God works in such mysterious ways. I cannot fathom His love for me or why He chooses to bless me. I began reflecting on 2011 on Christmas Eve as I wrote the notes in my daughters' Christmas cards. For the sake of my memory and my family, I should take the time to start documenting a "simple" list of the highs and lows of this year. It is an incredible testimony to God's almighty hand at work. We have a book that our family writes in each Christmas, but I think the list this year (at least for me) would be a book in and of itself!
I'm not quite sure how it happened, but in the midst of Tony's vacation week, my schedule has been kind of crazy. I have something to fill my day every single day this week!
Tuesday needed to be declared a Toastmaster day. That night, was the first time for me to serve as the meeting director and facilitate the meeting. I was a tad bit nervous about that. There is an agenda to follow, but what if I forgot something and didn't follow all of the protocol? On top of that, I was to serve as an evaluator.
It all went fine. I think I am much tougher on myself than my fellow toastmasters are on me. They are so kind and supportive! I was complimented on both roles and won the award for the best evaluation. I haven't broken my winning streak yet - kind of like the Packers, I suppose. However, I am beginning to look forward to the day when I am not awarded the best of whatever I did that night because that will help me to grow my skill set some more. (part of the reason I enjoy traveling to other club meetings.)
After the meeting, I saw some people I knew at Walmart. We talked at length. I really don't know where it all came from. I was reminded of blessing after blessing, mixed with some of the trials my family has faced recently. One of them wondered why God lets people suffer so much before He sends the blessings. All I could tell her was that if God hadn't let us get down that far as a family, we wouldn't be who we are today. There were valuable lessons learned in the times we are so troubled.
I stayed up almost all night to prepare for Wednesday - a day I have looked forward to since November 5. I won tickets to the Milwaukee Art Museum and was invited to attend the show, meet for dinner, and participate in a Speak-a-thon. Tony agreed to go with me, so I planned to take him to a fun place for lunch. I was beside myself with excitement! I could barely focus on my speech (which I memorize and hadn't done yet).
Wednesday came. We left around 10AM with the faithful Garmin in hand. We used "her" to find the alley I was taking Tony to. She dutifully did her job, but chose to take us through the ghetto to get there. Very interesting! In fact, Tony does a pretty great comedy routine about that! To shorten my story, we had a fantastic day. The restaurant was fun, the Impressionist exhibit at the museum was fantastic, supper was amazing (after another trip through the ghetto! ), and the Speak-a-thon not only allowed me to speak, but to learn and meet new people. It has been a long time since Tony and I spent that much time alone together and chatted the whole time. It was really nice! By the end of the day, we learned that the entire trip had been funded for us! Incredible!
Today and tomorrow are filled with friends and family. My head is just spinning as I reflect. I don't know how I am going to be able to focus on writing the next four or five speeches this month, but when I do manage to complete them, I will be able to receive my Competent Communicator award. Fun!
I cannot believe how richly blessed my life is. Blessings...Thank God, I'm just filled with them! I pray that you are able to see all of the blessings in your life too!!!
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