Have You Missed Me???

Sometimes I miss me --ha ha

A LOT has gone on since my last post. Momma went back to Litchfield for her class reunion--her 66th I believe. Tracy and Christie took her and they said it was a lot of fun. There were only 25 people there--all that is left of her class from what I understand. Given their age the reunion was actually a lunch---when you reach the age of 83 you have to be home early for bed (or the age of 34 for that matter :>) )
Momma spent the weekend in Hillsboro with Christie while Jeff and I went out of town.

Jeff and I went to Indianapolis for the Moto GP race. We left on Saturday morning EARLY and drove straight to the Speedway. I felt like I was at a mini Sturgis with all the motorcycles (although there were no scantily clad woman which is a staple of Sturgis). We spent the day walking the Speedway, looking at the manufacturers displays and watching qualifying. That evening we went to the fairgrounds for the flat track race which was SO much fun. It was a great race and even though I had no idea who the racers were I was still very excited for the winner. On Sunday, we went back to the Speedway for the actual GP races. We woke up to gray skies and knew that we were going to be battling the weather. We scouted out our seats in the grandstand and settled in. It wasn't long before the rains came in, followed by the wind. At first it wasn't too bad--I had bought two rain ponchos and we were staying pretty dry. Then the rain and wind became a big swirling mass and "I had a feeling I wasn't in Kansas anymore.." We took shelter under the grandstand with everyone else and waited for about an hour before it died down. Back up to our seats we went to watch the main event--determined that we were stronger than the weather. There were HUGE puddles of water on the track that the facility was diligently trying to dry out. Finally, the race started and our "local" boy, Nicky Hayden was leading. It was a 28 lap race, the track was still wet, the drivers were doing between 130-180on MOTORCYCLES when the rain and wind came back. I was hunkered as far down into my poncho as a I could go cheering on Nicky. The wind blew a manufacturer's tent down in the infield, it started whipping things out of the grandstands onto the track and it ripped a barrier off of the wall and the race was called with 8 laps left to run. Mother Nature won the battle. We drove home after a stop at Cracker Barrell for some WARM food.

When we walked in our door at about 9:30PM, we were met by Indy who was meowing frantically. She had clawed up the carpet at the door and when we walked in we knew why. With all the rain Glen Carbon had taken that day, our basement had flooded, on the finished side. So we ended our trip with a night spent moving furniture and running a shop vac. I felt so overwhelmed when I stood there surrounded by wet carpet and wet everything. I was waiting for Jeff to yell out of frustration and I am was torn over whether to file an insurance claim.

I set to work and just felt God's peace--as if he were saying "I'm in control, there is a reason". I went ahead and filed the claim even though I didn't know how we were going to pay the deductible. I guess that's called faith. It turned out that our insurance company had declared the state of Illinois a catastrophe. This means that our claim was not surchargable. Jeff worked dilligently for two days and we felt like we had saved the carpet, drywall, etc. I called back into our claims department to cancel the claim. My adjuster advised me to leave it open. Due to the amount of claims, the mitigation and the damages they were not even inspecting all the properties. They asked me some questions and stated that they were mailing me a check for the limit of my coverage with the deductible waived. I looked to Heaven and thanked God. He did have control, He knew tht financially were in a place were we needed some help and I stepped out in faith which He rewarded.

I was reading my devotion this morning and it was about the invalid who was laying on the mat next to well of healing. In the Bible, it says that Jesus went to the man and asked him if he wanted to be healed. The man replied that he did but that he had no one to carry him to the waters and someone always made it there before him. The devotion asked if we were stuck on our mat---maybe feeling sorry for ourselves, feeling like we were in a hopeless situation, giving up on life. This man was on the mat for just that time--when Jesus would come up to him and ask him if he would be healed. You may be on a mat right now but don't despair---trust and know that Jesus knows where you are and you are there for a purpose. Live life to your fullest while you are on your mat and before you know it, Jesus will heal you of whatever affliction has caused you to be there. Soon you will be carrying mat and taking a new path that God has already laid out.

Have a blessed week!!!