February 15 – “The Lamp”

I was supposed to babysit Cailyn this morning while her Mom went to school.  I got a text about 7 or so that she would not be here.  Seems her Mom double-checked and they weren't having class after all.  Presidents' Day attacks the college campus, I suppose.   Instead I spent some time working on the sermon.  I know what I want to do, but I still have lots of prayer and "development" left in that one.   Also spent a lot of time putting my thoughts together and down on paper regarding the church and school finances.  I found out yesterday that some folks are feeling a sense of "us vs. them" regarding the building and the church.  I've heard that kind of thing happens when a fund raising drive is in progress.  I'm sure it happens at other times, too.  I imagine Satan knows people get pretty defensive when money is involved.  What better time to attack than when our mind is distracted by something else?  I really believe God has taken care of us for almost 15 years.  Why should he stop now?  He gave us a big sum of money back after the storm that was designed to help us get through the aftermath.  Well, the aftermath is pretty much done, and we still have $20,000.  We're using it up, though, so we have to be careful with everything, including the building.   No mail today.  No banks.  No school.  Presidents' Day.  I had to take a break, so I picked up Mom's medicine at Randall's.  That meant the rest of my list as well.  File box for our income tax.  Claritin – D for my allergies.  Birthday card for Josh.  Hamburgers for lunch from Whataburger – Mom's favorite.   My physical condition hit me after lunch.  I had another spell where I just couldn't stay awake.  I was typing and dozed off.  Something I did caused Word to crash and reboot.  That's when I finally succumbed and went to bed for awhile.    The brief nap helped some.  I decided to finally attack the lamp behind my desk.  It has been almost impossible to operate the on/off switch for days now.  Then last night the switch moved fine, but the light wouldn't go out.  I finally unscrewed the light bulb.  Anyway, I played Mr. Handyman and pulled the pole out from behind the desk.  I took off the shade.  I even unscrewed the wires and took off the light bulb holder with the switch mechanism in it.  Can you tell yet that I have no idea what I'm talking about?  I took the whole little thing the light bulb screws into with me over to the world famous Village Hardware.  They have been here since I was a little kid.  Not that I went in there much back then.  They didn't sell baseball cards.  But since I've been a grownup, and especially since they opened back up after the storm, I have been in there numerous times.  They have a store cat that roams around everywhere.  They know everything about whatever tiny little obscure piece you might bring in.  Sure enough, I showed my piece and they walked me right to  the replacements for that very piece.  Then I looked at it a little more closely.  That long plastic thing that you actually touch with your fingers to turn it on and off was abnormally long in the one from our lamp.  Figures.  Ah, but not to be deterred, the lady helping me called in the big guns.  Mr. Village Hardware himself walked by, so she asked him.  And of course, he didn't miss a beat.  He took another bite of his sandwich and walked right to a spot.  There before him were little tiny extenders made just for my problem.  $2.91 instead of the $30 or $40 that a new pole lamp would have cost.  Amazing how helpful you can be when you know your inventory.  Mr. VH is my new hero.  I want to know God and his Word as well as he knows his inventory.  Even down to the little tiny things.   Psalms 18:30 says, "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless.  He is a shield for all who take refuge in him."   Father, help me to be one who knows where to find the little tiny things that make a big difference in people's lives.  Amen.