4:43 p.m. Today's project was to pick my 83 year-old dad up at his house in Redlands to have a consultation with his new opthamalogist. The question at hand was whether Daddy needed cataract surgery. I believe he had one removed years ago, but don't quote me.
Steve and I arrived in Redlands in plenty of time to stop at Vons, use the rest of the balance on the Starbucks card I received from our church's women's ministry, and pick up some groceries. True to the news I'd been hearing, corn products, like cornstarch, Corn Chex and corn meal prices were very high--did you ever think that you'd be paying $4.99 for a 40-oz box of Albers yellow corn meal, cornbread lovers? Instead, I bought a 5 lb generic bag for about the same price. I am planning a little experiment: wrap the bag of cornmeal securely in Ziploc gallon bag, tape shut, and freeze. If it freezes without moisture clumping it up, I am going to stock up, because prices will go sky high when ethanol production for fuel rises. Food riots in poor countries won't be far behind. Bought an extra bottle of corn oil, Corn Chex and some cornstarch, too. We'll see how my little experiment goes!
Proverbs 6:6 says in the more commanding KJV: "Go to the ant, thou sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise: which, having no guide, overseer or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." On the human end, the Proverbs 31 woman makes provision of all kinds for her family. And if no real supply-and-demand problem arises, I'll still have extra supplies for my kitchen!
My dad was told he doesn't need the surgery and to come back next year. Praise the Lord! After we dropped him off at home, I called the body shop, only to find out that they had to do other things to it--they assured me it wouldn't cost me extra--and it just got painted today. They said maybe Wednesday. What?! I maintained a disappointed-but-nice demeanor and left a message for Bob and Debbie, asking how soon they need their car back.
More jolly news greeted me at the school district benefits office where I went to pay my health insurance bill. Seems I've fallen behind, but haven't received a notice to that effect. Guess I'll be out there tomorrow when my pension checks come in. One can so easily be tempted to take on a Job complex when bad news comes our way, but there is a vastly superior approach.
In Mike MacIntosh's Horizon online devotional today, which I read after we got home, he recounts the story of Ehud in Judges 3. Ehud did not lay claim to any major credentials, but verse 15 says he was "a left-handed man of the tribe of Benjamin." The Israelites had been paying tribute money to Eglon, king of Moab, and Ehud was sent to deliver the money. In a clever trick, he manages to get the king alone, and then approaches him from the left and kills him, leads a victorious war party, and the Israelites slay 10,000 Moabite warriors, buying 80 years of peace for the nation.
What caused the turnaround from subjugated to subjugator? Back to verse 15 (NLT), "When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help, the LORD again raised up a rescuer to save them." The people cried out, God heard them, and did a mighty work in their behalf. This is a lesson we all would do well to learn.
Steve and I took the time to pray to the Lord on the way home, confessing a lack of diligence in the matter, repenting, and crying out for deliverance. Rather than look ahead to other repurcussions, which is tempting, fall into despair or "lean on our own understanding," we decided to "trust in the LORD with all our hearts," Proverbs 3:5.
Any deliverance the Lord chooses to send will be the right kind of deliverance--and there is total peace in that!
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