You just never know what may happen next. The very next moment something can happen that catches you unaware. It has happened in my life, in my past, and I don’t like the feeling of being unprepared.
Not being prideful here, but I’ve always associated myself with the 5 prepared virgins in Matthew 25.
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
Well a day and hour arrived. Not the day and hour, the coming of Jesus, that would have been awesome! But an unexpected turn of events where I live. One of the bridges I drive over every day to and from work, was completely shut down, indefinitely. Upon doing an inspection, the engineers found a crack in the middle of the bridge, on one of the steel support beams. This crack went all the way through. No one is being allowed to drive across.
UPS, FedEx, the postal service, food trucks, delivery trucks etc. are now not able to bring their normal daily delivers. The only route around is a seven hour detour.
As for me, I am here in town on this side of the bridge and cannot go home. They are working on an alternate route, a seasonal access dirt road to make it passable for me and my neighbors to be able to get back and forth. They anticipate it might be ready by Monday. They shut the bridge on Thursday.
In looking over all of this, I am grateful. I was not on the bridge if it failed. I am in town where I can still go to work every day. I have a place to stay. I’m grateful my husband is at home/ranch to take care of all the animals.
I’m also grateful for being prepared. I got the laundry done, the dishes clean, the pantry stocked before this happened. So my husband has what he needs to get by.
As I’ve had to spend some nights at my office when the winter weather was bad, I have everything here I’d need to get by.
People are always talking about the evil around us. While that is true, I have also encountered something else unexpected in this and my faith in humanity is restored again.
The lady I deliver eggs to at her motel offered me a place to stay, for free.
The lady in office next to me offered to do my laundry so I’d have clean clothes.
The man who owns screen printing shop gave me a t-shirt to sleep in.
The guy at coffee shop gave me a free caramel macchaito.
The thrift store gave me a discount on 4 shirts so I’d have a change of clothes.
Others in my office building giving offers of places to stay, food, and supplies.
My clients giving offers of help.
Prayers from my friends in the blogging community.
Prayers and offers of help from my church family.
Then before mail was halted and redirected to come from another hub, the book I ordered, Adventuring through the Bible by Ray C. Stedman, arrived so I have something to read while waiting.
All in all, I am grateful and overwhelmed by God’s goodness in all of this. His peace has settled on me and I am not freaking out like some folks I’ve spoken to.
There have been preliminary discussions that the repair of the bridge may take until August. At least folks have been working on alternatives so life can still go on.
You can never tell what may happen next, or even imagine it, but God knows, and that’s good enough for me.
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God Still Speaks 
Cindi, your attitude and outlook are incredible! Praise Jesus. I am reminded of Warren Wiersbe, “outlooks determines outcomes.” By not being negative you have allowed the Holy Spirt to work in, through, and for you. I am humbled and amazed by you!!! I am thankful your husband is home for him to take care of things around your ranch. I am sure your animals are missing you very much! May God continue to draw you closer to Him!!!
To that point, I am SO excited for you to read Stedman! I absolutely love his books! Not sure if you’ve checked out his website, but they have preserved his sermons as well.
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Praise Jesus is right! I am really loving Stedman’s book and will look up his sermons too, as I have some extra time on my hands! And yes, one of the dogs in particular hears my voice (my husband puts it on speaker phone just for her) and she gets all happy! I miss them too!
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“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” Anne Frank
Yes, there’s plenty of evil in the world, but there’s also a whole lotta good!
And God is still (and will forever) be in charge.
There will never be a crack in Christ—the bridge to heaven for all of us.
I love your attitude, sister Super-C! 12,507 bridge building mega points to you.
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I love the “never a crack in Christ, the bridge to heaven for all of us!” I am giving my 12,507 bridge building mega points to the engineers so they can use them to come up with a solution!
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Your approach to all that is happening is a powerful testimony to all who know or meet you Cindi. May our Father God continue to guide and bless you each day sister 🙏
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He keeps pouring them out all over me!
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Hallelujah sister 🙌 🎶🎵🎶🌈
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“All in all, I am grateful and overwhelmed by God’s goodness in all of this. His peace has settled on me and I am not freaking out like some folks I’ve spoken to.”
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
John 14:27 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.14.27.ESV
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Yup, God did that!
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I too relate to the five prepared virgins. I do real good in crisis situations like the bridge shutdown. I struggle with normal everyday minor annoyances and tasks. That’s the neurodiverse executive functioning deficiency in me. The neurotypicals struggle with understanding that. I’m working on spreading the word for more understanding and accommodations.
Anyway, I’m catching up on blogs, so sorry if I have missed any requests for prayers. I’m praying for you and your community now. Hugs from Texas. Susan.
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Thanks for your prayers and hugs Susan!
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Wow! That is an amazing situation you find yourself in! Even so, you’re making sure God gets His glory! You will have this story to tell of His goodness as part of your testimony from here on out. The story of the virgins has always intrigued me. I wonder if the church today would say they should have shared. The Bible clearly uses them as an example of doing right… but I can see how someone in today’s pulpit might tell us to share- to trust God to provide. That He can make the oil last. There are examples of that in scripture too. Have you ever had these questions about that passage? I know it speaks to salvation… and nobody can take that from us. It seems like the popular message is to pour ourselves out until we have nothing left to give. The story of the virgins seems to contradict that, at least on some level.
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Wow, I never thought of these interpretations. I’ve always thought about it from the standpoint to be ready, for Jesus might return at any moment. Am I sharing the Gospel with everyone I can so they can be ready too? Or I recently posted these two scenarios about being ready at any moment. First, I picture myself at the foot of the cross, where Jesus is hanging in agony. People are jeering and insulting Him. The one thief is doing the same. Would I be comfortable speaking out loud what I’m thinking right then? In front of the Savior who is dying for my sins?
The second scenario is what if this was the exact second Jesus is coming back on the clouds to collect His chosen people. Would I want Him to catch me saying what I’m thinking right as He is about to transport me to my eternal home in heaven?
That’s how I look at the story of the virgins.
Thanks for giving me other things to ponder.
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💯
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