You might want to sit down and get real comfortable when reading this short story. And before you ask, “Yes, this is a true story.” My husband might not be keen on me admitting that, but I must.
My husband and I were only married a little over three years. We were still getting to know each other’s habits, likes and dislikes. My husband’s job took us to sunny Florida for a time. We made this move in the wrong month. I say that because August is the HOTTEST month of the year in that area of the United States.
Humidity levels ranged from 100 down to 95%. Everything done outside at that time of year was accomplished at a pace called slow. Even if you just stood still, your body continued to perspire. It’s been said that men perspire, and women glow. Well, in Florida, if that phrase were true, women would be glowing almost to a “melting” position.
We had survived the adjustment of the heat during the summer and it was now the end of October and one could wear slacks in the evening. I vividly remember my husband and I went for a stroll around the block early in the evening. We had just rounded the corner, with our house in sight and it became obvious to my husband that he wasn’t travelling alone. He immediately began leaping and yelling and shaking in his pants. What had happened was that a small lizard had climbed inside his pants leg for a ride around the block. The little critter didn’t take up much room and he must have been hot as well as he wanted “out.”
He wasted no time in removing his belt and began lowering his slacks to provide an immediate “evacuation plan” for his new little friend. All I could do was laugh; but with sympathy too, I might add. It was getting dark outside so the neighbors never observed the discovery.
We waited until late October to reappear on our neighborhood streets for evening walks. I kept thinking of ways we could meet our neighbors. In that it was a cooler month, it dawned on me that we could dress up for Halloween and meet them that way. We don’t celebrate that event, but it did allow us a “unique opportunity” to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood.
Here is where you’re not going to believe what happened next. We weren’t flushed with financial funds, so I gathered a few articles of our clothing, and made some adjustments in the clothing design department. Then I invited my husband to join me at our bathroom sink. He took a seat and I, shall I say, “re-constructed his appearance.” Later, I did the same for myself.
Yes…………….we went to visit all the neighbors as Raggedy Ann and Andy! The neighbors laughed at our coming and going. We had a hilarious time that evening going from door to door. So if you’re having a struggle in getting to know your neighbors, I might suggest that you dress up a little and make an appearance. Believe me, they’ll remember you forever!
Published by Dianne Horne
I can’t think of anything I enjoy more than to see lives changed! There’s nothing more that puts “oxygen and joy” into my life than to bring the application of Scripture into the “shoe leather” of our lives and to share it with others.
I feel awkward speaking about myself, but I understand it can be helpful to enable others to relate to and enjoy the work of our Lord does in other people. Another down-to-earth way of sharing who I am, is that I love to eat, laugh and to talk about the Lord. I’m not a very exciting individual, but my Savior sure is!
I’ve been happily married for many years, and I now reside in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. God has transplanted my husband and I 28 times in our years together; and it is only when in His presence that you can ask the “why questions” as to the adjustments He’s brought us “to” and “through” in the numerous locations and countries we have lived.
God’s care, love, forgiveness, faithfulness and moment-by-moment presence has not only carried me (when I had every reason to fall apart), but lifted me to a joy I’ve never known. There’s one thing to have joy when things are going great, and quite another dimension of joy and peace when everything in your world is crumbling and unknown. Most of our lives will appear like “ordinary oatmeal living”, but when we allow Him to “establish our steps”, He alone takes our mundane acts of kindness or aid and makes them “extraordinary” for His purpose in the lives of others.
The seasons of caring for my parents and the associated grieving process has forever changed me. It was my honor, joy and privilege to participate with my Lord in what He was accomplishing in their lives, as they both gave their lives to Jesus Christ just days before they were escorted into His presence in heaven. The medical challenges and decisions that needed to be made for a number of those years thrust me into a trust and dependence upon the Lord that I had never known up to that point in my life.
In my journey, I’ve come to realize that our “weakness” is our greatest “strength”, because real power, provision, and His purpose being carried out in and through our lives, depends on Him orchestrating such through His sovereignty.
My “heartbeat of fulfillment” lies in sharing with women, in various settings, helping them to enjoy, study and apply the principles of God’s Word in a down-to-earth fashion. I thrive interacting with women and encouraging them to put their trust in the One Who knows them best and loves them extravagantly; and to prioritize “spending time alone with God each day” developing their relationship with Him. Our lives aren’t designed to just get answers to prayer….but to know and love a very personal Savior, and to surrender daily to “His plans, His agenda and purpose” for our lives.
Several years ago I was challenged to respond to a critical question I had never considered: Why do you exist? What’s your purpose in life?
I live to bring an expression of God in the ordinary events of life, seizing every opportunity of serving and delighting in others. I want my life to be an infectious expression of His love for others, and for them to know how special “they are” to Him; and thus be contagious with His grace.
My life compass is: After people spend time with me, what do they think of Jesus Christ?
The stories that will appear in my blog, are true events that have taken place in my journey. They’re all “very ordinary” circumstances that have occurred through sharing them with Jesus and watching Him orchestrate and demonstrate what He can do when we yield “our ordinary” to the Extraordinary One.
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