Coincidence... I think NOT.

I had a chemistry teacher in high school who would use this phrase every time science would point to God. Such as the law of matter... which can neither be created nor distroyed. Big bang? I think not. Only enough moon dust for the Earth to be as old as the Bible says it is... Coincidence? Again, I think not.

I find myself thinking of this phrase when coincidences - both little and big - show up in my life.

I was rearended last fall. Not a big deal. Just needed a new bumper. Had the estimate. Received a check for the repairs. But for some reason I was really dragging my feet with getting my car in the shop. I just didn't want to deal with it.

Last week I finally broke down and made the apointment and reserved a rental. Enterprise was running at $9.99/day special for weekend compact car rentals. Wow. I like that price. I was kind of excited about this; kind of brightened my outlook on the situation.

Sooo... I drop my car off and walk over to the rental office and the little man behind the counter tells me he doesn't have any compact cars. There goes the wind in my sails. He asks if I can come back later. Ummmm... no. No I can't. They just pulled my car into the garage. He makes a call to an office nearby. They don't have anything to send over. The smallest he has is a truck. I told him I didn't want to pay for a truck rental. He tells me he'll give it to me for the compact price since he doesn't have anything else. I like the sounds of this. So, I'm picturing basic truck. Basic small truck. But a truck. Which is exciting to this country girl. We go outside to do a walk-around and what is waiting for me?

This....



Wooohooooo! Now this. This is going to be fun.

You see, I had ordered bare roots roses while I was home for Christmas. They were delivered Friday morning. The box stating, "to be planted immediately." Again my procrastination gets me. I have not done the work to prepare for these roses. I had wonderful plans of a rose bed. Had I so much as looked at a spade? Nope. And now I was in a jam.

Must rent tiller. Must buy top soil. Must by manure... or poo-in-a-bag :) This is going to be fun in a rented compact car. I was invisioning a whole lot of careful tarping of the trunk of a smart-car sized vehicle and prayed that the back seats would fold down.

And well, you've already read how the story turned out. Coincidence? I think not. God had a plan. And my procrastination was part of it. Procrastination on the repairs. Procrastination on the gardening. All of it. God lined it all up so that on the exact weekend the rose bushes showed up I had a truck rental for the price of a compact car and amazing sunny weather.

God is good. He is so good.

He is the Great Logistician. (They left that one out of the Bible, but I'm writing it in the book of Anna)





One tiller, three bags top soil, one bale peat moss, two bags-o-poo, and four and a half yards of mulch. It was a lovely weekend.

God's got me.

The other day I was reminded just how far I've come in the last couple of years.

I recently celebrated my two year anniversary at my current workplace. Prior to this I had several 11-month stints on my resume but seemed to be unable to hit even the one year mark.

February 2, 2009, I accepted a possition as a receptionist. I was so desperate for health insurance I would have taken a job sweeping floors and cleaning potties. Penn State degree or not. I was willing to do just about anything.

Once on the job I realized my salary wasn't going to stretch very far. I had to keep my job bartending. Soon I found out I needed to pick up a third job as well. I was struggling to pay my bills. There wasn't any money left over to buy groceries. I found myself working three jobs all while going to grad school part time. Looking back, I really don't know how I did that. I know that I couldn't have done it if God hadn't been right by my side.

There were a couple of months where I had $40 for groceries. That's only $1.33 a day. But I did not go hungry. I had food. I had real food. Three meals a day. God. And a lot of dollar store pasta.

By September of 2009, a possition was created for me in the finance department and I was promoted to Assistant Financial Anaylist. And given a 30% pay raise. I was making so little to start with that it really didn't add up to much more. But, I was able to quit bartending and only wait tables on weekends. I was down to two jobs and grad school part time. But somehow the bills were now getting paid, credit card balances were decreasing at steady rates, and I had money to eat. I was even saving a little.

February 2010 I bought my house. I bought a house making $13.25/hour. And my mortgage ended up being 2/3 of what I had been paying in rent. God. Totally God. Totally and amazingly God. Because I'm not house poor. I live in a 4 bedroom/1.5 bath cape cod with a large yard and a detached garage. That I can afford. Making what most would consider absolutely no money.

I had many friends tell me that they wouldn't do the work I did for the money I made. I went to Penn State for crying out loud. And then I bought my house. And they said they didn't know how I did it. And told me they still wouldn't work for what I was making. And all I could think to myself was, if I wasn't doing this, I'd be living at home with mom and dad without a job. In northern Pennsylvania where there are no jobs to be had. Like many of my friends had for quite a while after graduation. Because they wouldn't work for what I was making.

January 1, 2011, I was promoted to Financial Analyst. And finally received a decent salary. A 36% raise.

In two years with this company I've received two promotions and two raises at larger percentages than most people ever see. That does not happen. God made that happen. Because I've prayed. And I've tythed. And I've worked my bum off. And I've cried. And I've been frustrated. And I've continued to pray. And continued to give thanks. And continued to work hard.

I'm still underpaid. But I have more than most who make twice what I have. Because God taught me humility. And He taught me frugality. And he taught me the value of hard work. Even if that hard work means three jobs and grad school.

God's got me. He's working on me. And the blessings are amazing. My cup runneth over.

Getting Better

I signed up for another semester of Sunday Clay at D'Art Center at Seldon Arcade. The first semester I really didn't produce much that was worth writing home about. I had a hard time pulling anything farther than five inches or so.

This semester is definitely an improvement. I've gotten a good 10 inches or a little more out of my pulls. The two pieces above are two of the best so far for this class. I can't wait to see what comes out of more practice and more experience!

Just one week's growth!

These were planted exactly a week ago. Look at those cucumbers! There are two types of tomatos, two types of cucs, yellow squash, zuchini, marigolds and zinnias here. I'm trying to go the cheap route and start as much as I can from seeds. So far things are going well!

Monster Monday

Dex just has to find a way to be involved in whatever is going on...

This is him in my sewing machine carrier, wrapped up in quilt blocks I was piecing together. Kitty heaven.

I gave Molly a really stupid-looking haircut over the weekend. She's in hiding for now. I keep telling her if her momma loved her more she'd have gotten a better hair cut...

My droid is perverting my communication!

I replaced the trusty dusty blackberry curve with a droid pro about a month ago. Love, love, love. Except the spell check on my text messaging. It turns "Dex" into "sex" and "pedis" into "penis". So... when talking about my cat or asking my girlfriend if she's up for pedicures... yeah... This is where I learn to look before I hit send.

I love technology.

Monster Monday

Yes, I know. Its Tuesday. However, due to technical difficulty, I wasn't able to upload a picture of Molly McGee yesterday and I'm having the same problems today. Such is life. And so this week, there's only Dex.



I took this picture of Dexter over the weekend. I was given this quilt made out of some sort of nasty poly-acrylic fabric and it is headed to the thrift store where someone who does not know and appreciate the value of good cotton quilts will enjoy it more than the closet of my spare bedroom ever will. But first, it was well-loved by a certain kitty of mine. Sorry Dex, its not staying.