When God Is In The Room

We have just returned from a trip to Savannah, GA. My husband's family lives there and we went down for a lovely visit.

What fun we had! We, along with our two kids, piled into the van for the long 5 hour drive Friday evening. It is so unusual for our 18 year old son to travel with us anymore, so we thoroughly enjoyed our time together as a family.

Our 6 year old sat in his carseat all the way, listening to his ipod, coloring, and singing slightly out-of-tune while wearing his headphones.

Our 18 year old sat listening to his ipod, no singing (just air guitar and tapping), mostly snoozing, and reading occasionally from his college textbooks.

Hubby and I talked about our future, listened to our favorite cds, and discussed how wonderful it was to have both our boys with us on the trip.

We pulled into my brother-in-law's driveway at exactly 12:10 am. As tired as we were, we stayed up a few more hours talking and laughing. It is good to be with family, talk about old times and catch up on new ones.

The next day we spent exploring the river front in downtown Savannah. On Sunday, we spent the day relaxing and playing at the beach on Tybee Island. Nights were long and enjoyable as we ate and ate, talked and talked, laughed and laughed.

My mother-in-law lives with my husband's brother and his family now. She has suffered many strokes and they kindly took her in to care for her. She is living like a queen, I tell ya! She has her own private area of the house, gets lots of attention and eats well! She walks a mile or two every day and has made new friends in the neighborhood.

She sometimes tends to get her words mixed up when she speaks. She knows EXACTLY what she is trying to say, but we have to decipher it. It's kinda like playing charades. We all spout out different words as we attempt to finish her sentences for her. It is quite comical, really. Even she laughs!

Saturday night, she kept telling us the same story over and over again. It had gotten to the point of being annoying. She just wanted someone to acknowledge what she was saying. We had been, but she was so busy telling us her version, that she never once heard our acknowledgement.

The main point of her story was that "God is in the room." It took about ten times of her saying it and my brother-in-law shouting it back to her before she finally just let it go. It was hilarious! I have never seen my husband laugh so hard in our 30 years together! She joined in our laughter as we all tried desperately to catch our breath from lack of oxygen! Laughter truly is THE best medicine!

And, yes, God was in the room. His presence was felt as we shared life with family that we seldom get to see.

His presence was felt as we explored Savannah with our unusual little group which includes my brother-in-law, his wife, his middle daughter Melissa, his youngest daughter Jamie, now 25, who has downs syndrome, my husband, myself, our 6 year old, our 18 year old, and the one who started it all, my mother-in-law. We joked about how we all need to tie ourselves together with a long rope on these journeys so we would not keep getting lost from each other in shops and when crossing streets!

God's presence was felt as we rode to Tybee Island listening to Jamie sing the touching words to "I Can Only Imagine" and "How Great Is Our God" as the music echoed from the radio. It brought tears to my eyes.

God's presence was felt as my sister-in-law prayed with me about some difficult decisions we are facing just before we left to head back home.

We decided that we needed a tv crew to follow us around and we would probably have the highest rated reality show on television!

We could show the world how it really is when "God Is In The Room" or on the beach, or leading us down the streets of Savannah, or riding with us in the van.

Yes, God was with us as we pulled into our own driveway yesterday evening and saw a newly placed "for sale" sign in our front yard.

And, God will be with us as we face whatever He has in store for our future.

As the saying goes, "I don't know what the future holds, but I know WHO holds the future."

God is in the room. I am listening and I am following. I am feeling His peace and thanking Him for a wonderful weekend. I am thanking him for family, health, and a future full of good things.


Do you feel Him, too?

Love and Blessings,
Starr