A Jonah Day

Last Saturday started out as a Jonah Day. You know the kind of day where everything goes wrong.

I had come home from running errands and saw our Bradley in the window and thought that he should come outside to go potty. I was with him in our front yard when a bicyclist came riding by and suddenly, Bradley took off after him!

Then I realized why.

The guy had a leash and his big bulldog was running along side him. Bradley came at him like a torpedo and startled the big dog. Yikes! The bulldog defended himself and Bradley was getting chomped on. Oh, the yelping! (screaming?)

After the man got a better grip on his dog and was smacking him, the dog let go of Bradley. I won't forget the sight of Bradley hanging from the big dog's mouth. I thought "If he dies, it is my fault because I didn't watch him close enough."

Bradley ran up to our front porch all muddy and shaken.

I apologized to the guy. I should have had Bradley on a leash even though it was just out front.

I let Bradley in the house and took him up to our bathroom and started the bathtub. Ugh! He had literally gotten the poop scared out of him and I just now noticed it. He shook out the mud, etc. all over the bathroom and I was NOT HAPPY.

A little knocking on our screen door. I see the bulldog owner. He is hoping that Bradley is ok. I think he is. I didn't see any blood so far. The man's name is Spencer and he lives on the next block. He tells me his dog is still a puppy and is caught up on all of his shots. Nice guy.

Victor came home soon, told me to "go shopping" and, thankfully, took over and cleaned Bradley up plus the bathroom :)

I then got in the car to go to the Downtown Mall. An accident was on the side of the highway and a woman had her hands on her head like she was just shocked. I thought to myself how I still felt shaken and jittery. I kept seeing Bradley getting bitten and me not able to do anything about it.

My exit was backed up and I thought it was because of the accident. Cars were entering in trying to get on the freeway, while others, like myself, were trying to exit. It was kind of a strange weaving in and out of cars. We were all going about 5mph.

BAM!

I was hit from behind-Oh! I pulled over to the side and the other car did too. We got out and talked. They wanted to see if I was ok. I was and so was my car. Again, no harm done. Just startled.

It is about this time that I start thinking about our "Adversary." I am not the sort that believes the Devil is everywhere, yet his job is to get us distracted and discouraged. I thought about that for a while. Thankfully though, the rest of the day was really good!

Next day at church our pastor was speaking and talked about the 'whole armour of God' Eph 6:10-20. Especially about the 'shield of faith'.

He said "I'm talking about the large shields like the Romans used. After all, do you get tiny arrows coming at you?!"

I like that.

A Pleasant Enough Day, Until...

Well, here I am riding my very nice cruiser bike on a beautiful Autumn day. I like to ride through the Fab 40's neighborhood and, right now, it is especially nice with all of the leaves changing.

As I head back home I take 39th St. to get back into my neighborhood. I pass the light rail station and go through the tunnel. Up ahead a man is walking toward me on the sidewalk. He steps from the walkway into the street and into my pathway. He doesn't look at me. He is looking at the houses across the street. As I approach, I notice that he is reaching into his pocket and he takes out a knife. He unfolds it and it turns out to be a serrated hunting knife. I suddenly have the thought that this man is going to take a swipe at me as I ride by!

It all happens in seconds. I speed up and go around the guy, leaving as much room as I can. He never takes a swipe, but as I get a few yards a way, I turn around and he is looking right at me.

When I get home I call the police. I give them a description and my number. I decide that since I need to walk my dog later and this is the route I take, I should try to find this guy and tell the police where he is. I am going to jump into my car and take a look myself.

As I am heading out, I get a call from the police. They say they have picked up a suspect and want me to ID him. I go to where they have detained the guy-yep, it is him. Then they show me the knife-yep, it is the weapon. I get a feeling that the man is a parolee and no stranger to the police.

Well, I am glad that no harm came to me or anyone else. I had to tell Victor who is out of town right now and he was NOT happy. He called a bunch of people so that they would check on me and had a nice visit with Aladrian. Everything is good. I don't feel fearful or anything like that. I actually walked Bradley and all was well.

I know that God is watching over me and feel great confidence in that knowledge. I do feel that these things happen because the spirits know that we stand with Israel and her people. It is a battle in the heavens. Nothing can touch one of His own without His explicit permission.
I have a hope and a future.

Btw, the man was a white male 5'10", balding with sparse dark, close-cropped hair. Slim, muscular build. He had a black, flame tattoo on his shoulder.

In His Corner.

Sunday we took the grandkids to the Pumpkin Farm. Beautiful weather and just a great day overall.

Bradley is our dog. We've had him for 3 years and he is one of the best dogs ever!

So, with Samuel, Ella and Bradley, Victor has got a really good fan-base. These three are totally devoted to him and it is very sweet. We all could use unwavering love, couldn't we?