Robin, Stacy and I had planned a trip to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for shopping and sitting in the Wine Garden to visit. (We call it 'Sip & Shop' Day.) The original plan was to go the first week of Rodeo Houston but rain! And then rain! And then more rain!!! Finally on the Wednesday of the week in question, we bit the bullet and went despite the rain. And it stopped. And we had a wonderful day filled with shopping and wine and all kinds of fried goodness.
Then on Friday I went back to the Rodeo for Suite Night. A large group of us went together and bought tickets to a Sky Suite to see The Band Perry. Jim bailed on me at the last minute for a turkey hunt, but Meagan decided to be my date for the night. She and I rode over to Robin's together where we caught the party bus for our night out on the town. It was a grand night and we returned home about 2:30 am. (At which time I got stuck trying to get down the dirt road to our new place. Another story for another time.)
Saturday morning I needed to be up early to meet the ladies from church for our monthly outing. We left the church at 10 am and headed to Brookshire, TX to have lunch at The Cafe at Brookwood followed by shopping at their gift shop and nursery. It was a lovely morning despite the rain. The food was delicious (Shrimp and Grits) and the dessert was divine (white chocolate bread pudding).
I dropped the ladies off at the church around 2 and headed to Bri and Josh's for their annual crawfish boil. What a crowd they had! It was fun to see everyone and Josh did a great job on the crawfish. But I was tired and left around 6 pm, taking Delayne and Dayton with me so that Meagan and Derrick could enjoy the party. (At which time they got stuck trying to get down our road to pick up the kids.)
Sunday was our Girls Day at the Rodeo. The girls had chosen to see Luke Bryan, but at the last minute everyone bailed on me except Meagan. So she and I picked up Danielle on our way through town and headed out for a little shopping and the show...and maybe a bottle or two of wine. We had a great time and arrived back home around 9 pm. I spent a little time with hearing about Jim's weekend on the ranch and went to bed.
BUT I didn't get much sleep. I was sick y'all. All night. All the next day. Too much of too much! Too much fried food. Too much wine. Too much activity. My body rejected it all and revolted against me. Since I had my gall bladder out a few years ago, I've known that I have to watch what I eat...but I had never had the effects of it be so painful. I spent the whole next day either miserable or sleeping from exhaustion.
And I swore...'Never Again'.
Sometimes I think I need to be reminded that this life is not my own. I have been bought with a price. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, not a dirty word.
And so it was that this symbol of 'refresh' used on our computers and such came to mean something deeply personal to me.
Our ladies were finishing up the Monday night study of 'Breaking Free' and the next study was already in the works. 'The Daniel Plan'. And I'm going to be honest with you and tell you that on just that Wednesday mentioned above I had been telling Stacy how I DID NOT want to do it. I was going to sit this one out. But by Tuesday, I had a complete change of mind. I knew that I HAD to do it.
We are now three weeks into the plan and I am so thankful that the Lord got my attention in such a drastic way. I needed this refreshment. I needed this complete turn around. I needed this intervention.
What gets me about this refreshment is how closely related it is to repentance. I remember making this mark for repentance back when I was doing Precepts studies at First Baptist West Houston. (To truly repent we have to turn from our way back to God's way...hence that mark.) I had never before realized that true repentance brings a refreshing. But boy, does it!
Once again, the Lord has surprised me with the depth to which He takes me with My One Word. At the beginning of the year, I thought this would be all about peace and freshness. But He knew that to get to that place there are some things in my life that have to be rooted out.
