I'm rushing to get this post done before midnight. Hopefully I will make it. I know this is an odd picture, but I love it. I posted back near Thanksgiving about how my dryer caught on fire. Which by the way has started a trend with my friends, as I have three really good friends whose dryers have all decided to stop working properly since. So, I have been forced to go spend time at the laundry mat. I do loads and loads of laundry at home, then go up there with it all wet and plop it all in at once and then that is where my fun begins. I just love people. There are some interesting people at the laundry mat, and I love talking to them and getting to know their stories. Each person has a story to tell whether it is the old lady in her house coat who can't lift her basket, the mom of the newborn who is lulled to sleep by the sounds of the machines, the man out front who is trying to make his car run while his clothes wash, or the Chinese student who only brings five items to wash and considers that a load. Each one of them has a story, and I love to hear them. I love to just listen, pray, then listen some more. Tonight I was there late, so I took some work I still need to do for tonight. I didn't get it all done because I invested my time in people. I listened, I offered HOPE when I could, ENCOURAGEMENT when needed, and PRAYER even when it isn't asked for. In China, all my Chinese friends will hold up the "peace" sign when taking a picture, but it is actually the victory sign. So, today I celebrate that even in what seems sometimes as a inconvenience to not be able to do my laundry at home, I am savoring the story that is being written because of it. I knew there was some reason I love that verse in Romans so much! Now I'm off to finish sewing so I can go to bed.
