Blessings upon blessings

I've got so much to be grateful for.  

Three things that really stand out to me from this week: 

1. God opening up my mind and helping me This past Thursday I was having trouble with my phone. I kept trying to get "Siri" to make calls & texts while I was driving and to get driving directions and it kept saying Siri wasn't available because I wasn't connected to the internet. I'd gone to the phone settings and unsuccessfully tried to fix it. I had an important meeting at the company I work for's corporate offices in west LA. I've been there once, a long time ago and didn't really remember how to get there, so I got driving directions off the internet prior to leaving from my work site to go there. Unfortunately I got lost. I hate that scarey feeling; I find LA a bit hard to navigte due to the busy traffic and density of the city. So I prayed and pulled over into a gas station parking area. I asked God to open up my mind and help me figure what setting was wrong on my phone so I could get it to work right. He did! So I could then get driving directions; it was close by but it wasn't an intuiative situation - I really needed those driving directions. 

2. God sparing our home from the fires Work is just so over the top hard lately! My profession is always challenging but this COVID sitaution seems to make it way over the top. I keep going back to James 1:2-4 in the Passion Translation and seeking to remember that I have so many opportunities before me for God to work perserverance into my life. However, due to all the work I haven't been keeping up with the news so at the end of a hard week and a hard day I make a 2 1/2 hour trek to my home in Wrightwood. The drive was grueling but I kept reminding myself that I was almost home. Right when I was pulling into the car port at home I got a text from a friend who lives in Wrightwood asking if I had all my stuff ready in case we needed to evacuate - although I knew there were fires in southern Cali, I didn't realize that they'd endangered my area yet. As I got out of the car I smelled the smoke and my heart plummeted. I've been praying to God's help and protection over the fire fighters and property...but now I began praying for my own home. When John texted our neighbor who works as a fire figher he basically said to be ready to evacate because it could happen. I would have never made the trek home if I knew I might have to leave again. Anyway, I'm grateful to say that the winds stopped and it looks like I'll be able to enjoy my weekend at home in a safe home! I'm grateful.

3.  My son Daniel who's refused for the past few years to have anything to do with John texted him this morning to make sure we're all OK in Wrightwood.  Thanks be to God!  This is a tiny step in the right direction.  May this just be the beginning.