February 6 – “A time”

Still no plumber.   But today we met with the Amish Cabinet guys again.  This time we had to drive to North Houston to their showroom.  Not an easy place to find.  When we finally arrived, though, it was pretty interesting to see in person the quality of work they offer.  Chris had done her homework.  She had a bunch of questions.  And by the time we left I think she was ready to sing them up.  I know I was.  Our next decision is whether to have them build the cabinets in the dining area part of the family room.  If we can decide on all this by Wednesday they can get the cabinets made and back to us by the third or fourth week of March.  Otherwise it'll be sometime in April.  I sure hope we're ready for cabinets by the end of March.    On the way home we drove past one of the churches I used to work at, Woodland Baptist in the Houston Heights.  That was an interesting church.  The people lived in such fear of the transitional neighborhood that they had bricked up all the windows.  Not only that, they put up an eight foot chain link fence all around the church.  With barbed wire on top.  Facing inward.  It looked eerily like a concentration camp designed to keep people in rather than keeping criminals out.   Shortly after we left they put up a gat across the parking lot entry to keep people from parking there during the week.  The only time people parked there was when parents came to pick up their children from the elementary school across the street.  Seemed to me like a great place for ministry to occur.  It's no longer a church.  It has been converted into apartments.  And the house we used to live in is no longer there.  That was a fun house.  The doors and windows didn't lock.  Next door was a self-proclaimed "boarding house for illegal aliens."  It was not uncommon for us to wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of gunshots.  Our neighbors liked to celebrate by firing into the air.  They were great neighbors, though.  They knew exactly when we left town and when we came back.  They watched out for us, even if they were a little scary sometimes.  Both houses are now very nice duplexes.  Times change.   Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."   Father, help me to be OK with your timing.  Really.  Amen.