Sunday, February 19, 2006

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away

Hello from the US!

I'm obviously here and have overcome sleep deprivation and time zones and jet lag in just under 3 days! Sleep is lovely. But let's not indulge too much, now. Only problem is that I've gotta do some driving over the next week. To Houston tomorrow via Dallas, then back to Dallas by Wed night, then to Tulsa on Saturday, then back to Norman on Monday. Ouch!

I thank God for the car that our friends Alex and Kendra lent me. I thank God very much for the time w/ friends I've so far enjoyed quite a lot. I have had opportunities to talk w/ people about the Gospel. I've seen friends long missed. It's been cool.
But I'm really ticked off this morning. A relatively minor ice storm hit Norman on Friday night and has predictably iced over the neighborhood roads. But by Saturday evening, the main roads were not particularly bad. Yet this morning, after being totally prepared and chomping at the bit to go to church, what happens? They CANCEL it. What...the...smurf??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?
I seriously do not remember the last time that church was cancelled for a minor ice storm. I think I probably remember the church I grew up in calling it off like one Sunday when we were IN THE PROCESS of being buried under near-record amounts of snow and ice. Like that morning. But a 36-hour-old ice fall?

Yes, I'm venting. May the Lord teach me the virtue of waiting on Him; ie, waiting perhaps another couple of years to attend my home church. Sigh.
Having some people over this morning to worship the Lord, at Eric's house where I'm staying. I should stop venting on the blog now and go prepare my heart for what we do get to do this morning rather than being bummed over what I've missed.

I was about to make a sarcastic comment to end this entry, but I won't. Over and out.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry about the snow and ice, but I'm really quite pleased to have it. Oklahoma doesn't receive these gifts of God often enough, so I'm in no mood to complain when we do get them. You should have come up this way - we still had church (with about half the usual number.)

Kim Martinson said...

Alan -

I heard through the grapevine that one of the main reasons leading up to the cancellation was the important vote at church at night. The elders didn't want the vote to be limited to those who could make it across the ice. Some people, like those who live in actual neighborhoods where the streets were icy Sunday morning (not on busy streets like me), and especially families with kids, might have had difficulty traveling on Sunday. I know coming all the way across the pond not to go to church Sunday A.M. was weird. Scott and I talked about how people wouldn't get to see you and vice versa.