Leaving on a jet plane...

That's right, people. I'm outta here. (for a few days, anyway) I will be heading to Minnesota tomorrow to visit the coolest lady I know. I am very excited. The six-toed man pictured below is not very excited. He will be holding down the fort and all four kiddos while I'm gone. I know that he will survive. I think the kids will survive. I'm not holding my breath that the house will survive.

Here's a cool (and constantly needing to be repeated) lesson that I've learned while planning this trip. Shortly after purchasing my non-refundable tickets to MN, I received in the mail a "Summons for Jury Service". A three week term (ugh) starting on Monday the 24th. I will be flying home on Monday night so you can see why this was a problem. Not to mention the fact that we have four kids and they are home schooled. This was in no way a convenient time to do my civic duty. I sent in a letter requesting to be excused from service and have been waiting to be "notified in writing on or before the Wednesday immediately preceding your service." Wednesday, as in today, as in one day before I leave.

Every time I thought about it I would get a stomach ache. What if they don't excuse me? Will I have to change my flight? How much will that cost? Will I have to cancel the trip? When will I ever get to see Tara if I do that? And on and on and on it goes. So, yesterday my Pastor's wife (very smart lady) says "go ahead and call them, they can be human sometimes." I did. I left a voice mail but I was still stressing. Then it hit me. God is in control. (you're smiling as though you always remember that -puhleeze) It's was true. God knew the minute I planned this trip. He knew the timing of the summons. He knew how badly I wanted to see my friend.

So, I confessed. "Lord, I have prayed about this and then ripped it right out of Your hands and stuck it back into the pit of my stomach over and over. I'm sorry." And I really let it go this time. So much so that when I got the call back, it threw me. Then when she said that I had been deferred (which means I'll have to serve at a later time but still) I knew exactly who to thank! Later, I was reading from "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" and was reminded again by the author:

"God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go."

The obvious question being, is where I want to go and where God wants me to go the same destination? I hope in this case, the answer is yes. I give each of you permission to offer the following services to my crew -pity, support, and prayer. Not necessarily in that order!

One final note: why is it that when you google images for Northwest Airlines you get countless pictures of crash scenes????!!!! -grimace- God is in control...God is in control...God is in control...