Close to the Sun

It was a beautiful, but quite cold day. It was about -24F when I went to start my car, according to one of my online weather sources. That is simply cold.

I was tempted not to go out today at all. But I had made arrangements with a young lady, Michelle, who has graciously married my friend Adam, to get together and run some errands and have lunch. So, I dressed warmly: flannel pajama bottoms under my jeans, then a turtleneck shirt, a turtleneck sweater over that, two pairs of socks, a jacket, scarf, gloves and light boots. Once I managed to get all of that on, I went out and started the car. It took 3 tries, but I finally got it started. I let it warm up for 15 minutes, and then began my journey from St. Albert into Edmonton at about 10:45 a.m.

I decided I needed a Timmy's coffee with double cream, so I stopped at the one on Hebert Road in St. Albert. But there were probably 10 cars in the drive-through lineup and seemingly dozens of people in line inside. I returned to my car without a coffee and proceeded down "the Trail". Two or three miles south of Hebert, there is another Timmy's, and no lineup, so I got my coffee after all and continued on my trip to pick up Michelle.

About half an hour later, Michelle and I made our way to "Best Buds" flower shop in Oliver Square at 116 Street and 104 Avenue. My friend Kim owns the store, and some of my other friends (Lillian and Laura were there today) help her out. Kim was supposed to get 4,000 roses today and she had quite a bit of help in to de-thorn the roses and make bouquets. My idea was that Michelle and I could learn a few tricks for an hour or two. But Kim had lots of help and so we chatted for a few minutes, then left to go to lunch at Red Robins. A Whiskey Burger and a few fries warmed us up for the rest of our travels.

Michelle is a very interesting young lady as she is Australian and the first Australian I've known. So, as we lunched, then shopped at Walmart and Superstore, we compared notes about what it is like to move away from your native country, as well as all the different products and groceries we miss! At about 4:30, I dropped her off at Totem, where her hubby works, and made my way home.

It was a beautiful evening with lovely pastel wintry sky. It was slightly darkening as I drove home, but still in the sky was the beautiful pale yellow sun. And against one edge of the sun there was a cloud that looked almost like another sun as it reflected the same intense yellow light as the sun, and across the sky, the cloud trailed a long line of "cloud" that twisted and turned for some distance. As my eyes followed the trail, it struck me that the further away from the sun, the paler the color of the cloud. So, the long trail of cloud seemed bright yellow just like the sun where it was close, but at the tail end was practically white.

I guess the closer we are to the Son, the more we appear to be like Him.

Wrong Way?

It was just a couple of weeks ago when it happened for the first time.

I'd been riding the St. Albert commuter buses to my place of employment in Edmonton - NorQuest College - since June of last year. So, at that point, it had been about 8 months of commuter busing. And the route never really varied. The route numbers did, but not the route. So, every morning, I walk 1.5 blocks from my apartment to the bus stop, hop on a bus that takes me to St. Albert Centre. I transfer to another bus that takes me all the way to within one block of NorQuest. On the way home, it is simply the reverse of that.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, I did my transfer at St. Albert Centre on the way home, but as the bus pulled out of the station, it went a completely different route. It had been a long and tiring day, and to think I had hopped on the wrong bus really brought me down. I mentioned to a lady sitting near me that I must have gotten on the wrong bus. She said, "No, this is the way they are supposed to go." I was totally confused and did not get it at all. I questioned her, and finally she said, "You're on the right bus. The bus is supposed to go exit the station this way -- even though they never do!"

Wow. You can go the wrong way without even knowing it for a very long time. Lucky for me, there was someone to explain it to me.

It reminds me of the 40 or so years of my life spent walking down the wrong road -- resisting God and denying Jesus as my Savior. Lucky for me, there was someone to explain that to me as well.

Thank you!