February 23 Martha's Musings

Having resided in Texas for my entire life, I have noticed an interesting trend. (If you have lived here for at least one year, you probably noticed it, too.) Texas weather is rather odd. This past week, we were in the midst of an arctic cold front. This coming week, it will be positively springlike. The old saying of “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a day” is oh-so-true in our fair state. It can be rather challenging for those of us who like to sort our clothes into seasonal categories. About the time you think it is safe to put your winter clothes away, Mother Nature grins and brings out the frigid temperatures. Surely can keep you on your toes! And what about the days when it is 70 when you put the kiddos on the bus but it will be 30 degrees by noon? How do you dress them? Shorts and a jacket? It can be a real conundrum. Weather always makes the news, good or bad. And while it is always interesting, it is definitely not reliable. I have actually been driving in the pouring rain and listening to the radio, when the weatherman announced that “There is only a 20% chance of rain today.” So, I began screaming to no one at all - “WE’RE HAVING A DOWNPOUR!” Neither the well-trained meteorologist nor Mother Nature can ALWAYS be trusted. So, what do we do? Whom can we trust? Bet you good folks all know the answer: we can always trust God. Now God is unlikely to share the proper forecast with each and every one of us. He expects us to listen to the meteorologist and plan accordingly. He also expects us to be good Scouts: BE PREPARED. As I have said in previous articles, God is NOT Santa Claus! It has never been His plan to handle all our problems for us. Why bother with the intricacies of a brain, and the specifics of various talents, if He was then going to just fix everything for us? We live in a beautifully imperfect world, created by a perfect God, and walk through life “by faith and not by sight”. Completely doable.

Blessings,
Martha Arizpe, St. John’s Prayer Team