1:08 p.m. Today's project was to get the biggest frozen turkey I could find, a Butterball preferably, before the 23+ pounders sold out. With my whole side of the family coming for Thanksgiving, I needed to jump on the grocery store turkey sales that began this morning.
The quest began yesterday, with my dad giving me money toward the gathering, as he does each year, and a discussion of the deals around town. Then I made phone calls, only to find out that the Sunday circulars would be the first revelation of the stores' exact sales terms and conditions. The butchers' lips were sealed...they know how to build suspense and get you into the store in person!
I set our bedside alarm clock for 6:15, because I knew I'd need at least an hour and a half to drive, shop, and drive back from the selected store before time to leave for church. The Lord prompted me to set my cell phone alarm also. I set it to vibrate on top of my clock radio, which has been a little shifty lately, even though I set it on the station with the strongest signal, KFI. (You can hear KFI in Nevada, and north past the Grapevine!) Sure enough, it was the cell alarm that woke me, and we got up for our morning devotions and prayer time.
Ads for Staters (.57/lb and $25.00 purchase) and Vons ($10/turkey over 16 pounds with purchase) were in the paper, but Ralphs didn't have a flyer. So I called, and their deal was .37/lb with $25 purchase! I made sure Steve was situated, got myself dressed and ready, and drove to Ralphs Mission Grove. Disappointment--the biggest turkey was 18 pounds, and the butcher didn't know when big ones would come in. Back in the car, I dialed up Staters in Woodcrest, and they had them up to 24 pounds, so off I went. I made sure to drive the 50 mph speed limit on Van Buren, because I didn't want this great day to be marred by a speeding ticket!
By 8:15, I had the biggest turkey in the store and my $25 worth of groceries, was at the checkout, and home before 9:00. Hallelujah, mission accomplished, thank you, Lord! Since we don't have to leave for second service until 9:25, I had time to eat my pre-cooked scrambled eggs, down some more coffee, do something with my hair and put on eyeliner, mascara and earrings...you understand, the necessities! We did make it to church by the opening prayer.
This may seem like another one of my madcap adventures, but I believe that God has called us to have what I term "focused determination" in whatever we are called to do. As a homemaker, my job is to feed my family prayerfully, healthfully and economically, as well as utilizing the Holy Spirit's gift of hospitality to my extended family. We really enjoy our Thanksgiving together and look forward to it almost as much as Christmas. It's the meal of the year!
I was bolstered in my faith that this morning's events were to be God-directed and God-ordained by the devotional I read at 6:20. The November 14 selection from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, probably the most-read Christian devotional of all time, said this:
"We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the culture of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never allow that the haphazard is anything less than God's appointed order, and be ready to discover Divine designs anywhere."
Today, God was in the miraculous birth of a friend's first grandchild; in the magnificent vista of blue sky and mountains surrounding us; and in every aspect of one of His daughters finding the right turkey at the right price.
Develop in us, Lord, the culture of spiritual discipline--Your eyes and Your mind to recognize, acknowledge and rejoice in Your mighty works!
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