Back home again...

The past 3 days have gone really well for me. I'm happy that I can actually sit down after a "vacation" and say that I stuck to my plans! I don't know that I've been able to say that before now.

On Monday, we drove 6 hours to my grandparents house in Everly, IA. A quaint little town! We stayed with them the past few days, and it was nice to see them again. I was armed with all my fruits and veggies Monday night as I wasn't sure what we we're having for dinner. I'd also given myself a cushion, so I could eat more calories than I usually do at meals. My grandpa decided to make hamburgers on the grill, and my grandma made a lovely salad to go with it. (I love you, Grandma Jan!) Honestly, I haven't had a hamburger in months. But I knew that I could eat half a patty with 1/4 of a bun and be just fine. Prior planning is SO important!

We had to leave at noon on Tuesday for the sale in Sioux City, which is about 1 1/2 hours away from Everly. I decided that I'd go for a long walk for my exercise that morning. I woke up to thunder and realized my plans might have to change. I didn't really know what I was going to do, though. My grandparents live in a cute, yet quite small house, so I couldn't really find any place to exercise in private. I resigned myself to the fact that I might have to swallow my pride and exercise in their living room, but that was after fervent prayer that the rain would stop! God was gracious and by the time I was ready to head out, the sun was shining. I walked for about 40 minutes, and I think I walked every street in Everly twice! I had to laugh, because it was the day for garbage pick up, so I kept passing the guys collecting the trash. I must have either waved or said "Good morning." to them 5 times! They probably thought I was a NUT!

So, my morning walk gave my lower body exercise, and unloading all of our buckets gave my upper body exercise. We didn't have room for a cart or dolly in our vehicle, so it was up to me and my biceps to get those things inside. It only took me about 35 minutes to get everything unloaded for our 2 hour sale. And then, I got to carry them back out 2 hours later! I couldn't have asked for a better day of exercising. :-) Climbing into the suburban that night, I was hot and tired, and I'd gotten 2 brand new blisters. But sitting down had never felt so good before!

We left this morning at 9:30 for home. Our plans changed a little, and I ended up driving the suburban all the way home. My Mom drove my grandpa's truck which was full of old furniture from my great-grandparents for us to have. So, instead of having 6 hours to read and talk, I spent them behind the wheel keeping a close eye on the back of the truck. Everything seemed secure, but we were a little nervous about the contraption my grandpa made to hold everything together!

We ate an early lunch at Subway (I cannot say enough wonderful things about that place!), and my designated snack time was at 3:00pm. I was doing fine until around 1:00pm when I started getting a little sleepy. My first thought was, "What can I munch on to keep me awake?". Then I remembered that snack time wasn't for 2 more hours. I really wasn't hungry (though my flesh would have loved to snack on something!), but I needed something to keep me awake. Bethany had been running a fever the past 2 days and had finally fallen asleep in the back seat with Leah, so carrying on a conversation with Leah wasn't an option. Hmm...this was a problem.

What to do, what to do? I decided to pray and ask the Lord for an idea. A few minutes later, I remembered that I had packed some index cards in my bag with special "Victory Verses" I had been memorzing. I asked Leah to dig them out of my bag for me, and then I set them on my lap and started to review and meditate on them. Two awesome things happened! 1. I had a sweet time of fellowship with the Lord as I meditated on His Word. I wished I had a Strong's Concordance handy as there were words that I wanted to look up! Even though I'd read those verses many times before, the Lord showed me new things that I could apply to my life. It wasn't boring at all, and I didn't struggle with being tired after that. And 2. - I didn't have a single thought about food for an hour. (A rare thing. My flesh usually puts up such a fight - especially when traveling.) But I was feasting on the Word, and it satisfies more than physical food ever could!

I love how God answers even the littlest prayers. He made the rain stop so I could exercise and He reminded me to feast on the Bread of Life and drink the Living (energy!) Water. Whatever our need, He's already provided for it. Praising Him ~ Bekah