When God Laughs

Genesis 21:5 "Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and anyone who hears about this will laugh with me."  NIV

Psalms 2:4  "He who sits in the Heavens laughs..." KJV

I used two scriptures today because I felt a little like Sarah today.  It seemed that right from the get go, the Lord thought it would be funny to watch me try to figure out just what He was thinking.  I know He has a sense of humor.  We are made in His image for goodness sakes!!  I mean really....who can look at a duck billed platypus without going "what were You thinking?????"  I know that I have been guilty on MANY occasions of having to leave the room, lest I laugh in my children's faces over something they have done or something they are getting ready to do.  I know on many occasions our Father has looked down and wondered what on earth we were thinking! 

The morning started out simply enough.  Decadent raisin bread french toast prepared by Wendy.  A nice fireside chat and some discussion of my current study subject in my Women of the Bible book. (which if you haven't read, I highly recommend it!!)  All dressed and ready to go and it's not even 10 in the morning.  A good start if you ask me!  Out the door and OH MY GOSH!!!!  What the heck!  It was 5 degrees.  Now, anyone in my family will tell you that I do not like cold weather.  I whine and complain and moan about the air conditioning in the house being below 75.  That's why I live so close to.....I mean, that's why I live in Houston.  It's WARM there.  All the time.  Night and day.  12 months out of the year.  I do not own clothing that even knows what 5 degrees feels like.  I looked like a weeble when I finished putting on layers.  And that is not a pretty sight when you are barely five feet tall.   The car didn't want to start so we called the rental car place which shall remain unnamed but it rhymes with holler and starts with a D.  They basically refused to come and get the car, said it was our fault we took it into inclement weather (say what??????) and told sweetheart that if they DID come and tow it and it started ok down in Phoenix, where by the way it's 60 degrees today, they would charge us for the tow.  So already we are not heading down the primrose path of  an exciting adventure for the day!

 Off we went to Meteor Crater outside of Flagstaff.  Where a very cheerful lady ( who was sitting in a nice warm chair inside a nice warm office) informed us that she had lived here 25 years and she had never seen it this cold.  Why Bless Your Heart!!!  Aren't you just a bundle of funny quips today!  And oh by the way, the guided tours are cancelled because out on the rim, the wind chill is 15 below zero.  So, lets see.....we have to pay to go in, pay to go out into the cold, pay to see a big hole in the ground, and all by ourselves because none of you want to go out into the cold.  Right!  And as you can see, yours truly did all of the above.  Why?  I have no idea.  Probably because we had driven that far and by golly we were going to see the silly hole!  But really, it was a fascinating place.  Check out the link on the web page for more info.  Definitely worth the drive.  Everyone who works there is very knowledgeable. 

Then back into the car for a drive up the road to Winslow, AZ.  Yup!  The Winslow!  From the Eagles song.  (look it up if your under 50)  You can take your picture right next to the flat bed ford!  A nice lady told us we were parked on the wrong side of the street as we took this picture.  Not sure what that was about but we weren't from there so maybe there was a rule about parking across the street from the flat bed ford?????  Notice the picture is taken from inside the car because it is still COLD!  So far we have been in the car for 2 hours and been out of the car about 20 minutes.

Now the next section of our trip was the part where God laughed the hardest.  There are times in our lives when we make decisions and we feel pretty good about God being on our side.  Things look good and the road ahead looks like it is going in the right direction.  Our mistake was that we trusted a local guy and our GPS.  In my opinion, that just stands for Going Pretty Slow.  Every single time sweetheart and I rely on that silly box to get us somewhere we have never been, it sends us every which way and he ends up yelling at the box.  I have a definite dislike of that box since it took me and the grand babies on a grand tour of texas small towns one night and then died right outside a town that rolled up the streets after dark.  (A whole story in itself)  So imagine our surprise when we started out on a trip to what was supposed to be the most famous Navajo Indian trading post in the state, complete with museum, history, and artwork and this is what we found as we drove along the road. 

I am quite sure that we were not on the road that is well traveled!!  We rounded one bend and there were cows lying on the road.  Not little cows.  Big, giant cows that would definitely have voided our warranty if we had hit them!!!  Sweetheart refused to turn around and let me take a picture of them so you will just have to imagine the cows in the road.  We did see some beautiful countryside and a lot of Navajo hogans dotting the countryside.  The cliffs and mesas and rock formations were just astounding to see.  As we crested each hill, there was just more and more for us to take in.





 After we arrived at the trading post, I must say that I it was not what I had expected.  While it is a very fascinating site, there is almost nothing to learn from the place if you don't come during the guided tours.  The store is full of Navajo artwork but it was very much out of our price range.  The rugs and weaving were magnificent displays of the beauty of a woman's heart poured out through her hands.  But at 5000 dollars for an authentic blanket, it was just a little (ok a whole lot) more than we could pay.  How I would have loved to have bought something that beautiful with that much of someones soul put into making it.  I wondered who sets those prices.  Anyway, the trading post was a disappointment history wise.  I am a history buff and always want to know more than the average person about the "inside story" of the places I visit.  The funny part came when we realized that we were about 12 miles from the interstate.  That doesn't sound too bad until you understand that we drove 94 miles on back roads through the Navajo reservation.  We could have been killed by rampant sheep and cow herds.  Come to find out, we could have been on the interstate the entire way.  We laughed and determined that we should give that silly gps a decent burial.  Next time.  But in truth we had a wonderful drive through some beautiful, wild, rugged country and saw things that the average 70 mph tourist never sees.  On the way back to Flagstaff the Lord felt sorry for us and gave us the most amazing sunset in front of us all the way home. 

I thought about our day and how our drive had gone. I thought of how many times I have relied on the suggestions of the world to get me where I am going.  I think that other's know better than God.  The world is like the GPS.  The quickest, fastest, shortest way.   The Bible is like the good old fashioned map.  If I take out the map (Bible), plan out my route (read the scriptures), write down any details (keep a  journal), study the way I should go (live by the words), I will make it to my destination along the route that God has planned out for me.  If I use the way of the world, I will often times find myself on the long way around, with peril around every corner and worry when there is nothing along the route that can guide me back if I get lost.  The worlds way is only as good as the people who put the information in.  God's way is always the correct way, always the straight path, with all the details written down for you to follow.  May I always take God's way along the road of life.  Sometimes I get off the path but God will always show me the way back onto it.  Thank you God for a good day.  I did laugh with You.  All except the part of the 5 degrees.  You do realize that it was 2 degrees in Alaska today?  Which part of my vacation plan said I wanted to visit Alaska?