Because it’s Friday….

We might just be due for a little random….

So here they are in no particular order…and without numbers.

Because while I miraculously managed to imbed a real video link this week, I still don’t know how to use the bullet points or numbers on this thing….

<3

I renewed a license plate AND my driver’s license before work today (and yes, I was on time, thank you…even 20 minutes early) ….

AND….

donated blood after work and I just want to give a shout out to the employees at both places.

Even though they have to repeat the same information over and over and over at the DMV, they just were super polite every single time someone walked up.

Keep in mind most were holding the paper with the information they were asking right there in their hand

OR they had just walked past the sign that told them which direction to go for a new sticker…

but the lady just kept saying the same thing with a smile on her face.

As many times as it took.

Also my fav license photographer took my picture and once again I got a good one…thanks Chris.

At the Red Cross, I am happy to report the nurse that drew my blood was a certified angel.

She inserted the dreaded apparatus without causing me one tiny bit of pain…

but I went ahead and ate one of their snacks for all the times it did hurt.

<3

Among the delicious food we ate on vacation, two standouts were things you can make right in your own sweet home…

First…

Caprese salad with a delightful twist…fried Zucchini slices and pesto added to the traditional stack.

Such a good idea.

The other was Mango Iced Tea which was extremely refreshing.

I asked how she made it…Mango puree, tea and then shaken with ice….so frothy…so sweet…so perfect.

My good friend, Lisa. at the Mosaic Cafe tells me you can use a Mason Jar….how cool is that?

(And I have it on good authority they can whip one up for you right there at FCC)

<3

Apparently if you are married to me for 35 years, eventually I wear you down…

Exhibit A:

 

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

Russ said he had so much fun we are going to take a week trip together every 35 years…

<3

And last but not least…

while a lot of people were obviously on vacation last week, Russ and I noticed a few that seemed not only alone…

but lonely…

sad..

Russ asked me if I thought people might come to the beach when they are grieving and did I think there was something about being around the ocean that brought them some sort of peace.

He asked like someone who already knows the answer but just wants to hear it spoken out loud.

From my very first visit as a child and through my teens and adult years, the ocean is the place where God puts his vastness into something that resonates with me.

The tides swell in and out…

they ebb and flow…

All through the battles and campaigns

the rising and falling of kingdoms and cultures..

the ocean does it’s thing…

day after day…year after year…unaffected by the stuff that gets us all tied up in knots.

In the beginning, God’s Spirit hovered over the waters…

and in His creation He separated the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth…

and He spoke and the waters flowed together into seas.

And no one really can tame them or settle them.

To fathom the depths of them is mind-boggling.

They are gentle enough to lap at the toes

yet powerful enough to capsize the most powerful vessels made by human hands.

The prophet Isaiah points out that all of the oceans…

not just the shoreline we were standing on…

no…

ALL of the waters of earth…

are measured in the palm of God’s hand.

Cup your hand right now.

What can you hold?

A handful of M & M’s?

A few shells you collected?

I think I can place my trust in the palm of that Hand…how about you?

God bless you — each and every one of you…this has been a tough week on human hearts around the world.

There was Stuff in the news and Stuff that came through a text or a phone call.

You know where your heart is hurting.

So does He.

I pray right now wherever you are…He would speak His comfort in a way that makes sense to you and that  you would all know His Peace <3