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If God Wants it to Happen, It Will
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Posted:Feb 20, 2006 11:38 am
Last Updated:Mar 13, 2006 3:27 pm 4715 Views
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Several years ago, our church decided that it wanted to send a Work and Witness team to Russia. I thought that sounded like a great idea, entered my name and went to all the meetings.
We had a year of planning to do. The trip was scheduled for the following June. Since the trip was expensive, we also each had an account at the church office that we put our money into every month.
However, right before Christmas, I lost my job. I toyed with the idea of dropping out of the trip, but my boyfriend at the time said that if God wanted me to go, He'd make a way. So I continued going to the meetings.
I struggled for quite a long time and eventually, in March, landed a much better job with a huge salary increase. But I had to make up for all the months I had gotten behind on my bills.
When May rolled around, I got a call at work. It was the director of the missions trip. "Cindy, I hate to tell you this, but I need to order our visas and plane tickets. I'm so sorry, but you are $1,000 behind everyone else." I begged him for another 24 hours and he complied.
Well, $1,000 might as well as been $1,000,000,000!!!!!
However......
Immediately, I called several of my friends and asked for prayer. I didn't ask for money...I figured if God laid it on someone's heart, it would happen.
One of my friends said she didn't have time to talk, but could me and the come by for dinner that night?
Now that's a good friend, who'll feed you in a crisis!
That evening, while I was over there, I told her and her husband that I was going to leave that 2-week slot open, would still take my vacation. I told them I believed God had something special for me to do, and I was going to be available. He could use me whether I was in Indianapolis or Russia.
I didn't like the plan, but I was determined to do God's will, no matter what!
When I got home that night, there was the usual thick pile of bills that seem to plague all single mothers. On top was a small check for $100. "Well, a lot of good that's going to do, God!" I walked inside and thumbed through the stack of bills. On the bottom of the pile was two more checks!!! On May the 19th of that year, three people who did not know each other, but all owed me money, decided to write me a check.
The total? $1,600!!!!
I screamed and called all my friends back, the missions director first, and let everyone know that I was going to Russia!!!
I had money for my tickets and visa, money to pay my bills, spending money for myself in Russia, and my at home, even money to pay a speeding ticket! The good news? I was going to Russia.
Now to some who have never traveled, you may wonder... what was the big deal? The team I traveled with did construction work and Bible school with interpretors. Me? Hey, remember? I'm the artist. And that year, June of 2000, I got to paint one of the first Christian murals to be painted in Russia in over 70 years! Because if God wants something to happen, IT WILL!!!!
Want to know what I painted? Jesus in the garden, on His knees praying, a tear on His cheek, His chin struck out with a determined look on His face. He may not have liked The Plan, "Father, if it be Thy Will....", but He would do God's Will, no matter what!!!!!
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Adventures with a Rental Car
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Posted:Feb 14, 2006 11:23 am
Last Updated:Mar 13, 2006 3:28 pm 4683 Views
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Did you ever have mishaps with rental cars? Seems to me, every time I have one something happens. Flat tire....speeding ticket....hmmm, and my all-time favorite.... the yellow paint incident.
This one particular time when I had my car in the shop, the dealership leased me a beautiful, very sharp, bright-red Grand Am for the weekend. Not bad!
Now when I painted on the Downtown Canal in Indianapolis, I always had an inner-city mission bring teens to paint with me on Friday afternoons after school. At the end of the day, the would help me straighten up, clean brushes and load the gallons of paint in my car, since there was no place for storage on the CanalWalk.
When I got home that fateful night, I opened the trunk to haul the paint into the shed, and was so dismayed to discover that the top had not been tamped down on the gallon of bright yellow paint. It had tipped over and was creating this huge puddle in the middle of the grey felt trunkliner. I dashed into the house, brought out a couple rolls of paper towels and newspapers to lay my paintbrush case on, and then hauled the other gallons of paint from the trunk.
Sheesh, what a mess!!!!
After everything else was wiped down and properly stored, I now turned to the grey and yellow trunk of this beautiful Grand Am. I sopped and wiped as best as I could and had filled up a trash bag full of yellow-soaked paper towels. I was getting no where fast! Then a brilliant idea hit me.
I drove over to a local car wash and parked in one of the coin-operated bay areas. You see, I had this splendid thought of using a fine spray to push the paint to the center and then wipe it up. However.... when I put in the coins, immediately this "WHOOSH" of water blasted into the trunk, cascading down onto the paint, which exploded, splattering me and the whole trunk, dribbling over the outside of the car, and splashing the car wash with bright yellow paint!!!!
OK, now I'm stressed!!
I quickly sprayed off the outside of the car, the bay area and myself and then stared in the trunk. I wiped up what yellow paint I could, and as I worked, I got another brilliant idea.
Now, I know that most trunks have a drainage hole. So, being the smart blond that I am, I drove into another bay area, carefully centering the trunk of this beautiful rental car over the drainage hole of the bay area. I chucked in another bunch of quarters, being careful to aim the whoosh-gun out into the air. Just a trickle...ok. So I carefully, as I intended to in the first place, sprayed the yellow paint towards the center of the trunk. I sprayed and sprayed. And sprayed. Suddenly a mound of bright yellow foam arose over the spare tire! Hmmm. Not good. There is now a yellow lake in the trunk. Think there was this little cap that needed to be taken off the drainage hole.... Crawl under car. Can't budge the thing. Then I get another brilliant idea.
I back the car up to the vacuum hose and chucked in some more quarters. Leaning over into the trunk, I start sucking up my bright yellow lake. Takes awhile, but I finally can see the bottom of the greyish felt. Meanwhile, the back of my mind is registering another weird sound.
With great trepidation, I peer over my shoulder and am dismayed to discover something very horrible. Out over the top, all around the sides of that huge round vacuum sweeper, rivers of yellow are pouring down, splashing onto the concrete, my rear end, and the rear end of that beautiful red Grand Am.
AAUUGGHH!
Quickly wiping my behind off, I pull the car into the bay area again and chuck down more quarters. I spray off the exterior of the red car, taking care to make sure the chrome wheels are free of yellow. Then I tackle my own rear end, back, legs and hair. Now I'm totally soaked, front and back! As the water slows to a trickle, I look sadly back at the tubby little sweeper that now has yellow stripes down the sides, and the yellow rivers on the concrete drive. Can't reach it with the spray. Can't be helped. I wonder vaguely whether they have video cameras on site.
I could bore you with the two-hour process of scrubbing and wiping that I endured to finally get that yellow paint off the grey felt liner of that rental car. But I'll be gentle. Finally the only visible sign of my traumatic experience was a faint yellow ring where the original puddle had been.
That next Monday morning, I drove over to the leasing company and quietly dropped off the keys, not looking anyone in the eyes, not wanting to be identified in a police line-up, hoping to heaven that no one would check on the slightly wet trunk. They didn't. I escaped with my life!
It took me awhile to stop jumping whenever the phone rang. I was having nightmares about someone renting a beautiful red Grand Am, running over a nail and having a flat tire. Imagine their shock when they opened the trunk and took out that bright yellow donut tire!!!
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