Wow. 
We’re in for the first time…and I actually watched it happen. 
Weird…

Sometimes I believe all the lies

So I can do the things I should despise

And every day I am swayed

By whatever is on my mind

I hear it all depends on my faith

So I’m feeling precarious

The only problem I have with these mysteries

Is they’re so mysterious

And like a consumer I’ve been thinking

If I could just get a bit more

More than my 15 minutes of faith,

Then I’d be secure




My faith is like shifting sand

Changed by every wave

My faith is like shifting sand

So I stand on grace

Waters rose as my doubts reigned

My sand-castle faith, it slipped away

Found myself standing on your grace

It’d been there all the time



My faith is like shifting sand

Changed by every wave

My faith is like shifting sand

So I stand on grace

~Caedmon’s Call
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It wasn’t pretty, but most battles aren’t.   Cowboys are 4-2, and I’m hoarse.

I think I will always consider tonight a missed opportunity.
Oh, well…maybe he’ll come back.

            Is this what fire means?

         
                            
Stand firm, Beloved.

Doesn’t it feel perfect outside?  That was the best word I could think of this morning.
Daddy always said God comes to Houston in October.

So, apparently, does Neil Diamond.
How I would love to be there.

October is a great time of year to go to the beach.
Especially right before the first cool front, like yesterday.
No crowds, big waves–I haven’t had rides like that all summer.
I got hit in the jaw by my board, though, and I’m still feeling the effects.

The cool weather agrees with Gracie, too.
We had fun outside this morning, and at nap time I wrapped her in a tiny quilt and she fell asleep in my arms.

Big date tonight, better go get dolled up.
Not that it matters–he always says I’m beautiful.
But that’s what daddies are supposed to say.

This song is in my head today…

The summer days are gone too soon
You shoot the moon
And miss completely

Now the fall is here again
You can’t begin to give in
It’s all over

Why was I afraid to ask for a purifying fire?
Was I afraid I wouldn’t hold up?

Isn’t that what fire means, dying?
 

I kept waiting for the right time to ask.

Too tired, to busy.

Got to make sure I’m ready.

You don’t ask for a clean heart on a whim…right?

Isn’t that one of those things to approach prayerfully…

oh, wait.



Just do it, Abby said.

Why not?

Is there ever a wrong time to ask for fire?



So I did.

Stand firm, Beloved.

I’m a disappointing recipient of
practical jokes.

Last night my bed was short-sheeted by a certain someone. 
Unfortunately for him, I’m a rather a routine sort of person…I never
just crawl into bed.  I always pull the blankets and sheet
down and arrange my pillows first.  I’ll admit, it might have been funny to see me confusedly
trying to figure out why the bottom sheet was so lose…didn’t I
already pull the sheets down?  Wait a minute…what the monkey!

My cousin was really disappointed at not having the pleasure of seeing me get my
feet all tangled up. 

At least there were no fake bugs involved.

Randomly…



The best thing in the
world–the smile on my baby sister’s face when I come home after a
weekend away and little hands reaching for me.

           Daisy, let it go

Home safe!

We left my aunt and uncle’s around 10:30 or 11 last night, and made it home in a normal amount of time, if not at
a normal time.  We had breakfast today at noon.  Most of
today has been spent taking boards off the windows, putting the fence
gates back up, and unpacking.  What was I thinking to take all
that stuff??  I’ll tell you one thing, my room is about to get a
major fall-cleaning job.  Why do I keep stuff I don’t need or care
about.  I have this horrible fear that I’m one of those “what if
it comes in handy someday” people.  Aaaaaaa……  Must
change.

Considering what we thought might happen here before we left, it’s
weird to come back to things like a refrigerator full of still-good
food.  (Good thing, too…the grocery store is out of
everything.)  We had minimal damage–as in one tree branch one the
ground and Stacy’s
rose bush fell over, still rooted.  I think the crape myrtles have
about half as many leaves.  But that’s it.  Wow.  What
were You
doing, Lord?

