Three days here and there
The freeway was shut down last Saturday as Brandon drove us to a funeral at St. Matt’s. Thankfully, we made good time on our impromptu alternate route. During our detour, we drove past an unfamiliar street—Colorado Blvd. I smiled to myself. I’d been thinking about what to write about next; and that detour, with the Colorado street sign, confirmed it. This new post, The Joy of the Lord, would begin with last month’s trip to Colorado.
The invitation
On the first Wednesday in April, my friend Meagan invited me to join her and her husband Buck at their vacation home in Colorado this June. Was there anything unusual going on the day she invited me—the first Wednesday in April? “I woke up at 5:45 A.M. in the middle of an intense nightmare” with a Burmese python trying to kill me. I realized that the snake was Linda, my older sibling, who texted me that day to express her narcissistic displeasure at my refusal to see her. What a day.
Meagan’s invitation demonstrated three big things. (1) To have a good friend, you have to be a good friend. (2) God loves his children. (3) Journaling records the Lord’s love, goodness and faithfulness, bringing the truths of his word to life in my life. And yours.
Dear Meagan
Let’s flesh that out a little. Meagan and I have been in the same life group for 10 years and our friendship has deepened over time. Obviously, not everyone is Friend Material. The old saying—“Birds of a feather flock together”—is true. I like how our preacher puts it: “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” We’re naturally drawn to people we feel at home with or to people we’d like to be like. Meagan is extremely wise. She loves Jesus and God’s word. And she’s peaceful. When things exploded with the sociopaths eight years ago and we left The War Zone, Meagan was there—in friendship, in strength, in prayer. While she couldn’t relate to the abusive, disturbing situation, her wisdom had a beautiful impact on my life. And we saw each other weekly, for the most part. Meagan and Buck are our life group leaders. Praise the Lord.
The day before Meagan invited me to Colorado, she sent me some great photos of a mama cardinal building a nest in a honeysuckle bush outside her window. That made me smile. I journaled: “What a dear friend. I replied, ‘I love that! You will hear some happy chirping, my friend.’” Meagan sent joy my way. She knows cardinals are my favorite birds. And she has given me some cardinal goodies for my kitchen. Thank you, sweet Meagan!
God and dear ones
Did God show me his love directly and through dear ones before and after my snake nightmare? He sure did. Let’s look at Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of that week.
Tuesday—the day before
I woke up at midnight and finally got up at 2:45 A.M. to work on part 5 of A Year in the Life. At 4 A.M., I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast. “It was SO good. TBTG!” Later, I napped for a couple hours before getting up for work. Did my crazy lack of sleep ruin my day? Oh, no. My friend Sam brought me a Braum’s chocolate chip milkshake at work that morning. Delicious. And her husband brought the three of us some tasty Dude sandwiches from Dairy Queen for lunch. Two treats at work from two wonderful people on Tuesday.
Logan called me and we talked about the wording of his acceptance and decline emails about his 2025 internship offers. “What a big day! Logan accepted the internship at Andersen…. Well done. Happy, happy, happy.”
Charlene and I ate an early dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant. Great food, great conversation and a great friend.
Tuesday, April 2
Journal entry
Brandon and I sat outside with the dogs for a while and then played Farkle this evening. It was very fun. He won. …Later, we turned the lights out and snuggled with the dogs on the couch while we talked. We had the jazz guitar station on. It was very peaceful. We went to bed, feeling very relaxed, around 10:15.
Wednesday—the day of
God revealed clearly that the snake in that morning’s nightmare was Linda. The Lord was warning me so I could walk wisely moving forward. Yes, the nightmare was terrifying, but it was necessary. It was a gift from God. For more on nightmares and dreams, read this post.
Charlene and I had a good talk that afternoon. Brandon and I went to our chiropractor for adjustments. Lifting the hand weights felt really good. “Then we got super burritos from Taco Casa. Very good. I went to bed early.” (See the intro to this post for a little Taco Casa humor.) And let’s not forget Meagan’s generous Colorado vacation invitation. “I could ride with her on June 4 and fly back. That would be glorious! Lord, your will be done. Thank you so much for my dear friends.”
If I hadn’t journaled, I would’ve remembered the nightmare and the vacation invitation, but not the timing of either one—much less, that they happened on the same day. On the first Wednesday of April, I was gifted with (1) a revealing nightmare from the Lord who loves me, (2) the interpretation of that nightmare, and (3) experiences with three people who love me—Charlene, Brandon and Meagan.
Thursday—the day after
I finished the post about the nightmare the day after it happened, thanks to Marvin waking me up at 1 A.M. Actually, I should say, thanks to the Holy Spirit’s great inspiration and help. I journaled, “God is so good.”
And the Lord blessed me richly with more goodies from Sam. I call her Great Spark. She is spunky to-the-max.
Thursday, April 4
Journal entry
Sam brought me a Braum’s chocolate chip shake this morning—which I gobbled right down, and a piece of carrot cake from Rosa’s Café. What a total sweetie. [As I recall, I ate the carrot cake for lunch. Yum.]
Logan posted his internship on LinkedIn (as part of his [master’s] program requirements). I asked him to photograph and text it to me. It was enthusiastic, gracious and professional…. I replied, “Outstanding job, Son! I love it.”
…Brandon and I enjoyed time outside with the dogs. The weather has been so nice this spring. Thanks be to God.
The first Thursday of April was wonderful: Treats times two, celebrating Logan’s accomplishment, plus joy and peace outside on a beautiful day—something we don’t take for granted in Texas.
