Katherine, the directionally challenged: but divine appointment accomplished anyway!

So, Thursday while my handsome husband was at the Integrity music worship conference I was scheduled to volunteer at the crisis pregnancy center. I left in plenty of time, but as the title of my post implies (or rather bluntly states) I am apparently directionally challenged. Mind you, I did not get lost in the part of town that I rarely travel. No, I got lost in Friendswood, where I go all the time because lets face it...Alvin, Tx doesn't really have much to offer in the entertainment arena, but I digress. Here I am traveling along I-45 south (which I do frequently) and I totally missed my exit. So I got off two exits down and did a U-turn and got on I-45 north. I took the correct exit this time, but instead of going straight to 528, I turned onto Nasa rd 1 going in the opposite direction from which I intended. I finally got turned back around and found the freeway again and found a different intersection that I am quite familiar with and finally made it to my destination...15 minutes late. Oh, great. So, not only am I leaving early (to meet Matto for dinner), but I am also late. The thought going through my head when I parked is, "I might as well not have come at this point." However, God definitely had a plan for my life and another's life, as you will see.

When I got there, the other volunteer was taking a pregnancy test back for counseling, so I pretty much hung out and talked with the director. Then another client came in with her sister and mother, so I got her set up. (At this point I am feeling sleepy - not sure why - and rather complacent.) I took the girl back to one of the rooms for counseling and discovered that she was 15, already 29 weeks pregnant, and her mom just found out the week before. I counseled this girl on abstinence and STD's before I even got to the spiritual issues. Then I shared the gospel with her. God is so good. Everytime I present the gospel it is different. God always puts the words in my mouth that the receiver needs to hear. This girl ended up accepting Christ that day and we got her plugged into a pregnancy center a little closer to her, as well as a church right across the street from her high school. (One of the volunteers that works on Monday just happened to be visiting the center at that moment and she knew of a church my client's area.) The girl will probably come back to our center when I start teaching Childbirth education classes in January so I might get to see her again. I was also able to counsel her mother a little too.

As I look back on this experience I can see two hands working here. I definitely see Satan trying to influence this appointment. I didn't want to go to the center at all because my lazy self wanted to stay at the hotel and...be lazy. On the way to the center I got lost ( in a familiar part of town) not to mention sleepy (which is probably why I was having so much trouble). When I got there I was still sleepy and rather complacent. But God, right? God won (as He always does). I made it to the center (albeit 15 minutes late). Once I got the client in the room I woke up and God put the words she needed to hear in my mouth and opened her heart. My friend, Megan, just happened to be available to give me the name of a church for this girl to go to. God set the situation up perfectly to bless both me and this client. There is no barrier that keep us from God's will. It will be done!

Good times this week!

So this past week Matto went to a worship conference, hosted by Integrity Music, in north Houston so we decided to get a hotel room and make it a little "minibreak." We really only got to see one another in the evening as Matto was at the conference, so during the day I went about business as usual.

Wednesday morning I came home from work and went straight to rehearsal for the ladies quartet I sing with. It did not go well. Katherine gets a bit cranky when she hasn't slept all night. Then my mom helped me pack so I could get a couple hours sleep before I was to meet Matto for dinner. I ended up being about a half hour late as I apparently have absolutely no sense of direction. Hmm. Anyway. We had dinner at PF Chang's and then Matto dropped me off at the hotel while he went back to the conference for the evening session.

(By the way, he had and awesome time at the conference. He got to hear Lincoln Brewster, Paul Balosh (I know it is not spelled right - I'm lazy, okay!) and other names I am not familiar with. Too much fun. He was really excited and I think it did some good things for his spiritual walk as well. I am very proud of how much Matto has grown in Christ since I've known him. I am so excited to watch him continue to grow!)

