At The End Of Week Number One

Twenty-four years ago ...

2 Kings 5:1-18.                                                   January 7
128 days                                                             18 days
Shipra and her family.                                        9401.07

Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed!' 13

The first week of the new year has already gone by, and I have found myself forced to grow. It's like Mort Utley used to say -- in order to get through to the pony, you have to wade through a lot of manure. Much of what we face in life causes us to take perspective; none of it has the power to take us down unless we let it. I think that's how Naaman may have felt when he was told to bathe in the Jordan River to be cleansed of his leprosy. It was filthy!

There is no special power in mud. When I was at the presentation of Say-So last night, I remember the lead singer telling the audience about an experience she'd had driving and then walking through mud. She was wet, she was tired, she was a mess! When she must have felt herself at rock-bottom in spirit, she took a "perspective thing." Look at the mud -- the American Indians built homes out of it; God made man from it (every translation says "dust" I've read, but they're both from the earth); Christ healed a blind man with it (John 9:1-41). The power isn't in the mud, it's in the blood. Lord, I believe that You moved me to go last night. I needed to get my mind off work (I had just finished 16 pages of a draft of my senior research) and I needed a message for Wesley House Sunday -- thank you!

Maybe next time, before we're so fast to change things, we should think about what we've got.

[This journal entry of mine covers two more pages, and I've got some current events to relate.]

Saturday after Breakfast With The Boys over at Bethany I went to Minot Public Library and met two fellow Nanowrimo writers for about an hour and a half. Essentially we look to meet and compare our own writings, suggest improvements, and then submit them for possible publication. We also had some good laughs, as only writers talking shop can! I DO have to remember to bring a piece of my writing in two weeks though ... I hadn't paid attention to the full post, and I only had my latest journal with me so I shared three entries from it. Evidently I used to take the time to write out a lot, but hey.

Uncle Maddio's Pizza was Friday night dinner for the whole family, and very filling! I have to commend Martha for sticking to her new year's resolution to drink no more soda. I suppose you could say something nice about me pledging to give away 365 books this year ... it's not quite the heresy you would think. Or I thought. After I made a drop off Thursday I'd pulled into MPL's parking lot, then I looked up and saw Martha waving to me across the street. I had the car that day and she just missed me and was walking home when I happened to look up! Snow's still not heavy though.

Talk about a winter wonderland,

David