God’s timing
The timing of Meagan’s invitation was significant, and I had no idea at the time. In order to discover what God wanted me to see, I had to dig in my journal on three different occasions to find the date of her invitation. The number three keeps popping up: Digging in my journal three times; finding the date—April 3; and then exploring three days—one day before the invitation, the day of the invitation, and the day afterwards. The number three also popped up in the third paragraph about Wednesday (above), and the three things Meagan’s invitation demonstrated (above and repeated below).
The timing mattered, more than I realized. The nightmare was terrifying and startling. It was a hard way to begin the day. God gave me A Kiss On The Head from Jesus that very day—an invitation to a beautiful, restful, rejuvenating vacation in the mountains of Colorado. I find God’s love, his foreknowledge, his compassion to be remarkable.
He knows that I love vacations and Brandon doesn’t. He knew all about the stressors of this spring. He knows Meagan and Buck. And he knows me.
God sees me. God knows me. God loves me.
In addition to the gift of Meagan’s invitation, God gave me the gift of joyful anticipation. I got to spend two months—April and May—in a gentle undercurrent of something very special that I was looking forward to. What a blessing.
Big truths
Remember these important truths:
Meagan’s invitation demonstrated three big things. (1) To have a good friend, you have to be a good friend. (2) God loves his children. (3) Journaling records the Lord’s love, goodness and faithfulness, bringing the truths of his word to life in my life. And yours.
Brothers and sisters
When the love of a friend or relative shows us the love of God, we’re experiencing Matthew 25:35-40 (basic needs), 1 John 4:7-21 (love for brothers/sisters in the Lord), and/or Matthew 10:29-31 (God’s intimate knowledge of us—A Kiss On The Head from Jesus).
A warning
Evil people like my sociopathic mother-in-law use 1 John 4:20-21 or similar verses to convince their targets to say yes to whatever said evil person wants. And, yes, Her Majesty has sent Brandon those very verses to try to control him and make him feel bad for saying no.
Here’s the truth. 1 John 4 is about brothers and sisters in the Lord—Christians. When an evil person uses those verses, he/she is being a manipulative liar. Dangerous, evil people such as The Sociopaths and Malignant Narcissists of America are not Christians. They play for the other team. For more about the two teams, see part 11 and part 12 of the last post and this post about the occult. To explore how dangerous people use the Bible, saints, poets, etc., as leverage against their targets, read part 5 of The Sneak Attack. In part 6 of that post, explore how to demonstrate love toward dangerous/evil people—with truth, natural consequences and healthy boundaries. Where dangerous/evil people are concerned, remember our mantra: You play, you lose.
Let’s turn our backs to the sociopathic heat and step into a cooler, glorious place.
Colorado
The day before I left with Meagan, I journaled: “The timing of this week in Colorado is ideal. The spiritual warfare and other stressors of the last 6 months have taken a toll.” Vacations and other special days are a big deal, and so is their timing. For more, see Special Days, part 2.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights….
James 1:17a, World English Bible
Three days here and there
We explored God’s goodness on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the first week of April here in Texas. Now it’s time for a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Colorado.
Tuesday
We followed Buck to Colorado, stopping every couple hours. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversations along the way, as Meagan and I watched the landscape change.
Wednesday
The next day, we went to Eleven Mile Canyon, my favorite place we visited.
Wednesday, June 5
Journal entry
…We met Buck and he drove us along Eleven Mile Canyon. The trees, water, rocks, boulders and mountains were glorious. The sky was such a stunning blue with no clouds. We sat outside and ate tasty cheeseburgers and fries at Russ’ Place in Divide. …Meagan and I worked a 600-piece landscape puzzle. That was fun. She is very skilled. …Tonight we played 2 rounds of Just One. Very fun.
Thursday
The next day, Meagan and I went to Pikes Peak.
Thursday, June 6
Journal entry
…We got orange-cranberry muffin caps from The Human Bean. Deeee-licious. I drank the milk she bought for me. The drive up the edge of the mountain was scary at times, but glorious. I learned that “America the Beautiful” was inspired by the view from Pikes Peak. That warmed my heart. I enjoyed the film about the history of this mountain and the photos/stories in the museum. What a lovely, majestic place. God’s might and love are on beautiful display.
We ate pita BLTs in Woodland Park at 110 Reserve and then shopped at Goodwill. Meagan bought a game and a puzzle. I bought some shirts. We worked on the puzzle—a lovely still life with baskets, flowers, wine, cheese, crackers, etc. Very fun. Later we all played shuffleboard in their yard. I enjoyed that. After eating some of my beef stew with Texas toast and apple slices, we played Just One and Wits & Wagers. Very, very fun. What a great vacation this has been for me. The fresh air, beauty and simple pleasures give me great joy.
Beautiful gifts
And that was the gist. Sightseeing, chilling, reading, working puzzles, playing games—including ping pong, taking naps, praying, eating good food, going to church, and experiencing God’s glory through his creation and the gift of friendship. What beautiful gifts from our loving triune God—the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
and his greatness is unsearchable.
Psalm 145:3, King James Version
I flew home on Sunday with special memories and photos I get to keep.
Thank you, Meagan and Buck!
Coming next: Peaceful Readers, I have some sweet stories to share with you. I think the next one will include The Dog Who Ate My Ring, and much more.
Until next time, thanks for reading and for Choosing Peace.
Truth from The Word: Psalm 136
Song: “Known and Loved” by CityAlight
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