Be aware that what I am writing today on March 21  happened on days 6 through 8.  It is now day 15 but I want to post about the days I was in Branson MO.  My cousin Rita and her husband Jerry are creating a beautiful sanctuary of the home they purchased a while back.  When I think of Rita I think of color.  And..I think of purple color in particular.  Her husband is one of these people who have been gifted with boundless energy and no moment is to be wasted if he can fix, restore, or create.  It will be fun to see their home in a few years with all the color and artistic talent that lives there.  I have permission to share some of Rita’s artwork hanging on her walls.  Also, I was blessed to sleep under another beautiful quilt at Rita and Jerry’s.  This quilt was made by her mom, my dear Aunt Vela.  I think I recognized some of the scraps that were part of the quilt.  In days gone by there was never any waste.  All clothing were made by hand and all the scraps were saved to make warm, beautiful, and sometimes crazy quilts.  If it were not for quilts while growing up,the nights would have been cold.  We didn’t even know that blankets existed.  I can still remember the first blanket I came in contact with.  Oh how soft it was and it seemed one had to be so rich to have a blanket.  Little did I know about all the love and toil that went into the quilts that kept me warm.  I know now.  Fortunately I have been recipient of several of my mothers quilts, many made with my leftover scraps of clothing worn as a child.

Again, I came with lots of food and cooked up some chicken broth and quinoa and salads to take to my next destination which would be Aunt Ester’s house.  But that is another story.  Rita was so gracious to let me use her kitchen and fridge.  And speaking of food…I was invited by my cousin Janey (or maybe I invited myself) to come for a Friday night dinner with her family at her home in Springfield MO.  My contribution was to be a bag of salad greens.  Okay, that sounded easy.  Well, here is the story of the salad greens.

Again, I located a gym where I could work out.  It is connected to a resort hotel and to say the least it needed a little update.  Lots of the equipment did not work, and no, it wasn’t me not knowing how to use it.  But I did find out later that the reason the treadmills didn’t work was because they weren’t plugged in.  I didn’t know I had to plug my equipment into the electrical source.  Go figure.  Well, after an exasperating workout experience I headed out to find the store that Rita told me about.  Which, by the way, was no where to be found.  I asked someone how to get to a market, was given instructions,  and followed them.  I got there, but let me tell you, Branson is not an easy trip with all the out of town people there.  But, I got there.  Because I was working out I did not take my purse but put some money in my pocket to pay for the $3.50 fee for working out and some for the salad greens.  No more money in my pocket except for $6.50.  Surely that would pay for a bag of salad greens.  Well, there I was looking at the  prices in this grocery store and realizing I probably needed more money because I thought Missouri charged tax on food.  I asked the man next to me if that was the case and he said yes.  So I spoke outloud (what’s new) that I hoped I would have enough to pay the taxes.  Food in Missouri is more expensive than in Madison.  This man (named Gary) said he would follow me and pay for anything I was short.  I tried to confirm that I thought I had enough but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.  He told me, as a matter of fact that he was going to pay for the entire bag of salad.  I would not let him as I had enough.  He said, no, swiped his card, and said that the lady that was with him (by the salad area) was helping him get his B/P down so he could have surgery on a tooth that needed to be removed and he wanted to help someone else.  I asked him “Do you have the love of the Lord in your heart?” and he answered he sure did.  I thanked him and told him now I could do something nice for someone else but first I would like to pray for his infected tooth and B/P problem and consenting, we went over to the liquor aisle and had an opportunity to pray together.  He left and I left.  I was going to go out one door when I felt something tugging at me to go out the exit way at the other end.  So I did.  As I was walking by I hear this woman try to get my attention by speaking loudly.  I turned, thinking she was selling Girl Scout Cookies and didn’t really want to be engaged in having to say no. But…it was a lady asking me if I would support Teen Challenge.  There was a table full of things they were selling to raise money for their Teen Challenge Ministry which helps drug uses get clean and on their feet while feeding them spiritually.

I said yes, I do support Teen Challenge and would like to tell them a story.  I told them about the salad bag incident and reached into my pocket and gave them the $$6.50 I had on me.  I did not want to buy anything but what I had, I believed, was for them.  As I was walking out of the store I had been thinking, hey, that was really nice that I didn’t even have to pay for the salad.  It was not planned so came as a nice something that had happened to me that day.  Well, after leaving the Teen Challenge table a realization popped clearly into my head.  I felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit within me saying “That was a test”.  I turned my thoughts to God and knew I had passed the test.  I know this sounds like a little thing, but for me to realize that God is with me always and what I do even in the little things is an important aspect of my walk with Him.  I don’t tell you this to tout me being so good, rather the opposite.  It would have been so easy for me to just wave off the Teen Challenge young lady and not give any more thought than, “whew, I got away from that one”.  I truly believe that that $6.50 belonged to Teen Challenge.

We had a wonderful time at Janey’s that night and the salad was great!  We got lost on the way (Rita was driving) and were about 45 minutes late.  Going home I drove.  It was raining so heavily and was so dark that I could only drive by seeing one or two lines on the highway in front of me to the left of the car. I actually do not realize how we got home in one piece.  I have had people sending me emails telling me that God has actually awakened them to pray for me at certain times.  Well, I want to tell you, your prayers are working!  I have an incident I will tell you about that happened yesterday when I get to yesterday’s blog info that will show you the power of prayer.  And I promise I won’t forget this story because I already wrote it in my journal.

We enjoyed visiting with Janey and husband, son, daughter in-law, grandson, and daughter in-law to be.  Ate a delicious dinner and took lots of pictures.

Janey is my dear Aunt Esther’s daughter.  Janey is believing for healing from cancer that she has.  I ask that all who read this will pray that God will answer the believing prayer of His saints and heal her.  Also, please pray that she will have peace and joy restored to her.