In his Experiencing God devotional book Henry Blackaby writes pointedly:

"There are times when Jesus will ask you to join Him as He is at work in the life of your friend, family, or coworker. If you are preoccupied with your own needs, you will miss the blessing of sharing in His divine activity. God is gracious. He forgives, and He provides other opportunities. He will even use our failings to bring about good, but it is critical that we respond in obedience to every prompting from God. God does not need our obedience; He has legions of angels prepared to do His bidding when we fail Him. The loss is ours as we miss what God wants to do in our lives."
At this moment, I am sitting at the computer early in the morning ("o'dark hundred") having just rolled out of bed and stumbled downstairs a few minutes ago. Outside, about 100 yards in front of my house, a company of Marines is making a heap of noise. They are outfitted in full gear and the Gunny is screaming every obscenity he can conjure. These guys are running some kind of tortuous drills. But, boy, are they motivated. Lots of "ooh-rahs" and cheering fill the air. The sun is just comng up.
Farther away, an artillery battery has started firing the big guns. A dull thud and "Boom" reverberates through the house every 20 minutes or so.
The birds are still singing. Like us, they are used to the noise. Living on base, I daily see countless young Marines going about the business of soldiering. They are being conformed to one another, conformed to being a Marine. It is serious stuff.
I don't mind these drills out in front of my house. I am sorry that my kids might wake up and hear an obscenity. But I know that those guys are training for battle one day. And I am reminded that many (most?) of them do not know Christ. They are well-prepared to win a physical battle, but spiritually they are helpless without Him. This is my prayer-field.
I wish I could say that I take every opportunity God offers to me. But I don't.
Like Blackaby says, I get caught up in my own needs.
But sometimes I will pass a young man in uniform (and amazingly they seem to get younger and younger!) and I will be struck with the possibility that he may be deployed tomorrow. He may be in combat next week. He may be in a car accident overnight. Those thoughts motivate me to pray for him, to pray that the Lord will put a Godly friend or Chaplain in his path, that his heart will be softened to the truth and he will come to know Christ as his Saviour, his Friend, his Front and Rear Guard...
And then there are the families...
I don't want to miss what God is doing around me. I am praying about this neighborhood He put us in. It is really beautiful. Technically, it is a miracle that we got this house. But He is completely in control. So Mark and I are anticipating what He is already doing here. We want to join Him. So I am praying. And I am making friends. And I am looking to see where God is at work.
Oh, I wonder how often the angels have had to pick up my unfinished tasks. Or when they have gotten the privilege of doing His bidding when I failed...I look back and I know that I have often been too preoccupied with my self and my family to share in His activity. But I just have to wrap myself in His grace, take another breath, look out my window...and try again.
Thank You, Lord.

Moving Tips I WILL Remember Next Time!

Next time we move (which I hope is not for a few years! Did you hear that, Mr. Navy Detailer?!), I need to remember a few things. So for posterity (and sanity's) sake I am going to record them here:

1. WATCH Mr. Packer and MAKE SURE he labels each box in detail. Do not be deterred when he tries to get rid of you by insisting that he has worked for the packing company for 110 years, is a veteran of two wars and promises with his hand over his heart that he will label your boxes correctly. DO NOT BELIEVE HIM!!! No matter how much he looks like your husband's Uncle Bill or whatever. If you believe him then you deserve to find your cookware in the box marked "HOMESCHOOLING SUPPLIES".
2. Hold on to your pots, pans and utensils until the end and pack them in the last box yourself. Then label it clearly "LAST BOX ON<>
3. Put the kids' bike helmets in the FIRST BOX OFF, because they WILL get bored and want to go explore their new neighborhood as soon as Mr. Unpacker gets their bikes put together again.
4. Don't let the unloaders stack boxes 10-high in a dark corner of the garage where you can't read them and you have to unstack the whole thing to get to the one with the bike helmets:<
5. Insist that the unloaders also stay and unpack EVERYTHING and carry off every box and piece of wrapping paper with them when they go. Yes, I know they will look surprised, they will go super slow hoping you will get fed up and tell them to go home, they may even tell you a sad story about missing their 3 year olds birthday party. Dont buy it. The military pays them good money to stay and unpack every single box and even put it where you tell them to. Don't get short changed, even if you dont have a place to put all of it right away. Just stack it against the wall. At least it will be out of the confounded box and the box (and all the paper) will be their job to get rid of! I repeat "DON'T GET LEFT WITH ALL THE BOXES AND PAPER!"
6. Don't take lip from the truckdriver/unloaders about how they cant carry stuff to the attic or they can't put the dishes up in the cabinet, they just have to leave them on the counter. This is a clever ploy to make you so disgusted that you will send them all away. Instead, just smile and call the number for the military Liason who has been assigned to your move. Let them handle it. Soon, your stuff will be in the attic and your dishes will be in the cabinets:>
7. Don't feed the movers (on either side) PIZZA. Be creative. Everyone gives them pizza.
8. Give them a big tip - both packers and unpackers. If they do the job they are supposed to do, these guys work HARD. They deserve it.
9. Be prepared to spend a LOT if not ALL of your dislocation allowance (and most of what you thought you "saved" by eating bologna sandwiches and staying in cheap motels on that cross country drive).
10. Moving is expensive. Actually, its the getting settled that costs so much. A new house always means new spaces to fill and new storage needs to accomodate. It also means new curtains when your new house has 20 windows and your old house only had 10.
11. I don't know why, but moving always means a new bookshelf or two.
12. It also means eating out longer than you thought because: Mom did not follow advice #1.) or #2.) on this list. She failed to insist that her cookware be packed in the FIRST OFF box because she THOUGHT that the packer was correctly labeling each and every box. Sigh...So by the time she rifled through twenty two boxes labeled only "K-ware" (the pots and pans were, of course in box #22 with the beach towels), well, Mom was too darned tired to cook anything! So be prepared to eat out a few extra times.
13. I can't think of another one. But I'm sure I will in about 30 months...Thank you Uncle Sam.