God Knows the Plans He Has for Us

Last night I wound up tucking Keisha into bed around 10:30 PM. It's summertime, and we've often let her stay up late. We spent the hour before her bedtime reading another chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5). We kissed Jennie bye as she left for work around 10 PM.

She got ready for me to tuck her in by brushing her teeth and taking her hearing aids out, as she normally does. As I tucked her in, she said she wanted to have some music playing while she fell asleep.

I turned the CD/karaoke machine on, and she said she could just barely hear it. It sounded quite loud to me. She wanted it turned up louder. I told her it was already too loud for this time of night.

Then she said something that broke my heart: She said she wished she could hear like Jennie and me, that she wasn't hard of hearing. I told her I wished she wasn't hard of hearing, too.

I asked her if she remembered what we'd studied in the Bible on Sunday. Then I reminded her that we'd read Jeremiah 29:10-13:

10 This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

I told Keisha that God has plans for her, with her hearing loss. We don't really know exactly what those plans are right now, but God DOES have some great plans in store for her.

Then we prayed together. She asked God to help her be grateful for where she is. I prayed for God to help us both to be encouraged and wait for him to reveal his plans for her life.

Then I told Keisha that I wished her to have "sweet dreams", full of princesses, princes, unicorns - "Ponies?" she asked - yes, ponies, and all that other good stuff.

JIMM 61 - Power, Praise, and Plans

Mood: glad
Listening to: JIMM 61 - Power, Praise, and Plans
Eating: potato chips

It's been 2 weeks since the last JIMM podcast episode, so I gave you all 2-week's worth in one show, as we look forward to the 1-year anniversary of the Journey Inside My Mind podcast.

Listen to Audio I Like!

I just put an Odeo player in the sidebar, underneath my profile, of some of my "starred Odeo". You can listen to audio I've enjoyed. Naturally, I've put some of my favorite JIMM episodes in there.

JIMM on Face the Music!

Mood: deliberate
Listening to: Face the Music 21 - About Time
Eating: eggs, bacon, toast, and black coffee

Welcome Face the Music listeners! JamesB, the host of Face the Music, played an audio comment I sent him on his latest show, Face the Music 21 - About Time.

This blog contains only text posts from the Journey Inside My Mind. To check out the podcast, head over to that website.

Home Fry Speed Demons Unite!

Mood: charged
Listening to: Accident Hash #168
Eating: Sunrise Sun Chips

So C.C. Chapman, the host of the music podcast "Accident Hash" played a comment from a listener who got a speeding ticket while listening to the show. C.C. put the call out for listeners to chime in with their speed-inducing songs. I'm cross-posting my comments to his show post here:

Re: the comment about speeding from listening to music...

In the early '90s "Stigmata" and "Burning Inside" by Ministry would do it for me. That and "Head Like A Hole" by Nine Inch Nails.

Nowadays, it's songs by [munk], Danko Jones, "Lying in Wait" by Uncrowned (had to be careful when listening to "INFECTION", natch). I think De La Vega also does it for me.

We may need to create a support group for people in situations like this. "Home Fry Speed Demons Anonymous"?

Dan: "Hi, I'm Dan, and I'm a Home Fry Speed Demon."
HFSDA Group: "Hi Dan!"
...

Someone should buy homefryspeeddemons.com and redirect it to accidenthash.com.

Update: I recorded some audio and submitted it to C.C. - I might put it here later or even play it on the JIMM.

Power, Podcasting, and Plans

Mood: upbeat, excited, contemplative

Powerless

Yesterday at around 5 PM someone had an accident in which they crashed their car into a telephone pole at an intersection just outside our apartment complex:

We were on our way home and noticed some traffic lights out, and we saw a Hamilton County Sheriff car activate its lights and speed off. When we got to our apartment complex, we saw the accident. We seriously hope that the people involved in the accident are okay. The crash had snapped the top part of the telephone pole, and there were live wires around. Hence the traffic signals being out.

When we got home, we realized that the power to our home was also out. We opened the windows, and I had to shut the computer off because it had been running off the batteries. Fortunately for us, we had dinner plans at another family's home. More about that in a separate post, perhaps.

In the Dark, Relying on the One who is Powerful

When we got home after 9:30 PM, the power was still out. We found a flashlight, and since the batteries we had weren't working with the other flashlights, I lit candles around our home.

Keisha, naturally, was afraid, and we did our best to reassure her. We told her that the power company was working as hard and as fast as they could to get power back on. More importantly, God, who never sleeps, is watching over her, and he's given her a Mommy and Daddy who are watching out for her, too.

Jennie and I set the alarms on our cell phones to go off at 6 AM this morning, but at 11:21 PM last night, the power came back on - thankfully (it was muggy inside our home), as evidenced by the fans turning back on, along with other lights that had come on from our turning the switches out of habit.

I immediately set our alarm clock (that's why I remember it was 11:21 PM) and went to every room and blew out the candles.

Jennie remarked last night as we came home that she wished there was some kind of food voucher we all could get whenever something like this happened. You see, she had just gone to the grocery store a couple days ago. We'll have to go through the items in the refrigerator and freezer to see if they are still fresh.

But it's not just us; its everyone in our section of the apartmennt complex.

Podcast Delay and Some Exciting Changes

So I haven't spent any time putting together a show for this week. It's been yuckily hot, and, well, other things have taken priority, naturally. Maybe some time this afternoon or evening, perhaps.

Also, there are going to be some exciting changes going on for us as the next several months progress - (no, we're not having another baby, Mom). I'll have to talk about those in a separate post.

Okay, I'll divulge 1 big thing: August 21st is my 1-year anniversary in podcasting. I welcome your audio comments specifically, but you can also send e-mail. Please visit the podcast page for contact details. You can do something directly via the website or call the Listener Hotline.

I just saw the trailer for the World Trade Center Movie

Mood: wistful
Eating: salted peanuts in the shell
Watching: WTC Movie Trailer

It's a story about two Port Authority officers who were trapped under the wreckage. Movie opens in theaters August 9th.

My eyes are all watery.

BorgBlog: Brutal

Exactly how the heat feels: BorgBlog: Brutal

Here's something to discuss. Which situation would you rather be in, the brutal heat we've had this summer, or the bitter below-zero windchill we've had in winters past?

New Juice Update Helps Fix Feedburner Problem

Prompted by recent Feedburner problems that led to Juice users being unable to receive podcasts, the Juice team has released an update, version 2.2.2, which is now available.

Digg this story!

Dust Art

Mood: sleepy
Listening to: nothing
Reading: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)
Eating: nothing yet
Watching: nothing

Some people just write "Wash Me" on the window of a dusty car. This guy does artwork. Very good artwork.

via Rocketboom