Saddles ready

Danny has been memorizing Scripture this year, according to a memorization plan. Tonight he recited the following to me:

Psalm 63

You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.

 I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory.
 Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
 I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.
 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

He recited these 5 verses both as practice for himself and as an opportunity for me to hear words from God as I went about my business (extreme homeschool planning). After reciting it, he followed it up with the background of the psalm,"This was written while David was hiding from Saul in the desert, when Saul was trying to kill him."
 "What a great attitude!" I laughed, then had one of those stun-gun reflective pauses...
I was thinking back to this afternoon when I was cowering in the corner of the couch, suppressing indigestion at the thought of the task that lay before me. Danny and I were signed up to teach the 4 and 5 year olds at church for the evening service. It was our second time in two weeks, I just didn't think I could survive another "lesson." Now sitting in the office, considering David's plight, the thought of trying to establish order among 10 sugared up, attention-deficient, brain-fried preschool boys suddenly sounded like a walk in the park next to being a fugitive in an arid wasteland. I prayed as I cowered, that God would help me. And He did. (But I have to admit that David showed me that my perspective may have been a little warped.) Tonight there were only 6 kids. And they were just a notch below their usually explosive energy output levels. And I had much lower expectations of obedience, so I wasn't so distraught at their lack of respect. We read, we colored, took potty breaks, ate cheesy poofs. I think I might have even finished the night with a smile on my face. To God be the glory.

These past two days, God's been working overtime to take care of me. Yesterday was a particularly busy day. Noemie's gymnastics class had to be bumped up to 5pm on account of a furniture delivery that had run late. As I drove home, I was eagerly looking forward to hiding in my room for a few minutes while Danny finished the dinner I assumed he'd already started. But as I was rounding the corner of my neighborhood at 6:30, Danny called me to make sure I'd seen his text from a few hours earlier about a shooting incident in Hallandale.

"So....that means you're not at home making dinner?" "Nope." I was speechless. "I'll be home late. Reeaaaally late."

I got off the phone and checked my messages. Next to Danny's there was another message- my cousin Fanny, who I had not seen in many months, had texted me to see if I was up for company. Heck yeah! I called her up quickly and asked if she was still around and she affirmed. Fanny spent the rest of the night entertaining my kiddos, allowing me to bathe those that needed baths and cook dinner and set the table. Noemie, who was assigned the task of setting the table, spent 5 minutes looking for the corners of my round table cloth before I fired her. Having to set the table after cooking, dinner was cold by the time we ate it. At 9 pm. But...we all ate! And Fanny's got a gift for keeping everyone in a positive mood. She stuck around till Danny came home, tired and grimy, at midnight. God had provided! He also provided some much needed over-time pay to cover all these fancy suits Danny had to buy for his new job.

What new job? Ahhh! Yes, we are in! At the start of the Jewish new year, which also happens to be day 1 of my 2-day anniversary (long story), we will be embarking on a most intense adventure that will last for most of the rest of our lives. First stop: Washington D.C. Next stop (which is only 3 weeks later): I have no idea. But I'll be homeschooling out of a box! Isn't that exciting?! I keep telling myself that. And I pretty much believe it. It's like that Steven Curtis Chapman song I used to love as a kid:

Saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace;
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown;
This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure

 On your mark

Get set

Well, it's not quite go time yet but we are crazy-close!