Thursday, December 7, 2023
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Pearl Harbor Day in USA
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Remodeling
Trust in the Lord forever! He humbles those in high places. He tumbles the lofty city to the ground and levels it with the dust. It is trampled underfoot by the needy, by the footsteps of the poor.
Now that we are in Illinois, our apartment in Austin is being remodeled. Every one of the 166 Evolve apartments is getting new white cabinets, new sinks and black faucets, and quartz countertops in the kitchen and each bathroom. I’m glad we are gone while it’s happening.
Of course we had to move all our stuff out of those three rooms. Small price to pay. If all goes well, we will walk in our front door next week and be amazed. And they even promised to clean up the dust. We’ll see.
We’ve been here three years and just signed our lease for a fourth. When we came Miles had just turned four and Jasper was 18 months old. While Andi taught (and teaches) art at Austin Classical School, we spent a lot of time with both boys. That’s changing some now, because Jasper (pre-K) has joined Miles (1st grade) at ACS. But we still see Jasper a couple of times a week and Miles for shorter times, and they spend some Friday overnights here. Sleepover!
Who doesn’t love a sleepover? At least if you’re a kid and can sleep in a Coleman tent in a Paw Patrol sleeping bag and watch Diners, Drive-ins and Dives for two hours before you fall asleep. Or Daytripper, or a Disney movie. With popcorn.
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call him while he is near.
Usually we also go on a night walk around our apartment buildings. The drive makes a semi-circle, with varying amounts of light at night. We can hear the three highways that intersect nearby making their terrible roars, gnashing their terrible teeth, but here at Evolve Apartments on Jollyville Road, that sound is muffled. It is quiet. Not much traffic. Friendly folks in the apartments.
It gets dark earlier these days, in Texas like everywhere else. December 21, night of the Winter Solstice, will be the shortest day of the year here, too. But the temperatures are not often cold. It will be in the upper 60’s and 70s all this week. So our night walks, often under starry skies, will be more pleasant now (by far) than they were in August or September.
A few weeks ago we joined an internet group called “Bless Every Home.” Each morning about 2 am we get a list of five neighbors in our apartments that also belong to this prayer community. We can pray for them, and often do.
Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew. But his house did not collapse, because it was set solidly on the rock.
I look forward to meeting some of those folks who are building their houses on the rock. We know only one of the dozen or twenty folks on the list so far. She has a dog named Dublin and lives almost next door. Perhaps we’ll get together for a toddy or two when we get back.
(Isaiah 26, Psalm 118, Isaiah 55, Matthew 7)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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