More Memories Made

It is 2:59 a.m. and  I am sitting at the kitchen table in the condo we rented here in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida.
We will be leaving later this morning to make our way back home.
But we will not be leaving empty handed.
God has been with us this week, loading us down with some wonderful memories.
This past week was our Christmas present to the family. It started about 9 years ago when we decided that the best present we could give the kids would be to take them on vacation. They loved the idea of a week together, so Florida it was, and Florida it has been. Although the grand kids and I got some pretty strange looks as we were unloading the cars while singing, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." Inside joke I guess, what with the trip being their Christmas present.

The grand kids are at the age now that they can enjoy all the family time together. Except for the evening meal, it is a "do what you want to" kind of vacation. My goal for the week was to hang out with the grand kids. This meant a lot of pool time. They love the ocean, but the pool is where their hearts lie. We were blessed this year in that no one came to the pool the entire week we have been here.

Evening is the time we congregate, share a meal and bring out the board games. The guys play RISK, while the girls share dessert, coffee and conversation.  Other nights included TRIVIAL PURSUIT and SCRABBLE, where everyone joins in. Lot's of laughter and memories of vacations past. The last night is always reserved for MONOPOLY. This is the grand kids favorite and Tyler, my grand son, has no problem, or sympathy, for his Poppa when the money runs low. Can you say "Donald Trump"?

Lot's of prayer this week. Reminders of who we are  and who we belong to. Sharing stories about what is going on with each other. Sometimes during all the conversation and prayer, I sit back amazed at what God has brought forth in my family. Hey, let's get real here. There isn't anything special about me or my wife, but God has blessed us beyond measure. I keep telling the guys at Rapha that my God is not a respector of persons. What he does for one, he will do for others. I remind them that obedience to Him and His word is what brings blessing from God. All blessing do not come in the form of material things either. The greatest blessing we have had have been in our relationship with our sons, our daughters-in-law and our grand kids.


On Monday, the A/C started going out in our condo.By Tuesday, you could tell that it had gone kaput.
Calls to the front desk and subsequent visits by the maintenance crew yielded a sobering fact....
Parts had to be ordered and we were going to be without air. It was adventure time and an event that required prayer. I love it! How are you going to work this one out, God?
No A/C....
Florida.....
Middle of June...
Need I say the word..."HOT!"?
We prayed, asking for God's mercy in the weather.
He came through.
The air wasn't repaired until late Thursday.
But a funny thing happened during the time we prayed until the A/C was fixed.
The weather cooled off. Winds picked up and the temperature dropped into the low 80's and even upper 70's.
It was not the typical humid, gulf coast weather.
The manger of the condo told us that they were filled up or he would have relocated us to another unit.
The best he could do was bring as many fans as he had to our roomm and give us a partial refund of our money.
It all worked.
It was not unbearable. .The fans kept us comfortable. We are going home with money in our pockets.
One more "God" memory we can add to a long list of others.
God can be trusted, even if he A/C goes out.
You see, I'm crazy enough to believe that if we pray and ask....God will answer.
In this case, keeping the weather from growing intensely hot, allowing us to have a really good vacation.

I'm looking forward to getting back home and going to Vineyard Recovery tonight.
Seems like a year since we were last there.
I've been parked in Romans 1 all week. I mean literally parked there. Reading, re-reading, praying and seeing it in a new light. So I'm anxious to share it tonight.
If you're free, come on out and join us. 7 p.m. / Downtown Gadsden on Broad Street / located between 4th and 5th Streets. Hope to see you there.

God on you...
mb