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| My lovely granddaughters |
I very seldom get to see my son, my
only biological child -- only about once a year or so. He lives 1000
miles away in TX, so every visit is precious. When he called a few
weeks ago and asked, “Can you pick me up on July 30th?” it was all I could do to contain my excitement. In my heart, I was
already on the way to the airport; but, I had to contain myself for a
few more weeks. The days were filled with activities and as his
visit approached a bit more cleaning and cooking. You know how it
goes ....
Finally, the 30th arrived
and we headed towards Orlando to collect him and my two gorgeous
granddaughters (ages 6 and 7 ½.) Hubby and I and Gila (our new
puppy) loaded in the car and headed south on I-75. Three hours drive
and plenty of time to think. This past Shabbat's message was still
in my head. This past Parsha, D'varim, (Deuteronomy 1:1 to 3:22)
spoke, in part, about just before the Israelites entered the promised
Land, they had to rout the Canaanites. Sichon, king of the Emori and
Og, king of Bashan stood in the way of the Israelites possessing what
they had been promised. Would the Israelites rise to the occasion or
would they fail the test? How badly did they want to acquire what
they had been promised? We are no different. We face the same
challenges daily. How badly do we want to take possession of what
we've been promised? Our enemy lulls us to sleep with apathy or
distracts us with a substitute for the greatness that has been spoken
over us. We are super-conquerors according to the scriptures, but
do we give up when the task seems difficult? Do we get diverted by
the smoke and mirrors offered by the enemy? The questions facing the
Israelites and us is do we have faith in Word; do we have faith in
the promise; and are we willing to be obedient? Lots of people
believe in God, the real question is, Do they believe
God? Huge difference!
The enemy had put up roadblocks to my
joy on this occasion too. The week before meeting up with my Son and Grand-girls included a trip to the
dentist for a difficult extraction (who knew that the root of the
canine/eye tooth went up to the eyeball ... or so it seemed!!). I
came home and while putting something in the cupboard a can of black
beans fell out and hit me in the face ... in just about the same
place. OWW!! (Don't worry, I got even. I ate them!!) A few days
before, someone in the mishpokha had spoken unkindly which saddened
me; Hubby and I had quarreled which left me smoldering; and work and
projects seemed to multiply in the dark and that feeling of being
overwhelmed was starting to take hold. “BUT WAIT!! There's More!”
as the infomercials say. The deal is, I know Who I believe in. He
has promised to love me and take care of me. I have been promised the
peace that passes all understanding. The only time I don't have that
peace is when I-I-I-I-I lay it down!
So to occupy my time while I rode the
three hours to Orlando (also, to ignore driving rain and the ballet
dance of lane-changing that the semi-trucks seem to find so amusing)
I got out my tablet and kept myself busy working on this blog. I got
a substantial amount done and ... I hit the save button. It all
disappeared. The original of this blog and all the other documents I
had in the que were gone. I searched the file manager. Gone. I
searched the SD card. Gone. All that was left was the documents that
had been uploaded to “Dropbox”. I considered crying. Nope. That
just leaves me with fat lips, red eyes and a stuffy nose. Again, the
basics of the book “The Garden of Emuna” came to mind:
Everything happens for a reason. “Must have been something in that
blog Abba YHVH didn't want me to say.” I told Hubby. Hubby, to his
eternal credit, was quiet. No “could-a, should-a or would-as”
crossed his lips. We were close to Orlando; I put my tablet away and
let out a deep sigh.
A few minutes later there was jumping
and bouncing around the car as we reunited with my family. Only
Gila, who at 8 months old has only been with Hubby and I, was not
elated to see Son and Granddaughters. She warily stared at them and
trembled like a leaf during a hurricane. We stuffed the luggage and balloons into the trunk. Once
we were back in the car, Gila laid down next to my leg and slept all
the way home. I drove --
The visit was so short, just 2 days!
But I am ever so grateful for the time we had together. We went to
the natural history museum, the butterfly pavilion and drove around
showing the Grand-girls the sites of our personal history. We had
pizza; we had ice cream. We watched “Lion King” .... again. My
grand-girlies got massages from Grandma. They brought me baby frogs.
(Ewww!) We spoiled each other rotten. It was glorious!!
Then, this morning came. I lavished
one more indulgence on them: pancakes ... with whipped cream. And
the 6 of us (counting Gila) piled in the car to make the return trip
to Orlando. Again, the semi-truck ballet and the driving rain.
Again, the Traveler's Prayer:
May it be your
will YHVH our El and El of our forefathers, that You lead us toward
peace, emplace our footsteps toward peace and guide us toward peace
and make us reach our desired destination for life, gladness and
peace and return us to our homes in peace. May You rescue us from
the hand of every foe, ambush, (bandits and evil animals) along the
way, and from all manner of punishments that assemble to come to
earth. May You send blessing on all the works of our hands and grant
us grace, kindness and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who
see us. May You hear the sound of our supplication, because You are
the Elohim Who hears prayer and supplications. Blessed are You,
YHVH, who hears prayer (and I add) Through Y'shua our Messiah who is
the Way back to You. Amein.
Ambush ... an interesting word. Evil
animals ... surely, not in this day and age. Hmmm.
Hubby and Gila and I took the long way
home, taking back roads and stopping for lunch at Chic-fil-a. The
lines were long, but the service was excellent and everybody was in
high spirits. We ate in the car and enjoyed every bite. Celebrating freedom of speech is delicious!
Around 4 pm, when I realized I hadn't
heard from my son, I sent the following text (His responses are
preceded by an asterisk * ; mine by a dash - ).
- - Hola'! Hope all is well. Just wanted to check on you. Love you.
- * We are stuck in the airplane on the tarmac. Luckily S fell asleep and O is playing her video game.
- - OMG ... What a homecoming! YHVH be with you. Big hugs.
- * Update at 4:25 pm ET: At a briefing, San Antonio's police chief said a caller reported three vehicles in the lower level of a parking garage contained explosives. Bomb sniffing dogs 'got three positive hits for possible explosives on three separate vehicles/” The male caller also made “non-specific threats” for both terminals. Police are trying to trace the call.
- - Scary. Our feeling is that this may be a terrorist's test run or diversion (for a different target)
- * No, this is real. There are about 15 planes waiting. They just brought ice. S is still asleep.
- - Let me know when they release your plane.
- * (at 6:15) OK, we were let out. Getting out of the airport is the challenge now.
Ambush! Who would have thought that
the word would be so appropriate? Evil animals. What other
description could apply?
I am indeed grateful that my Creator /
Redeemer / Bridegroom / King saw fit to answer my prayers so
positively. I'm even grateful that the tablet “ate my homework.” The story wasn't finished when I wrote that version! I am so happy to have this opportunity to praise my Father! He is indeed
great, and greatly to be praised! My Son and Granddaughters are safe and the enemy is defeated again. Praise Yah!!
May your travels on this sod be filled with peace.
Shalom b'shem Sar Shalom – Peace in
the Name of the Prince of Peace --
Yocheved
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