A day of Miracles...

2 Thessalonians 3:5

"May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ."

This verse was, very appropriately, the daily verse on my phone app yesterday. When I read it in the morning, I really liked the reminder, but God truly showed me His love and steadfastness over the course of the day.

I finished my summer school courses. A paper, for HUM 2204, I finished at 1:30 yesterday morning, and I took my final exam for REL 2234 yesterday around 10:00 am. They were not terribly difficult, though I will say that I had absolutely no idea of the answer the last question on the test. When I finished (an hour and a half later), I felt pretty good about it. :)

That was Miracle #1 of the day.

So, to celebrate, my mom and I went to Chik-fil-a for lunch, and then Target for a bit of apartment shopping afterward. We had a little bit of an adventure. :)

On the way to Chik-fil-a, there was a huge POPping noise that came from the back end of our Sante Fe. Thinking we must have rolled over something pretty large, we stopped a little ways down the road to check on things. We saw absolutely no evidence of anything wrong with the car, so we went on with our plans.

We arrived at Chik-fil-a, and enjoyed a nice lunch in the crowded place. The food was fresh, the people (as always) were very friendly, and we had a nice time just the two of us. When we got back in the care afterward to head to Target, it was painfully obvious that something was wrong with the car. We pulled into the closest parking lot and took a peak.

Our rear left tire was as flat as it could possibly get.

My mom and I aren't helpless--we just had never, ever changed a tire before. We found the jack, and the wrench we needed. We eventually found the tire (underneath the car, weird). From there, we had really no idea of what to do.

Mom had just smashed her fingers between the pavement and the tire when someone pulled in and asked if we needed help. We are not the best people at accepting help. We never think that we actually need--we're the 'we'll figure it out' kind of people. Luckily, Will Thomas wasn't having any of that.

That was Miracle #2.

He parked and immediately set to work on our car, explaining things as he went. My mom apologized to the woman who had been in the car with him. She said it was no problem, she had to pay attention as well!

Soon, our car was as good as new. We were back on our way to Target in no time.

That was Miracle #3.

We had a great time at Target.We had a good laugh getting band-aids and Neosporin first (the pharmacist actually opened the band-aids and put the Neosporin on them).

Gemma got some new dog food, I found everything I needed, and we had some valuable Mom-Daughter time. It was a very nice day. :)

Heading back out to the car, we felt the first drop. They steadily increased as we loaded the car, and then the sky opened up climbing in and leaving the parking lot.

On the ~25 minute drive home, on a 45-55mph road, I traveled between 25 and 35 mph because I literally couldn't see a thing.

The rain itself was Miracle #4.

The Great Dismal Swamp is on fire. We can smell the smoke even where we are. Even though the rain didn't put it out, it was definitely a miracle from the Lord.

It's kind of a natural method of cloud seeding. This is how awesome God is. Fires happen, and the smoke and everything that gets in the air provides something for water molecules to group around. Out comes raindrops! What an awesome system God created!

Anyway, we plowed our way through the rain, eventually making it home all in one piece. I drove, and I basically had a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel 3/4 of the way home. It wasn't until I worried about the possibility of a dog crossing the road and me hitting it did I remember to pray. As soon as I started I felt better. I felt God's soothing touch on my soul and a calm spread over me. I remembered my faith, and put all my worries and fears out for Him to bear.

That was Miracle #5.

God loves us more than anyone on this earth ever could. I can't even begin to understand His capacity for love. He will never abandon us, never be far from our side. He is always there waiting for us to acknowledge Him, and involve Him in our lives. He wants to be there. He stands steadfast in our hearts, and tangibly all around us.

Thank you Lord for all You've blessed me with. Forgive me for all the times when I've held back my life from you, thinking that I could control and handle everything all on my own. Thank you Lord for your love.