How many times have you asked God to give you a sign?  Maybe a sign that tells you what the right decision is?  Or a sign that tells you to stop and go in another direction? 

Shocking isn’t it?  Ok, so maybe not to you, but to us this sign is truly a sign from God.  

I had only visited the school once before, 8 months before the camp and I drove in on a totally different street and honestly didn’t remember much about getting there except that I needed to turn right off of the main road and the building would be on my right.  So you can imagine my surprise, as well as my kids, my husband, and the other Donna’s surprise as we saw the street that the school is on the corner of is “Arty.” 

The camp that Donna and I wrote is based on a character named Artemus.  And Artemus’ grandson is Arty!  We had spent hours debating a name when we thought of Artemus, because the camp is an Art camp.  Then we randomly decided that Artemus needed a grandson that was the age of the kids at the camp and of course the grandson would be named Arty, after his grandfather. 

So needless to say when we drove up on that Monday morning and turned on to Arty, our jaws dropped and all of my doubts about what we were doing and why we were doing it were gone.  God was with us.  God had provided us an opportunity to share His love with school aged children in Charlotte and there was no doubt in our minds! 

I am so proud of my girls, Abs & Cole.  They held a garage sale to raise money for ICO, our church's version of the American Belarussian Relief Organization.  They made over $350, shared their faith through a whisper to almost all who came (they told them what they were raising money for), and best of all, they had a blast doing it! 

Thank also to all of our friends and family who donated stuff to the sale!  We couldn't have done it without you! 

Earlier this week I had the privilege of leading a Bible study for another teacher at our church.  It always amazes me how much I learn from new people that I meet. 

Each week one member of the group prepares a devotion to share with the rest of the class.  I knew that I was just a warm body in the room when Iris began speaking.  She shared with us a handmade cross that she had been given many years ago from a gentleman.  She did not know the man and had not seen him again until a few weeks ago when he walked into the Senior Center here in Matthews. 

Memories came rushing back to Iris of this gentleman's ministry and how he shares Christ with others.  I can not tell you the story, I would not do it justice.  If I had known just how amazing this ninety minutes of my life would be, I would have recorded it.   The biggest thing for me is the encouragement that I received knowing that this group of ladies, all in their retirement years, have trully figured IT out.  They know the Lord.  They desire to know Him better.  They are excited still to be able to serve Him.  They are Leaving a Trace of their faith on the world. 

The cross pictured above resides in Ms. Iris' kitchen window now.  Attached to the cross was a note that read, "This handmade Cross has two sides, a smooth side and a rough side.  It reminds us how we'd like our lives to be as "smooth" as the smooth side.  We know that life really is as "rough" as the rough side.  The Cross reminds us that the only way to get to the "smooth side" is through Jesus.

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In the beginning, the very first day, right after God "created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1)," God said, "'let there be light;' and there was light (Gen 1:3)."  Then "God separated the light from the darkness (Gen. 1:4)."  It's right there.  Did you see it?  Did you hear it?  A clock started ticking. Tick, tock.  Tick, tock.

Why did the clock start ticking?  Did God need it?  Nope.  He sure didn't.  He still doesn't need time.  He is eternal.  Always was; always will be.  He created time for us.  And probably most curiously to us, He said it was good.  Right there in Genesis 1:4 it says, "God saw that the light was good."  The light that is our daytime, time that we so often feel is against us, God saw it as good.

Tock, tick, tock...

How often do you feel the stress, anxiety, pressure of finishing something on time? How often do you feel rushed to meet the deadlines or complete your to do list in the prescribed time?  Where do you find the time to spend with your family or God himself? 

What is it that makes your forget the good times?  The happy times, the memorable times?Is it the bad times that make you tick?  Do you have a big "drain" on your time in your life? Do you have something that really has no purpose or meaning that takes up all of your time?

It is a gift.

Time is a gift from God.  Time was created on day one.  What can you do with this gift that you have been given?  Will you use it to further the Word of God or will you let it just tick like a bomb in the background of your life?

... leads me to not post for 2 weeks!  Oh my!  It is amazing how a bit (or a lot) of chaos can lead you down a path of inertia (I couldn't get myself moving).  Click here to see the original post that started me stopping.


And how is this for irony, in a month that has been about stumbling, this picture is of the other Donna's knees.  She fell when running, during the day.  Of course she never fell all winter when she was running at night.  Somehow that must be a lesson.  But my brain is fried.  Maybe she will come up with something good.