He's There

Today, was a good day. After the FBI Clearance news dropped like a bomb into my world, I was a little miffed to say the least. I am now back in control of what senses I have left. I called today, exactly 24 hours after the FBI received my packet to see if it had made it through the ANTHRAX screening and was being processed. "I was told I could call 24 hours after receipt to verify my prints were being processed????" She says, "Well, that's not how it normally works but let me check." And, after being told 3 times yesterday by different people at the same office that no priority was being given to anyone right now, our fingerprints are in fact being given priority and they are in process!!! Huge sigh of relief! So, hopefully those will be on their way back to me either tomorrow or right after Christmas. I guess they deserve a day off like the rest of us:0)

Flip and I journeyed out into the land of the lost...that is what I call people who are still attempting to shop at this point. I had to pick something up for a last minute gift exchange. It wasn't too bad out there. Flip needed everything and wanted to make sure that Santa knew. I had to explain that Santa stops making toys about a week before Christmas so that he has time to package and wrap them all. Deep stuff...oh, to be a kid again.

Anyway, 5 days til Christmas...While I am so excited because it is such a special time of the year, I can't help but feel a little sad...so, I will share this...it came from a friend via email. If you have seen it before, read it again. It really came to me at the perfect time. Enjoy!

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian
youth's rite of passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.
He cannot tell the other boys of this experience because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night, the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly Father is watching over us,
sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him. If you liked this story, pass it on. If not, perhaps you took off your blindfold before dawn.

Moral of the Story:
Just because you can't see God, doesn't mean He is not there.