Forever

It is always amazing to me that God gave me such a perfect husband. No, I'm not claiming he's infallible, or gorgeously handsome, or the wittiest man alive... I wouldn't want someone like that. What I am asserting is that Richard is the perfect fit for me. I sometimes gaze at him as he sleeps and am awestruck by the depth of my love for him and his obvious love for me. Even after all our years together, I still get a thrill when he walks in the door from work or and errand. I love being with him even when we are just reading in the same room. How blessed we are that, thanks to Jesus, we can hang out together forever.

We celebrated Valentine's Day today with dinner out at my favorite buffet, Fresh Harvest in Tampa. I am pleased to say the Lord gave me the wisdom to enjoy a delicious meal without making unhealthy or gluttonous choices. Both the amount and type of foods I ate were reasonable. Even so, I had a great meal, a wonderful time and was completely satisfied.

Rain came down in torrents as we drove to Tampa. We had prayed for rain but that it wouldn't come until after we had finished our yard work. We've spent the last two days transplanting shrubbery, weeding, and redoing much of our landscaping. It's something we've been needing to do for some time and I'm proud to say it looks great! This afternoon's rain will be especially good for the newly transplanted bushes. They had been in the front yard but had grown entirely too big for the flower bed they monopolized. In the back, they form a living fence between our lot and the open field behind it. Since the terrain slopes downhill, the plants give the yard definition but don't obstruct our view at all.

Richard and I will begin facilitating a church small group tomorrow night. The small group we were in was too big to be a small group so split out into two groups. This week we have been working with the material and a plan to divvy up the sections of the study that so our different styles will compliment one another smoothly, we hope. Please pray with us that we will be effective and humble servants, led by the Holy Spirit, sensitive to the needs of each group member and completely yielded to the Master.

Now I have a rant. I hear postage is going up again in May. It was not so long ago that I stood in a post office reading a poster meant to soften the blow if the last rate hike. The poster advertised the "Forever" stamps. The rate was going up, but the price would remain the same "Forever." I was sure there was a gimmick and I was right. The "Forever" stamps will stay at the same price, however all other stamps will go up a penny. The hitch is they are only going to print one more run (albeit a big one) of the "Forever" stamps. We've been conned!

So, you see we're stuck. We can tie up our money on the "Forever" stamps while they are available or we can pony up for this rate increase, and the next one, and the one after that... forever!