1. There is a very, VERY large lake just north of Charlotte (right where we are staying and the location of Ken's company). Lake Norman is a man made lake formed by a dam on a river and it consists of miles and miles of shoreline around all of the "fingers" of the lake.
2. Because of this lake, this entire area is basically a tourist area. A very wealthy tourist area.
3. Apparently they have some very restrictive sign policies in this town because you can't find anything just by driving down the road! And to top it off, our GPS seems to have a hard time finding things also! We spent quite some time looking for a place to eat last night. It was frustrating! We finally ended up at a sort of fast food place that did turn out to be pretty good. Just not where we thought we were going.
4. We aren't sure if it is just a local thing or if it is all over North Carolina, but they have this weird flashing YELLOW arrow for left turns. We finally figured out that it means that you CAN make a left turn, you just have to watch for traffic (it is not a protected left turn). But we had never seen this before!
5. When it rains here, it really rains! HARD! But for a very short time. It is always very humid so it seems like it is either going to rain, raining, or just rained. Basically a lot like Florida.
6. Apparently this particular town doesn't like Walmart either (see number 2) because I was shocked to learn that it was 12 miles to the closest Walmart. I would have had to drive all the way through Charlotte and then further south to get there. So much for thinking that there was a Walmart in every town (see my previous post).
7. On the up side, the people have been very friendly and pleasant to deal with. As a matter of fact, one lady even rolled down her window to talk to us in a parking lot after another not-so-great driver really cut us off. I can't imagine that happening at home!
8. Everyone here seems to love this area. It is about 3 hours to the coast and 2 hours to the mountains and then there is the lake. The weather is very moderate (no snow or ice - no tornados, no earthquakes, no hurricanes) although it IS very hot. Doesn't make me want to move here however.
With all that said, we will be leaving late tomorrow after Ken completes his work meetings, headed for Savannah, Georgia. There is a pretty good chance that it will rain the entire time we are there. We are just hoping for a break in the weather so Ken can do some photography and we can sightsee in Historic Savannah district. So, pray for a break in the weather for us please!
My thought for today comes from a little encounter I had at a Goodwill Store that shares a parking lot with our Hotel. I went into the store mainly to kill some time, and to look for a light weight sweater for our dinner out (which by the way, was fabulous). The store was packed with people, but was neat, clean and very well stocked. As a matter of fact, this particular store had about 90% clothes, which is very different from the stores at home. In my experience, you find more household stuff than clothes. Anyway, there was a women with 4 small children (2 in the shopping cart and 2 walking) and she was looking for clothes for the older 2 for school. I heard the oldest girl saying she really wanted a princess shirt. But it didn't seem that there were any on the rack. I was just sort of wandering around and found exactly the right sweater. As I was going to the checkout, I noticed a worker bringing out a rack of clothes. And there first on the rack, was a pink Disney princess shirt that looked about the right size. I grabbed it off the rack and scanned the store for that women and her kids. I finally found them in the shoes, and presented the shirt to the little girl. She was so excited that she just jumped up and down. The mom gave me the biggest hug and thanked me for finding that shirt. She said that she was trying to figure out how to pay full price for a new shirt so she could have it for the first day of Kindergarten. When I heard this I told her my own granddaughter Ellie was starting Kindergarten also! She almost dropped her armful of shoes! The happy little girl's name was Ellie! The mom said "Now I know that Jesus put you here today so Ellie can have the desire of her heart!" It was all about being in the right place at the right time. Thank you Jesus!
Yes, Jesus, thank you for these little breaks in our everyday things that remind us that you are in control! Please bless that women and her family and help BOTH Ellie's have calm and peaceful first days of school. Thank you for your provision for our family through Ken's work. Holy Spirit, thank you for your guidance, wisdom and protection, even when our GPS fails. Jesus, what an amazing plan you have to bless us as we participate in your working for others. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment