Over 10 years ago my husband was a pastor, and we left our church that we dearly loved. We were intertwined with the people in that body of Christ and we always thought we would be with them forever. We birthed that church with a group of 60 people and nursed it and babied it until it grew up to be over a thousand. We cared deeply about the people and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and encouraged the people to grow in their relationship with him.

The other day I was in Best Buy and I was working through a refund issue on a refrigerator we were purchasing. It was becoming a headache but the customer service people and I stayed with the issue and worked it through. In the process, they gave me 30.00 back in rewards and 50.00 dollars back on my gift card even tho I was using it for my new purchase of a refrigerator. It is all confusing. Sorry. The bottom line is I walked away with an extra 160.00 dollars. I asked the customer service people why they were being so generous to me. They said it was because I was being nice.

I have learned that life orchestrates our "thuds" but also God knows what is best for us to grow closer to him in the midst of our "thuds." God does do the orchestrating of our “thuds” because he wants our total dependence on him.

I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart;
before the “gods” I will sing your praise.

I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name

I loved being a mother. I enjoyed my kids and I committed my time and energy to them. I had fun being a mother. I often think that I had kids so I could stay a kid. But slowly and surely my kids decided to fly and leave the nest.