Sleep

This Sunday is youth Sunday at church.  I've spent the last few weeks preparing the kids for their roles in the service.  They've done a good job and have worked hard.  I'm excited to see how things play out and how the congregation reacts.  The service won't follow our traditional order of worship, but I think it's a good thing.  I recently had a couple of the older folks in the church request me to introduce the kids by name so they can put faces with names that they've all read about before.  What a blessing to have a congregation who wants to know who is who in the youth program, especially considering the general demographic of which we're made up.

This week leading up to youth Sunday has been fantastic, exhausting, but fantastic.  Monday evening was fun... I spent it with a friend, working on music for this Sunday and watching Da Bears lose again. Ok, so the bad football game wasn't so fun, but the company was good, so I can't complain.  After having the music figured out, I was much less stressed.  Getting home late that night meant about 5 hours of sleep leading into Tuesday.  I think it worked to my advantage though.  As much as I hate to admit it, I get a lot done when I only get a little sleep.  I rocked out pretty much all the work that I needed to get done before leaving town for Thanksgiving.  Tuesday was capped off with a lovely ecumenical worship service with my church and about 4 other churches in the area.

For whatever reason (I tend to believe it's a mixture of a sore throat and nerves) I didn't sleep well again on Tuesday night, but again, on Wednesday I found that I got more stuff done than I even realized needed to be done.  Not to mention, doing laundry, cleaning my house, and traveling to Hershey, PA.  

I got to Hershey where I met up with my best friend, her husband, and their 2 kids who are up this way visiting his family.  It was a huge blessing to be invited to stay with the family they were staying with and share Thanksgiving with them.  This is the second year in a row that I've not been around my immediate family which seems strange.  Last year I was in Uganda with the other missionaries and my African family... always lots of fun, tons of food, and good worship.  Anyways, being with Stacy and her family is like being home, despite being in a stranger's home.  She and I have known each other for nearly 20 years and I consider her my sister.  I had been struggling with the fact that I wasn't going to be with blood relatives, but God sweetly reminded who my family is, who my brothers and sisters are.  "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  Matthew 12:50.  Amen, right?

I don't normally sleep well when I'm not at home so as I expected, Wednesday night I got about 4 hours of sleep and last night I got 2, at best.  When you're the only person awake in a house full of people it seems silly not to spend quiet time with the Lord.  So much of the night last night was spent in prayer... for friends, family, burdens the Lord has placed in my heart, African matters, and youth Sunday were among the most popular items.  In my last post I mentioned how much of a blessing it is to feel led to pray very specifically for others and I have to say, even though it meant no sleep, I was honored to have so much time to bring you all before God's throne.


Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2

Needless to say, I'm beyond exhausted tonight.  I did rest a bit today, but chose not to nap so that I would sleep really well tonight.  I do not like black Friday shopping, but there were a few items I needed to pick up in preparation for Stacy and her fam to come stay here tomorrow night and I have been looking for new shoes.  I went out around noon today to grab those things... HUGE mistake.  I got back in my car and drove home when I saw the crowds and lines, but not before finding shoes that I wanted and stashing them so no one else would buy them before I came back.  Yeah, I'm that person.  Being tired and dealing with crowds of (most likely) rude people did NOT seem appealing.  I went back out around 5... what a difference!  Walmart was pretty dead and I was able to get the things I needed (and a few things I didn't need... cheap dvds are a weakness of mine).  I then decided to try Kohls again.  Success... I got new $105 running shoes for half off.  

Even now, I'm feeling anxious about Sunday morning.  Partly, I feel like this service will reflect directly on me, even though it's not about me at all.   Will you join me in praying for the youth and for the amazing adults who have been so supportive and helpful as we prepare?  Pray for the musicians, for the kid's nerves, for the body of Christ to be pointed towards the throne, for His face to be seen above all else.  Pray for me as I make last minute preparations in the church tomorrow afternoon (I have to wait to set up because there's a wedding) as well as anticipate Stacy and her family's arrival.  I'm very excited to show my bff where I live and work now.  Lastly, would you pray for healing?  I've been fighting what I think will eventually turn into a cold/sinus thing.   Really I just need it to hold off until Sunday afternoon. 
I'll leave you with this song from the 90's by a guy called Riley Armstrong.  If you skip to about a minute into the song you'll see why this is my theme song right now.