It feels almost silly to thank Him…
(explanation in the comments)

 

                              
Now I know how the children of Israel felt on their mass exodus. 

 

Recounting our journey:

~at least the Israelites didn’t have “gestapo” police making them go on certain roads.

~left home at 5:46am, Thursday; destination: Grandma’s house in north Austin.

~15 hours (including some stops) from our driveway
to hers.  Ouch.  At least most of it was spent on county
and FM roads which were much cooler, and prettier.

~thought we’d never get off Hwy. 6…spent six hours in Sugarland
going about 3 mph., trying to keep the engines cool and the gas
conserved by not running the A/C.

~Spy Game was an ironically appropriate soundtrack for
trying to get out of the Houston area.  It even worked in
stop-and-go traffic.

~thank God for Microsoft Maps and Streets and a laptop that
works.  Our route was not so indirect as it felt, we just went a
little further north before coming to Austin through Georgetown and
Round Rock.

~I didn’t care how long it took, I was so happy to be on those back
roads.  “Scenic” agrees with me.  Shelly and I laughed a lot
and listened to Iron Will and Spy Game, Jars of Clay, and Switchfoot.  Then some Miles Davis toward the end.

~I think I’ll have to live on a ranch somewhere out between Chappell
Hill and Caldwell, out by Lake Somerville.  FM 1155 is
gorgeous. Lots of hills and trees, little towns.

~sometimes all it takes to make you happy is finding a bathroom that’s open.  Clean and no waiting is a bonus.

~got gas at a full-service station (in Caldwell?), made me really happy.  Sometimes you just need to be taken care of.

~only ran the air on dirt roads and during the hottest part of the
day (2:40 – 4:00), when I started to feel sick.  Had to roll the
windows back down later when Pebbles started to feel sick.  Dogs
must need the wind to go with the motion.

~The mice perished, either of heat or fright (their box was waving
around in the backseat on top of Pebble’s carrier.  Shelly left
the the box near a dump at a closed gas station on 290.  She
says they were not so much pets as hobbies, but she still felt kind of
bad for them (we wondered why the squeaking had stopped).  We
laughed quite a bit about it, poor Thelma Lou and Trinity.

~riding with our arms out the window as it got dark and cooled down,
feeling pockets of cold air every time we passed a clump of trees on
the side of the road.

~got to see the sunrise and the sunset from the same seat.

~Felt surprisingly good when we got to Grandma’s, and the only part
of me that hurt was my right heel (I had my flip-flops off too
long).  Didn’t drag till the next day.  God was really
looking out for us.

~So grateful to have enough cars to carry the whole family and our
stuff, and to have a place to go.  It’s so nice to be hugged when
you get there.

~Dreamed about home all night Thursday, couldn’t figure out where I
was when I woke up Friday morning (I never do that), and was sad for
the first time all week about our home.

~Had the TV on most of Friday afternoon/evening and started feeling
a little silly for packing up and leaving.  But then, it was a
Cat. 5 when we left, so we didn’t know better.  And I can’t
tell you how glad I was that God spared our area, even our favorite
spots in Galveston.  Would I have been glad if He hadn’t?

~Starting to realize home is with my family, not the house where we live.  My security does not come from my surroundings.

 

 

    My soul, wait silently for God alone,
         For my expectation is from Him.
     He only is my rock and my salvation;
         He is my defense;
         I shall not be moved.
     In God is my salvation and my glory;
         The rock of my strength,
         And my refuge, is in God. 
         
     Trust in Him at all times, you people;
         Pour out your heart before Him;
         God is a refuge for us.  Selah 

                                            
from Ps. 62

 

 

 

We are still in the Austin/Bastrop area, at my uncle’s.  The
traffic on Hwy. 71 is pretty bad; we may wait till tonight to
leave.  Praying that we’ll all stay alert all the way home. 
Hopefully I’ll be posting from home computers
soon.            

Thank you, friends, for all your prayers.