Abbey's Cell Phone and Barb

Sorry Guys! I really didn't realize it had been over a week since my last post. Thanks for being faithful to check in, though. Well, Thanksgiving was a wonderful Holiday. We had a few flakes of snowfall to add to the festive atmosphere. We had a great time, just us, laughing and talkng around the table. We are such an animated family, things can get pretty loud at times, though-everybody vieing for their turn to talk. Recently we sat down to eat dinner and we bowed our heads in prayer. Immediately after the prayer Samuel Isaac blurts out "Hold it!" and holds his hands up in a motion to keep everyone from beginning the onslaught of verbage. He had something to say and he knew that if he didn't stop it before it started, he would never get a word in edgewise-haha.
I am not feeling well, so I have been dragging this week. I have run a fever for a few days and my fav spot is on the floor in front of the woodstove-so warm and cozy. Lying there like a cat or something-I learned it from Abbey. Speaking of Abbey, she is currently unreachable on her cell phone. It has taken a beating over this past year traveling around with a teenager and it finally decided it had had enough. Because of where we are in the contract, we have to purchase one at full price which ain't happenin' right now. Poor thing-she can't receive any texts, it's like her right arm has been cut off-lol. But, she is handling it very well. So, if anybody out there has a spare cell phone they want to sell at a reasonable price, let me know. It has to be able to take a SIM card. A friend of ours graciously gave us theirs to use but it was Verizon and didn't take a SIM card, so we gave it back-bummer! Thanks anyway, Tom and Jen (and also Carrie).
I went to Bible study yesterday at Miss Kitty's. I just joined this group of ladies. It is kind of a neat story. I'll share it with you. Back in October, I think, I had a yard sale. A lady came and was thrilled to find several things she was on her way to Walmart to buy for her grandkids. Baby gates, clothes, etc. Gracie was helping me run the sale and was attending to the lady. I heard her voice and she sounded SO much like Miss Kitty-a good friend and sweet lady who goes to church with us. I thought about saying to her-, "You sound so much like my friend Kitty" but I decided not to because I thought 'she doesn't know Kitty and I'd just be boring her'. Well a few minutes later she says to me "You're the pastor's wife aren't you?" I looked terrible, in fact I still had pj pants on, but I confessed that I was indeed the person she thought I was. I'm sure I looked a lot different than what she'd seen in the newspaper so I apologized for my appearance. So, she says, "Yeah, one of my friends goes to your church, Kitty Z****" In my mind I was like 'Uh UHHH!' But, I told her I was just listening to her and thinking how much she sounded like Miss Kitty but I didn't say it. So, we kept conversing. She was telling me that she thought God had led her to my yardsale because I had so many things that she was on her way to buy and she had seen my sign and decided to turn in. As she was leaving and we were loading her stuff into her trunk, she told me of a Bible study that she was in, in fact, I found out later, she was the leader of. She told me that a week from Tuesday they were going to start a new study on encouragement and that she would really like me to be a part of it. I was interested, even though it is in Hague which is a ways for me to drive. Anyway, that was on a Saturday, I think. One week and a day later, during church, another friend Miss Dawn (who also attends the group) spoke up and asked for prayer for the family of Barb R**** who had died in a car accident that week. I was up at the piano, as usual. I spoke into my mic. "Dawn, is that the Barb that has a Bible study in Hague?" "Yes, it is." I was stunned. She was traveling in the car with her grandchildren (the ones she bought my stuff for) securely strapped in their carseats. She had a massive heart attack which resulted in a head on collision with an oncoming car. She died instantly but the children, whom she loved dearly, were unharmed. For some reason, this hit me extremely hard. My chest was heavy. During prayer/praise I felt the need to speak of my experience with Barb just days before she died. She had felt, as I do now, that our meeting was a divine appt. Apparently, Barb had already informed the ladies of the Bible study that she had invited me to join. They had even ordered me a book, although I had not yet confirmed I would be there. For some reason, I felt that God wanted me to attend. He saw to it that I had met this lady, whom I have since learned was loved and respected by many for her walk with God, just days before she met Him. Her simple last request to me was that I be a part of this Bible study. And that, I am doing. I am honoring the last wish (to me, at least) of a lady I barely knew and had met only once, briefly, but long enough to know God was in it. I don't know what God has in store for me, I am just walking in faith. I hope she knows that I am there.