONDITIONAL!

Link to the 1/8/02 Bible study.

Hey! Good news! I got my Christmas decorations put away! I've almost got all the non-Christmas things put back where they belong, too. Give me about one more day and then the house will be decent and you can come over to visit!

I still have a few things that I need to do today. I've left the worst for last. I need to change the cat box litter (whew!) and clean out the frig (another phew!). Since we were out of town for the entire weekend after Christmas, some of the Christmas leftovers got shoved to the back in all the hubbub. Finally, when it is too late, they are reminding me that they are there in the back of the frig!

Now that I think about it, I better put this on hold and go take care of those things before the guys come home from school. No need for all of us to suffer! I'll be back.

OK, thad's mudg bedder. Oh, I guess I can unplug my nose now!

I've added a few more things to The Clarion Call. One is an article about Nehemiah and the other is a Word the Lord gave me called, "Deep Calls to Deep."

Link to the 1/14/02 Bible study.

I've got two projects scheduled for this week. One of them I have already started. It is washing my windows. Most of my windows have mini-blinds which need to be vacuumed first. Then, occasionally I have to wash them as well which involves wiping each slat individually. They are bad enough that I am having to do that this time. Plus I am cleaning the window tracks. So, each window takes a long time to complete.

My mom has always kept her windows clean. They are her "eyes on the world." I've found that when my windows get dirty it bothers me a lot. After all, windows are made to be looked through. They are not meant to be noticed and should not detract in the slightest from what you see through them.

That is what we should be, windows. When people look at us they should see Jesus. However, we have a tendency to be dirty windows. They might see Jesus, but they also see other junk that is the worldly side of us. We have to allow God to wash our window. We have to allow Him to remove the things that hinder our being used by Him. He won't force us to let go of those things. We have to make a conscious choice.

OK, back to where we started. Once I finish all the windows I am going to get my tax stuff prepared. That will take a lot of time. There goes my week! Well, Saturday will make up for it. I'm going to go to an outlet mall and hit the stores that are having their winter clearance sales. I usually get some really good bargains. I have two favorite words. One is "free" and the other is "clearance" as in clearance sale!

I've been trying to catch up with bits and pieces on my web pages. I had found a few more Bible funnies for the "Does the Bible Really Say That?" page. I also added a couple more scripture references to the salvation page. I also added one more example to the "God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit- -How Can They be One?" page. I've also caught up on my guestbooks.

Each time I get caught up I think I will stay ahead. Then, it's one thing after the other and there is another pile of papers on my computer desk, begging to be finished. I know the answer!!! I'll get rid of my computer desk!!! Ah, you see.... when I put my mind to it I can solve my problems! :^ )

Every once in a while I think about how easy it is for me to get up in the morning. No, I don't mean I enjoy getting up early.... that part I don't like because I am NOT a morning person. What I mean is it is easy to get up in the morning and face each day no matter what might be headed my way. I am not fearful. I am able to withstand bad news of any kind.

I know that God will sustain me through anything. I still feel sorrow when I lose someone close to me or when something bad happens, but it does not disable me. I cannot imagine what it would be like to wake up thinking there was no God. To think that everything that happens is chance, to think that I cannot call out to God for assistance or guidance, and to think that I am only here on earth because of an accidental mixture of protons and neutrons is not something that would make me eager to get out of bed in the morning! I am not an accident! I am a planned, created, and loved person.... made by Almighty God, Himself!

Link to the 1/21/02 Bible study.

Remember those two projects I had planned on finishing last week, wash the windows and prepare my tax stuff? Welllll..... I DID get all the windows along the front of the house done. They really look nice now! The mini blinds in the two front bedrooms were pretty bad. Apparently the windows had been left open a couple of times while it was raining. It took some scrubbing to get them clean. I also had to do a repair to one of them. The cords had broken. I don't know how long my fix will last, but it is good for now!

The rest of the windows aren't as bad because it hasn't been as long since they've been cleaned. I just can't do them all in one day because two of them are sliding glass doors. My poor arms need a rest before I tackle them!

As far as working on my tax stuff.... I didn't even start. Too many other interruptions came along. I'll begin this week. Yes yes yes. I'll begin this week. (Notice how I am convincing myself.)

For some strange reason I cannot think of one more thing to say. I've been sitting here for almost an hour and nothing is forthcoming. I think I will go take a shower. Perhaps the water will get inside my brain and clean out the cobwebs!

Bubble bubble bubble slosh slosh

Oops, some soap and water seems to have gotten in there. Hang on a second. I'll try to stick a towel in my ear and sop it up....

Choices choices choices. Every day we have choices. Getting out of bed might be our first choice. What to have or even whether to have breakfast is usually a choice. Every minute of every day involves choices.

There are some things that are choices that we often don't treat as choices. Some things we refuse to give ourselves a choice because we know the results of making the wrong choice could be disastrous. Whether or not to go to work is a choice. Picking up our paycheck from payroll is a choice. Brushing our teeth is a choice. Putting on clothes is a choice. See what I mean? They are still choices, but we generally don't consider whether we will or won't do those things. We just automatically do them.

Many times we choose something because it is easier and quicker for us. We often choose to allow experts to do research on things and then we accept their findings as factual. For example, if you wanted to learn more about gorillas would you read books written about them or would you go to where gorillas live and spend years observing them?

Most people make choices that directly reflect on their own wants and needs. They often choose the easiest, fastest, most comfortable, most entertaining, most fun, tastiest, prettiest, or the biggest. As an example, most people pick what church to attend based on what they get out of it. Often they go to the same kind of church their parents attended. The reason is probably because that is the easiest way to choose and the church would probably be most comfortable. The pastor often comes under scrutiny to see whether or not he is entertaining enough. Often a pastor who tells funny jokes is popular because people like to laugh. Laughing is fun and laughing is a sign of being comfortable.

Once a church is picked then most people find it easiest to make the choice to allow the pastor to teach them what the Bible says. It is easiest to put our trust in the pastor to do the research and to gather all the information necessary to form opinions and then accept what we hear as truth. It is for that reason that the Body of Christ is in such poor shape. So very many people are going to church (doing their weekly duty, so to speak) and then putting their Bible back up on the shelf until the next Sunday. Nothing changes from week to week. They don't heartily seek an intimate relationship with God. They are content to let their pastor do all the work and just soak up whatever there is to be had during the week's sermon.

We each need to choose to seek God on our own. We each need to choose to put God at the top of our priority list for everything. This week's Bible study is about a choice that King Saul made that is very similar to choices we make today.

Link to the 1/29/02 Bible study.