Come Rain or Come Shine

I am going to Little Rock to work for a few days. Usually I'm pretty psyched about having a hotel room to myself for 3 whole nights. But for some reason I can't get excited. Maybe it's because I know there is the possiblity of ice on Thursday and that casts a worry over traveling home. But why would I let that ruin my whole trip?

When I was a kid--who am I kidding?--my whole life, my mother has been a weather worrier. She had a little map of Oklahoma by her chair and when the tornado alerts would come on, she would track the storm. If I ever I was traveling she made sure to tell me what the weather would be doing and where/when to be extra careful. If it is raining, she and my dad won't venture far from home, and then only when absolutely necessary.
She instilled in me a healthy (or not so healthy) fear of tornados. I can remember being awakened in the night and sent to a closet for shelter. As I became an adult, I tried to resist the weather worry gene. As storm clouds gathered, I would pretend they weren't and I would do everything in my power to avoid turning on the television to see if there was a warning.

I have the gene. When we moved to Arkansas, I was appalled to learn my city was not equipped with a warning system. When we first moved, before the cable was installed, I asked a neighbor to call me if anything developed. How weird is that? No wonder they moved.

As I'm sitting at my desk, I can see snowflakes occasionally blowing past my window and I am dreading the drive to Little Rock against this gusty wind. I can almost hear my mother worrying about my drive and I should probably call her when I arrive safely to ease her mind.

I think every woman has a list of attributes she hopes she inherits from her mother and a list of things she prays she won't. At least I don't WATCH the weather channel.

The Vine Dresser

You know in the Bible when Jesus talks about the vineyards and the vine dresser? I pass two vineyards on my way to and from work every day.

One of them caught my attention this time last year because they were cleaning it--and again right now. They send in men who clip the vines by hand and remove the dead limbs. Then a big tractor comes in and cleans between the rows. In summer, I drive by and the vines are covered with plump purple grapes.

The other vineyard is harder to see. I only noticed it when I had to slow down for traffic one day. It is abandoned. It is all grown up and there are trees and weeds choking out the vines. When summer comes, I can hardly see any grapes at all. The bunches I can see are small and I'm sure not very tasty.

I thank God for these two vineyards. You see, I'm a visual learner. God had to provide me with both of the vineyards so I could get the full impact of his words. *See below.

If I do not abide in Him, I will produce no fruit or nasty fruit that is not good for anything. I want to be useful and must therefore accept the pruning as well as the sunlight, water and other things I perceive to be good. Pruning doesn't always feel good...but it is necessary for growth.

*John 15:1-8 (New International Version)

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to be my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Hooray!

It feels good to be back in the world of blogging. I've really missed it.

I've named this little gem "Purrls of Wizdum" because my cat's name is Purrl and we can learn a lot of life lessons from watching cats--or I can anyway. Wizdum is spelled that way because I hate to claim that any of these lessons might be real wisdom--mostly musings. So--I'm sharing my "purrls."

Today our computer guys came up from Little Rock and one of them had previously agreed to look at Sidney's computer that had become ill. It had 878 infected files!! He said that was the most he had ever seen. He's cleaning it up now. But let that be a lesson to ye...don't click on everything you see.

The man/child and his beloved left this morning. I only cried for a couple of minutes this time(patting myself on the back). I don't know if I'll see his face in March or May. That's the hard part. Ok--I'll see his face on Skype, but it's not the same.

Sid and Jay are both working late tonight. I'm looking forward to my PJ's, leftover Moroccan food and Season 3 of The Office.