...to continue...I hung out at the hotel until he came back from the conference. I soaked in the jacuzzi tub that was in the room (oh, yeah! - in the room) and watched tv. (Boring you say? Perhaps not. I watched a very interesting documentary on the weather channel all about the big fat hurricane in the early 20th century that killed so many people in Galveston. Natural disasters are always entertaining.) When Matto came back to the hotel we just hung out in the room. Very fun and relaxing!

Thursday Matto had more conference and I had Crisis Pregnancy center so we went our separate ways. I actually did not want to go to the Crisis pregnancy center and was thinking about backing out, but I went and was rewarded (it is a long story so I will post that one after this one.) We met up for dinner again and this time had Saltgrass. (Oh. yes. Definitely a real Texas steakhouse and therefore the only kind of steakhouse worth going to.) After dinner we went to the final concert at the conference together. Very cool.

I am now a fan of Paul Balosh ( I know it's spelled wrong - get over it!) and Lincoln Brewster. Not so much of the Canadian folk singer guy, but there you have it. Paul Baloche's (are you happy now? I looked it up and it is now correct.) music is very accessable for worship. The tunes are easy to follow and the words are theologically correct and very God focused. Lincoln Brewster is fun and the words are worshipful, but not as accessable as Paul Baloche. I digress.

Back at the hotel more fun with the jacuzzi action and hanging out and Friday we went home and had fun hanging out there too, despite the lack of jacuzzi tub.

Saturday I went with my mom, niece, nephew's girlfriend, and some friends from the crisis pregnancy center to se "Twilight." Very fun. A good movie that I will definitely own! Mind you, it is not necessarily a cinema masterpiece, but was definitely fun for fans of the book. I felt that it actually followed the book quite well.

Now, I am back at work. Yes, yes, I know. Only three days, but it is hard to go back to work after such fun not at work.

Another name for The Book

So, Tuesday this girl came into the crisis pregnancy center I volunteer for, for a pregnancy test. She had been there in April for a negative test and was coming again. This time the test was positive. One of the things we do when these girls come in is share the gospel with them. I have had the opportunity to share the gospel with several girls, but this time when I asked her if she wanted to "accept the gift of eternal life in Jesus" she said yes! So I told her the formula for the salvation prayer and she prayed it. I prayed for her and recommended ways she could take care of herself now that she is pregnant. She is going to have the baby. I encouraged her to let her youth pastor know she had accepted Christ and told her about a christian vice principal at her school. I also encouraged her to do a little bible study for new believers to get 20 baby bucks (can be exchanged for baby stuff). Anyway. That was my Tuesday!

Unity in Christ

As I peruse other people's blogs I see a great many (those that comment on the recent election) with a common theme. God is in control. He is in control of the rulers' hearts and He is the supreme ruler. It makes me happy to see like mindedness from the believers. Unfortunately I don't always see that and it bums me out.

And...God is STILL in control

So. Obama. The first thought that comes to my mind when I hear this word is "scary." Not because he is bad, but because of the other words that come to my mind - "socialized medicine, partial birth abortion, one world government, etc." When I first heard that he had won (one of my patients and her husband were yelling and cheering at the top of their voices) I was actually so upset I felt nauseated. I had to leave my pod because I just didn't want to hear it. Now that I have had a chance to process it all I am thinking, "so what?" God is still in control, even if the Democrats are taking over DC. Even if Obama is the anti-christ, as so many have pondered, I know who wins. So is this the beginning of the end? Who knows? I know God wins (no matter how you roll the dice) and since He is in control I don't need to worry.

Incidently, here is a really interesting blog about the election talking about the same thing:

http://deadtheologians.blogspot.com/2008/10/no-matter-who-wins-electionit-is-gods.html

God SO answers prayer!

One of the ladies I take care of from time to time has been in the hospital on bed rest since August. Today she delivered and both her babies are doing very well. I have been praying for her since I met her because the outcome did not look well and she has been trying to have a baby for quite awhile. How can one say there is no God when He is so evident everywhere?