"Bethalow"

I know. It's not a word. Not really...it's kind of a place......Let me enlighten you......

Last week Barb and I took Nils to school. On the hour long drive, we were listening to Christmas music....and Barb was singing along. She tends to do that. There was a song called, "Take a Walk through Bethlehem." It's a nice little song, basically saying that we should remember what Christmas is about and not get too caught up in the secular hoopla. Anyway, Barb was singing along...o.k., so was I......We sang the line, "take a walk through Bethlehem", and Nils said, " And hold Melody's hand."

Barb and I laughed and laughed. Nils knows that if we take a walk, he has to hold my hand. He's very smart. So the rest of the day we added that line to the song.

Yesterday I decided to take Nils and Annika for a walk since the temperature was fairly mild. I asked Nils if he wanted to go for a walk. Of course, he responded positively and enthusiastically. You can always count on Nils for enthusiasm!

"Take a walk," he said. "Take a walk to Bethalow."

Well, we didn't walk to "Bethalow"- we just went down the street, but I laughed (and sang) most of the way!

"Various Trials"

Sunday morning's message was taken from the book of James, chapter 1:
"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials......"

The basic point: We are to be joyful in any trial that comes our way, remembering that trials are a gift from God. Our response should not be complaining.

That was what I heard Sunday morning. This was the rest of my day:

I went home and ate lunch, then prepared to make a birthday cake for Barb. I looked at the recipe and realized that it called for "unsalted butter". I went to the fridge and saw 7 sticks of salted butter. O.k. Did it make a difference? I had no idea. What if I used the salted butter and the cake was way too salty? I didn't want to take the chance. I called my parent's house- no unsalted butter there. I called Barb's sister- no answer. I called work- ah, unsalted butter. I wouldn't have to go to the store. I hopped in the car and went to pick it up. I love the fact that I live so close to work.

I came back home and proceeded to soften the butter, then went to the fridge to get the eggs. I needed 4 eggs- I had 1 egg. Wonderful. I went and put my shoes back on, climbed back in the car and drove to the nearest store. Who knew they would be closed on Sunday? O.k. I drove to another store. I bought a dozen eggs for $2.34- I refused to drive all the way to Walmart for eggs that were less than a dollar.

I came back home again and finished baking the cake. I let it cool. I got ready for choir practice, and then came back to the kitchen to frost the cake. I mixed up some frosting, without following a recipe- it looked pretty good, I thought. I started frosting the cake. I never finished frosting the cake. The top looked good. I started to do the sides and the frosting slid off- apparently, I could have used a lot more powdered sugar in my recipe. I ended up with the ugliest cake in the world, but I took it to the party, and we ate it anyway. At least it tasted good.

After the party, I came home. I was very tired. I started getting ready for bed. I noticed a can of starch on the bathroom floor and my OCD kicked in- the starch needed to be in the other room by the ironing board. I picked it up and carried it down the hall. I leaned over to set it on the floor next to the ironing board. Whack! I hit my face on a chair that was sitting there. Actually I hit my mouth, and my tooth cut right into my bottom lip. My first reaction- "Ouch!" I laughed. I really can be so clumsy. Then I tasted blood and went to the mirror. It was not a pleasant sight. Karyn got some ice for me. I held it there a long time. The blood just kept coming. I switched to a hot washcloth, and finally my lip stopped bleeding. I took some ibuprofen and went to bed.

During the whole cake fiasco, I kept saying to myself, "Rejoice. Rejoice. Don't complain." As I attempted to frost the cake, Barb was standing next to me saying, "Count it all joy." I ended up laughing a lot- on any normal day, I would have been really ticked off. I can't say that I was overly joyful about slicing my lip open- it really did hurt. But I survived. It was all part of a long, weird day. "Various trials." Any little trial, not just big life- altering ones. I still don't know exactly what God was trying to teach me- maybe I just needed some practice to see what kind of response I would make. If it hadn't been for the message, I could have ended up having a really grumpy day, but all in all it was a pretty good day and I'm thankful for whatever God was trying to teach me!