My "Peeps"

I spent a few hours grading papers and recording attendance info. at a local coffee shop today. I took a break and read the paper for a little while too. I ran into several folks, though:

1.) a guy and gal from a Thursday prayer group (at a church I used to attend)
2.) my own pastor (who used today as an opportunity to teach me about some trustee stuff)
3.) my buddy Katie (who allowed me to pray for her and then said, "You should be a pastor!" Ugh...I'll explain later.)
4.) my sister Lani (who gave me an Olive Garden gift card to share with a friend...and then offered to buy me lunch today too)
5.) my buddy Gilbert (a local lawyer and fellow worship team member from years ago...he plays a mean bass and has such a heart for the things of God! I would date him in a heartbeat, but I want GOD to send me someone special. The last time he hinted at a possible dinner date and told me I was a beautiful woman, I was so unapproachable because I wasn't ready yet. Oh well; I'm not chasing anybody...now or later. As I said, God will have to bring him to me. Otherwise, I guess I'll stay single.)

I'm not sure why, but I sometimes seem to attract creepy, stalker-type guys. Ick. That's why I was SOOOOO happy that my pastor happened to be sitting directly across from me when one of these characters walked in. Normally, I'm not one to shy away from conflict, but when there's an element of "creepiness" about the other person, I become a messy, useless ball of nerves. The last time I saw him, "Creepy Dude" invited himself to sit at my table, and I had a heck of a time getting him to go away. My behavior started to be downright rude, but he didn't take the hint. Thankfully, all he did was watch me talk to my pastor...but it was from across the room by the fireplace. I can accept that.

The other day, my son witnessed bizarre behavior from Creepy Dude #2 when we were at McDonald's. I've seen this guy before, and a butthead at my job knows him and gave him information about me. (Remind me to clobber her later.) Anyway, I usually go through the drive thru when I see his cowboy hat, which is why I missed him: He changed hats on me! He wore an orange skull cap instead! He sat in his truck and watched us eat...and we took our good 'ol time too (40 minutes).

I suppose I should pray.

God, thank you for allowing me to have a wonderful job with fantastic insurance so that I'm able to provide for my children and myself, even as I recover from surgery. Lord, I give you all the glory for that. You also have healed my heart over the past year, and I thank you for that too! Now I have a request: please protect me when I'm out alone. I have mentioned in this blog two of perhaps five folks who make my skin crawl, and I pray that you will keep your arms of protection around me and my family at all times.

Please give me wisdom and discernment when it comes to accepting invitations to go to the movies, dinner, etc. So far, I haven't accepted any, but I will if you give me a green light. I don't really trust my own intuition anymore, so I'm relying on you to be perfectly clear with me, ok? Thanks for loving me, Lord, and I definitely love you back! In Jesus' name, amen!