The Miracle on Olive Street

As many of you know, our church is putting on a production, The Christmas Shoes, tomorrow night and Saturday night. Our last dress rehearsal was scheduled for Tuesday night because, even though we wanted to have a dress rehearsal the night before the first show, there were too many school-related activities, so in reality, about 70% of the cast would not have been in attendance.

Our family was one that would have missed tonight’s practice, since Karen had a choir concert.  Another family had an orchestra concert to attend. The local Lutheran school, had its annual Christmas program, etc.

Well, God said, “Ha! I’ll show you! I’ll make sure you can all make it to this rehearsal because I think it’s important to put on this show!” And He sent an ice storm.

This was not a huge, epic ice storm. It was just enough to mess everyone up last night, and, apparently, this morning. But it was enough to cancel all the schools in our area. Including the Lutheran school that never cancels school, since they don’t have buses to run or kids walking to school.  But all of them were canceled today.

Well, my friends, the rule is this: No school=no evening activities. So, the roads were fine and dandy this afternoon, and a new full-out dress rehearsal was born. No choir concert, no orchestra concert, no kids Christmas program. We were all free to attend tonight’s rehearsal.

Another point in the show’s favor:  Tom was going to go into work today, but as he was on his way to a lunch meeting, the other guy calls and cancels. So, Tom decided to turn around and just work from home, and was, therefore, able to leave our house at 4:00 to get to church and get everything set up.

Our director had two stents put in last week, but felt like coming tonight for the first time since his surgery. His father has also been in the hospital, but was released, you guessed it, today.

As it turned out, all but one of our actors were able to attend. (He lives in Columbia, MO, and wasn’t planning on coming anyway.)

I’m so excited to see what God has planned for our shows Friday and Saturday. He has certainly given us plenty of opportunities and signs that He has blessed this performance!

Want to be a part of this Christmas miracle? Come on by King of Kings Lutheran Church, 13765 Olive Street, Chesterfield, MO 63017. Feel free to call the church office for directions: 314-469-2224. Shows are at 7pm both Friday and Saturday nights.

It’s free! So, come and keep warm both inside and out!  🙂

 

Oh, and One More Thing, Hollywood…

When you cast a b-list, or heaven forbid an a-list, performer in some kind of crime drama, we already know that actor is the guilty party. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be on the show for just a scene or two. Their parts will have to be significant, and therefore, they are the killer/robber/kidnapper.

As much as I hate to admit it, when I saw Andrew McCarthy (sigh) on Monk, I knew immediately he was “the one that did it.” Yes, that pretty-boy face was indeed guilty. awww.

Note to Hollywood

It is been said recently (and often) that politicians are out of touch with the common man. I believe that is true of Hollywood as well.

For example, I know very few people that drop “f-bombs” as often as they use the word “the.” But, watch a few rated R movies, and I begin to think I am living in a fantasy world of candy canes and lollipops. I’m not naive. I know that people use “those words” daily. Just not the majority.

Then there are the driving scenes.  Some scenes are filmed with the actors actually driving a real car and the camera is right there with them. (I saw an outtake of an episode of “The Office” where Steve Carell was driving and actually drove to a cul-de-sac, and had nowhere to go. Now that’s real life!) But, more often than not, I see the driver of the car turn to the passenger either next to him or even the rear seat, and talk a blue streak. Now, those of us in the real world know that a driver would most likely either run his car off the road or crash into another car. (or at the very least run a red light or stop sign) Keep your eyes on the road, idiot! At least for the majority of the time. One of the worst offenders of this practice (and is actually the inspiration for this blog today) is one of our family’s favorite movies “School of Rock.” There is a scene where Jack Black is driving the van with all the kids in the back, and Led Zepplin is playing on the stereo. He turns around to the back of the van and sings along (in his Jack Black way) for quite awhile. It must be a mom thing, because no one else seems to freak out over those things, but in my mind I’m thinking, “They’re going to crash!” and then they don’t.  Hmmmmm.

I am not going to venture into the “leave the Midwest alone” subject. Everyone knows that the Midwest is hilarious. We all live on farms, have a hillbilly accent, and are dumber than a box of rocks.

Hey! Maybe that’s the answer! Maybe outside of the Midwest, people drive while looking backwards and shout out four-letter words like a bad rapper. Well, then, Hollywood…never mind.  I gotta go harvest the pumpkins and milk the cows.

 

Our Father Knows Best

Lately, for some unknown reason, I’ve been looking back on various times of my life.

Yesterday, my former boyfriends was my thought topic. Some of the memories brought a smile to my face, others…not so much. I started doing the “what if…” game.   “What if I had married “Hercules” instead of Tom?” Every time I would insert a different name, a thousand reasons that Tom was better would come to mind. He’s obviously the best choice.

I only told one person “I love you.” And, yes, that was Tom, obviously. I didn’t realize people said it to more than one person. I just never did. I will still remember the feeling that came over me when Tom told me he loved me. My heart leapt out of my chest. I quickly responded with “I love you too!” and then we both hung up the phone really fast. You see, he was calling me to wish me a Happy New Year when he was living in Virginia, and I was living in Missouri.  We’d never dated. Just wrote letters and made expensive long distance calls. But, I knew then that Tom was THE guy for me.

So, as I reminisced about my past boyfriends, I really did come back to Tom as the winner over all those guys. I don’t regret dating those guys, because each relationship taught me something. (I feel like I have to put that disclaimer there. Some of those guys were really sweet, great guys. Others…(rolling eyes))

See, God had Tom out there for me. I couldn’t imagine any of those other guys dealing with my bipolar disorder with the calmness and love that Tom has. Right now, I have tears in my eyes because I know how very lucky I am. But, it’s not luck. It’s God. He’s got the plan. I just have to follow it. He hasn’t let me down yet.

The Ol’ Wells Place

I was cleaning up my desk today, and found a black and white picture of my dad sitting in his recliner in the house I grew up in. I have no idea when the picture was taken, but I do know that there was no tv in the corner, so it had to be in the late 60’s.

The picture brought back so many memories. The peg and plank floor in the family room where I used to stand up playing cards between the boards. I think I did that for hours. In my mind, the Queen of Hearts was of course The Queen, but her love was the Jack of Clubs. The King of Spades was the bad guy.  And 7 always loved 6, but 8 was jealous.  Yep. All that with a hardwood floor and a deck of cards. We didn’t have a Wii or computers. Heck, our tv was black and white and rolled across the floor on a metal cart.  AND you had to GET UP to change the channels, kids!

Wow, I got off track there. I played on the floor a lot in family room of that house. I liked being around my parents and my brother. We didn’t have to be doing stuff together, just being in the same room worked for me.

The rug in the picture also brings back memories. I think everyone had one of those rugs in their houses. It was oval, and it was braided and had different colored ovals. This made for a great race track for my Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. Yes, I played with cars. And cards. And, don’t worry, Barbies too. (I didn’t play much with dolls. I had a lot of stuffed animals that took up my time. I didn’t have time to take care of babies too.)

I also can see the french doors that led out to our patio. Everyone else had a sliding glass door. We had french doors. I always wanted a sliding glass door. Do I have one in my house now? No. What does Karen wish we had? Sliding glass doors. Tree, meet your apple.

All those memories from a 3×3 black and white photo.