It started off with me getting out of the shower expecting to have to go wrangle Henry while wearing my towel. But as I walked to Henry's room, I could hear from downstairs Sloan talking to Henry about making eggs for breakfast. So I got to blow dry my hair, put on my face, and get ready for Bible Study without having to play goalie in the bathroom door.
Then, and this is where it really gets good, as Henry and I were driving to Bible Study, we got to take advantage of all the wondrous beauty that is XM radio. Sloan's car died, as in the oil drained out of his Passat while in the backwoods of North Carolina killing his engine. And to replace the engine would be more than our dear Penny is worth. So she's just waiting to be sold for parts at a mechanic in Fayetville. We literally are selling our car on Craigslist and having to buy a new (at least new for us) car for Sloan. Not so much what we'd intended on using our savings for (have I mentioned lately that I want a baby?). But I digress...
So I'm borrowing my sister's extra car. (Yes, she has 7 kids and an extra car. But remember, I have a nephew who gets his license in 2 months so it will not be "extra" for long.) And this car, an old BMW wagon, has XM radio. At first, I did not think I would like XM. I'm addicted to talk radio and getting the weather and traffic every 10 minutes. But then I met XM. And he has shown me his love.
Mainly I listen to the 60s on 6. But there are also the 70s on 7, and the 80s on 8. The simplicity of the stations moves me. And there is a little light show on the radio that keeps time with the music. This, however, is a bit hazardous as I've been known to watch it while I'm supposed to be driving. But again, I digress. As Henry and I are pulling onto 288, I decided not to listen to the Bee Gees on 7 and tried the 80s on 8. BINGO!!!
I heard a familiar drum beat and saw the flashing word "Toto" scroll across the XM display. Has there ever been anything more glorious to see on a cold and dreary winter day? I set out to introduce Henry to quite possibly one of the greatest songs ever written. Ever. Toto's "Africa." And by the time we were crossing the James, I was singing at the top of my lungs, playing the steering wheel as a drum, and in the rear view mirror, I got to watch as Henry shimmied his shoulders and played his thighs as drums. That's right people, we were rockin' out.
I knew it was going to be a great day. Hearing Toto in the morning changes you.
And when we got home, as I was trying to coax Henry into eating creamed Spinach, we had the Inauguration on. And suddenly I was in tears. Not because Pres. Obama's speech moved me (although it did), not because I heard Toto, and not even because I was so filled with pride. It suddenly hit me that God did this huge thing. He changed the hate-filled hearts of an entire people. And by this change, this election of a black man, He is giving hope to many. And hope can be a dangerous thing. Hope makes us work harder. Hope makes us dream bigger. Hope makes us yearn.
My prayer, however, is that this hope will not be misplaced. Pres. Obama is just a man. He is finite. And whatever your political beliefs may be, if you place all that hope in just a man, you will be disappointed. But what proof we have that God is at work! What proof we have that not only do people change, but peoples change.
So I will continue to shimmy my shoulders and hum Toto. And place my hope in Him.
"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
Daniel 2:20-22
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