DAY SEVEN – Ends with Danger – Road Trip ’21

This was pretty much my down day. No place to drive to, besides breakfast and local errands that is. We all need down days. Days to recoup, relax, restore, refresh. When was the last day you did this? 

But things don’t always go according to plan, do they? 

My Plan – ABC

A – Alone Time in the Word. The day started off as planned. Breakfast. So back to Seven Miles Cafe. Yes, again. Simple – pleasant – quaint – quiet. I took advantage of the morning with no where to be and studied. 

B – Book Time. I am a bibliophile, and that’s a good thing. So I spent time starting into a book that had sat on my shelf way too long.

NEW BOOK ALERT – I have three I’ve ordered waiting for me when I get back. But I picked this one up off my shelf to read on this trip. It’s not new, having its periodical publication in the 1920s. It came to book form in 1967, 10 years after the author went home to be with the Lord. I didn’t buy it. It’s one of my father’s books I still have and one I haven’t read fully. I plan on remedying that.

Arthur Pink’s Gleanings From Paul. This insightful study looks at the Pauline prayers. Pink digs into them; and in doing so, digs into me with challenges my brain has to wrap itself around.

From the moment of his conversion Paul was a man of prayer. His many prayers scattered throughout his letters are among the richest sources in all of Scripture for getting a practical insight into the subject matter of God-honouring prayer. Pink’s detailed study captures the essence of the apostle’s concern for the congregations on whose behalf he consistenly prayed. However, Gleanings from Paul is much more than a mere study of Paul’s prayers. Pink’s insights help the reader to gain a more rounded understanding of the apostle himself, the God he served, and the churches with which he worked.

– from book cover

Personal notes

• Not the easiest to read. Phraseology of 100 year old English. Scholarly and sometimes intense writing. Yet through it all, I am reminded of why I love books of depth and discussion. This is not a pick it up and read in a day book – not if you really want to get it.
• This book has more hand written notes and underlining than any other book I have from my father. I also am getting to see into this thought process.  This is as delightful as the Pink’s words themselves – maybe more so.
• This book is on prayer. A serious book on prayer. Who doesn’t need more of that.

C – Calvin-Time. Yep. This is the reason I’m here. He took off mid-afternoon and we had lunch at Hard Eights. We then went to Scheels Sporting Goods and walked around Grandscapes. Grandscapes is a brand new (4.1.21 was grand opening) development in The Colony of 400+ acres, 3million square feet of retail … mixing living, entertainment, food offerings, and lots and lots of distinctive retail. With nearby MEGA-MEGA stores of Nebraska Furniture, Scheels, and Andretti’s – this venue should do well. 

We spent some more time on errands and headed back to his home. 

The ABC plan was working well.

Then … D.

Wait, I didn’t order D. No D was mentioned earlier. Who inserted the letter D into my plans?

D – DANGER. So after a great organic burger from my DIL – I passed on the veggies – I headed to bed to catch up on the ‘refresh and relax’ part of my down day. 15 minutes later – phones all over the community lit up. We could hear the Tornado Siren clarioning across the neighborhood. A tornado warning had been issued in northern Tarrant county. Wait. We are in northern Tarrant county.

They got their pillows, they got their mobile devices, they got their dogs – and they went to the first floor closet to ride out the storm. And it blew through. Wind & hail (1-2 inches) belted the house. Community alarms kept sounding off. But it all ended within about 45 minutes.

Sleep was not really and option during the storm. And it would take a bit to come down off that.

The best laid plans of mice and men.

At the end of this day – I really did get some down time. I did study, read, rest and spend time with my son. But like life, not everything goes according to plans. Through it all – I trust God and enjoy his presence. Like my son spending time with me – I want to always spend time with my heavenly Father.

That’s my plan everyday. Is it yours?