Texas Praises

We returned late last night from Texas and checking on our houses there. Huge Praise and answer to prayer--our renters got a new job with better health insurance and asked if they could continue renting until January when they would like to purchase the house. Hip Hip Hooray!! Why is it so hard for us to learn that God will take care of us with plans to prosper us, not to harm us? In praying about what seemed to be a devastating financial situation, I had some premeditated ideas about how God was going to work all of this out; but somehow the thought that He would bless this family in order to bless ours never even entered my finite mind. I've been through this "lesson" so many times, yet I can't seem to grasp that He doesn't need my help or suggestions to solve my dilemmas. One of my favorite movie quotes would apply here: "The concept is grasped, it's the execution that is elusive." Hopefully, I'll do better next time. Thankfully, I'm a work in progress and He won't give up on me.



Back to our trip, we stayed in our other house since it's still fully furnished. Everything was in good shape except for an overgrown yard. Daily rainstorms have made it almost impossible to mow. Kevin and I worked for a couple of hours pulling weeds from all the flower beds. They look tons better, but unfortunately the backs of my legs are still complaining about the workout. We're still having lots of showings--one while we were there and two more today. I just keep trusting that God has the timing and details of the house sale already worked out for my benefit.



Wednesday night, we went to the Ranger game. Oddly enough, in the 11 years we lived in Texas, we have never been to a game on the fourth of July. It was a picture perfect night-- a cool breeze, the sun set shortly after we got there, the Rangers won, the game was short (only 2 1/2 hours!), and a spectacular fireworks show after the game. The only down side was the traffic afterwards. You would think Arlington would have a few more policemen on hand to direct traffic when the Rangers finish playing at the same time Six Flags closes. It took us an hour and a half to drive back to our house--a distance that would have taken 15 min. under normal circumstances. Thankfully, Katie and Nathan were snoozing in the back seat.



Friday we went to Six Flags. The forecast of 80% chance of rain must have intimidated most people into not going which meant short lines for us. It turned out to be a gorgeous day, cloudy with a cool breeze and in the upper 70's until late afternoon--How often does that happen in north Texas in July? We saw lots of kids from our youth group there; a fun day for them after working so hard at Mission Arlington all week. I'll post a report from their trip soon after I get some actual numbers. I know of least 7 salvations from just Alyssa's team and there were 4 teams total! The kids are still trying to regain their lost sleep so I'm sure I'll get more information as they recover.

A note about "Comments": Several of you mentioned you wanted to leave a comment, but didn't want to register. I've changed the settings to allow you to comment without having to sign on to make it easier for you, so comment all you want! I'd love to know who can guess what movie the quote is from!