Sundays

Sundays are supposed to be a day of rest....not a day for doing report cards. It is maddening to me that I have spent both Saturday and part of Sunday doing work related things. My plan was to get the report cards finished Friday (on my day off--day off meaning: day that I'm not supposed to be working) but I woke up not feeling well and it didn't happen. Yesterday afternoon was Solo Festival and afterwards I was able to get some of the report cards done. This morning I was planning on going to my friend's church, but woke up feeling like I didn't sleep all night. So I made the decision to skip church and get started on the cards, because I had a feeling if I went to church I wouldn't have the energy to do the report cards when I got home. Well, at 11:08am, I'm happy to say that I only have 16 cards left to do and I've listened to a fascinating teaching over the internet, but I must say that I am questioning my decision.

You might be asking how I got myself in this pickle to begin with...well, my time at school has been spent preparing for a field trip I took my kids on Thursday and a concert we have on Tuesday. Since the report cards are due Monday, and I am only there three days a week, I just haven't had the time to get them done in school.

There are so many things wrong with this scenario that I won't even attempt to begin naming them. So I will just pray that the Lord will give me the grace to deal with it and that He will meet with me right where I am.

Hmmm....

I borrowed/stole this from Jaelle. It seems to speak to where I am right now in my walk with the Lord:

DARKNESS BEFORE THE DAWN
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Genesis 40:20-41:1

The process of discovering, processing, purifying, and shaping gold is a lengthy, painstaking process. Affliction is gold in the making for the child of God, and God is the one who determines how long the process takes. He alone is the Refiner.

This is where Joseph was when we left him. He is still in process. His gold is still being refined. His heart is still being broken by affliction and abandonment.

Those two full years for Joseph were neither exciting nor eventful. They represented a long, dull, monotonous, unspectacular, slow-moving grind. Month after month after month of . . . well, nothing. Not even the Genesis account attempts to make those years seem meaningful. Because they weren't.

That's what it's like when you're in a period of waiting. Nothing's happening! Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.

On the other hand, it only seems like nothing is happening. In reality, a whole lot is happening. Events are occurring apart from our involvement. Furthermore, we are being strengthened. We are being established. We are being perfected. We are being refined into pure gold.

We're back to my earlier comment---Joseph is being shaped for greatness. All whom God uses greatly are first hidden in the secret of His presence, away from the pride of man. It is there our vision clears. It is there the silt drops from the current of our life and our faith begins to grasp His arm. Abraham waited for the birth of Isaac. Moses didn't lead the Exodus until he was eighty. Elijah waited beside the brook. Noah waited 120 years for rain. Paul was hidden away for three years in Arabia. The list doesn't end. God is working while His people are waiting, waiting, waiting. Joseph is being shaped for a significant future.

That's what's happening. For the present time, nothing. For the future, everything!

Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Mystery Money....

Yesterday I received a check in the mail from U of R for the exact amount that my last class cost. It was a rather startling event, partially because I have no idea why they would be paying me, but mostly because I came to the realization that this check is worth more than one of my paychecks!!!

New Year's Eve

Last night as I was trying to fall asleep, I was listening to the book of Luke when I heard the story of the paralytic man who was lowered into the house by his friends. Now I don't know much about the construction of houses back then, but being that they lowered him through the roof, the friends must've gone to some trouble taking apart the roof in order to get him in the house. What stuck out to me was how much work it must've taken these men to get the paralytic in to see Jesus. And then I thought about how easily I am distracted from meeting with Him, and how a diligent effort must be made on my part to meet with the Lord. I have been aware of how many times recently that I know the Lord is calling me, telling me to meet with Him, yet I find things to keep me busy and not meet with Him. This is one thing that I pray would change as I go into the new year.