THREE GRANDKIDS - AGES 6,5,4.  SATURDAY MORNING GOING ON A BREAKFAST DATE TO CRACKER BARREL WITH "BABA" and "MEMA". (I AM "MEMA").  Mommy and Daddy out the door for a morning Starbucks date.  

Blueberry pancakes.  Scrambled eggs.  Toast.  Two rounds of chocolate milk.  One trip to the rest room.  Pay the bill. In the car. 

Across the parking lot to Super Target.  In to the big red cart.  Baba is the only one strong enough to push the laugh filled cart. Everybody gets to pick one toy.  We walk through the aisles.  Examining the treasures.  One by one they decide.  A baby doll in a bathtub.  A stuffed animal that moves and purrs.  A very real looking chain saw.   We walk to the register, treasures in hand.  Baba pays.  Well taught grandkids say, "Thank you, Baba".  Baba's face lights up.

Get in the car, holding the toys till we "get home".  The sparkle in the eyes as they hold the little toys.. "if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your grandchildren..."...

We get home a few minutes before Mommy and Daddy. We unpack the toys in the family room.  Mommy and Daddy pull up.  The children hide.  "Where are the kids, Mom and Dad?", we ask. Giggles can be heard behind the chair.  "Weren't they with you?" .. they ask.. They act concerned... and then... the giggles are replaced with "BOO!"... 

They show Mommy and Daddy their new toys.... and... Mommy and Daddy brought home some surprises too.   We see the toys.  Stay a while.  We say goodbye.  Kisses. Kisses.. Hugs and kisses.   We pull out of the driveway.. 2 minutes to our house. We just had a few hours in heaven.  Cracker Barrel Heaven.  How wonderful God is to invent grandkids.

"You can trust me - God."  Phil bought me a wall hanging that says that.  I saw it in a little shop in downtown Franklin.. and when I saw it.. it made me tear up.  We have high ceilings in our home (I finally had Phil measure them.. They're 14 feet hight)... and it hangs up HIGH... to remind me that I CAN trust Him. Even though He has NEVER harmed me in all these decades of my life.. even though He always works things out... sometimes I just don't... trust Him.   It must break His heart.
 

"You can trust Me that I already know what you will have to face today and I have already made sure that you have what it takes to get through it" - God.

Ten million years ago - wait - ten trillion years ago - wait - a hundred, million, trillion years ago - God created THIS day.  And because He's had a couple of trillion years to plan today, He's made sure that EVERY SINGLE THING I go through today has been worked out for my good.  There is nothing that will happen today that will surprise Him.  It may surprise me, but He's cool.  He's good. He's fine.  He's in control. 

He has been creating a history of yesterdays which has deposited lessons in to my heart which will give me the grace and the strength to get through and conquer and be victorious over whatever comes my way.  Except sometimes I complain.. and whine... and don't like what's happening.   BUT... He already knew.  So.. as I get myself together and get OUT THERE... I will remind myself that I can trust Him.   And...I will.

Today, the news reports are about a cave that has been uncovered in a middle east town.  This cave is showing all the evidence of being a place where first century Christians HID and lived.   And maybe died.   They were fanatics.. zealous zealots. Jesus was everything to them.   Nothing else mattered.    But.. are they the example we are to follow?  

How much Jesus is too much Jesus? 

How much of my time is supposed to be spent thinking about and doing "normal" things like my home, my marriage, my family, my hopes, my dreams, my wants and wishes?  How much? What percentage of my time should I spend meditating on Him?  On His will?  On His Word? How much of me does He really expect?   How much Jesus is too much?  What percentage of Him is the correct "balance" to have a normal and healthy existence on earth?  Where is the saturation point of spirituality?  When am I so heavenly minded that I'm no earthly good?   

AS IF these cave dwellers even asked themselves these questions. 

As if a wife would say to her husband,  "Our children are missing out on their education by hiding in this cave."  or 

"I want to take a HOT shower now and then, ya know???"  or 

"I cannot believe I am giving up my house and car to hide in this cave with you."  or  "I need a manicure!" or "My roots are showing" or "What about our retirement?"
 

This woman didn't care!!  Jesus was worth it to her.   She could never get enough Jesus.  There was never too much Jesus in her life.   Is she my example?  There isn't a sword in sight... nor a lion to devour me... or a crucifixion on the horizon.   Can't I just go to the mall?

In honor of those unnamed cave dwellers, especially the women, who gave up their lives for the Gospel, who gave up their comfort for the Gospel, who gave up their future for the Gospel,   I want to say "Thank you for never asking yourself those diabolical questions... Thank you and praise God!"

Supposedly - if you watch the news and Hollywood actors and actresses -  concerns about Global Warming is a new and very "in" kind of thing to be concerned about. 

BUT... When I was a kid... way...way....way... back then, we worried about Global Warming too.  Yup, I clearly remember the teachers having us practice hiding under our desks to avoid  Global Warming.  Oh... uh... except back then we called it Nuclear War.   Yeah, we USED to worry about countries attacking us with nuclear bombs.  You wanna talk "WARM"? Now that's WARM.   That's real Global Warming.  More like Global Melting.

Evidently, back then they used to make REALLY strong school desks because all we had to do was hide under one and we'd be safe in the event of nuclear war.  At least that's what they told us.. way back then. 

And then all of a sudden, we stopped worrying about Nuclear Bombs, and Nuclear Holocausts.    People were assassinating Presidents and Presidential candidates.  So then we started worrying about ourselves and the guy next door with a gun, instead of worrying about nuclear bombs in a country far away. 

And after that we worried about gasoline shortages in the 1970's.. but not enough to actually fix the problem.  Evidently it wasn't worth worrying about back when gas was 34 cents a gallon.   So we didn't worry about the oil crisis anymore and see... we were right.  Right? 

And we worried about stuff like AIDS for a few years but.. then we stopped worrying about that too.. and see.. we were right. Right?

And while we were busy having fun and making money in the 1990's we kind of ran out of anything  to worry about.. 

And then on September 11, 2001 we started to worry about something called "terrorists".  But.. after a while we stopped worrying about that.. and we were right. Right? 

Because NOW we have to worry about global warming and that the planet is getting warmer because we're being such bad consumers.   And truth is.. we better worry about it. Global warming is where our worry should be.

Because we don't need to worry about terrorists anymore... right? 

And of course we stopped worrying about nuclear war decades ago.  And we were right. Right?