I’m beginning to think that the phrase “Expect the Unexpected” isn’t as goofy as I once thought it to be. But then, my thinking on a lot of things has changed over the past few months. Thankfully. I can’t count how many times I’ve foolishly questioned God and asked Him if He’s really sure what He’s doing. I’m happy to say now, that, by His grace, I’ve stopped arguing that line and started enjoying the ride. And what a ride it is! The past few weeks have brought events, opportunities and relationships that I would never have thought twice about, except for the fact that God opened doors and opened my eyes to what He’s working. I am so incredibly blessed.

“All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

Union Jack Would Be Proud

I've drunk enough tea this week to float the entire British Navy. So much tea that my Patriot Ancestors (that is if I have any Patriot ancestors) would be getting me ready to be tarred and feathered and writing my name under Benedict Arnold's on the traitors honor roll.
The reason? That dreaded 'L' word: laryngitis.
I started getting it on Sunday afternoon. What started out sounding like I just suddenly started smoking 3 packs-a-day, turned into the sound of an old rusty, squeaky door, and then completely went away. I mean gone. I was able to go to the doctor's finally on Wednesday (by then of course, my voice was rounding that last quarter mile pole and coming down the homestretch.) The diagnosis: allergies.

Look at this!

I found

this

site through Melanie's blogroll links and I can't wait to try some of her recipes! Her pictures are pretty amazing too, if you're like me and always wished you could have been born to ride a horse and live on a ranch. (I'm a pretty good rider but I haven't been in the saddle since I was in diapers or anything...)

Small Graces

Sometimes in life there are some very small and seemingly simple things to be thankful for. Those small graces that God shows us every day.
This morning, I experienced one such “small grace.” I was working the early, early shift at work today, which means myself and one of our loan officers come in an hour early to load our cash dispensers. Loading dispensers can be tricky, for various reasons and typically, this never takes place without something troublesome happening or going wrong). This morning, we had both dispensers done in record time! Nothing had gone wrong: the cash counter didn’t get jammed or decide to spit out the bills flying in every direction or count too many of the new $5 bills; (our machines HATE new bills); I didn’t whack myself in the leg with the vault door, or smash my fingers in the cassettes. It may seem like a rather small thing, “yeah, ok, so you had a good morning at work,” but for me, in my job, it was one of those moments where I saw God’s goodness to me in a very real way.
There’s a song that I remember listening to when I was little that my dad would have playing in the house or the car. It’s a song by Bob Bennett. Here are a few verses that describe my feelings very fittingly.

“Small graces surely have a meaning
Beyond their merely passing by;
They are a reminder to the heart
There’s more to life than meets the eye.

Cheerful greetings unexpected
Shared by strangers on the run,
For when the sky is clouded over
Still the promise of the sun

Is in the small graces,
The little moments when the miracles come.
These are the small graces,
Small graces pointing me to the larger ones”