Pleasing to You

Since my last update I've been keeping pretty busy.  On top of church stuff, I've been subbing nearly every Friday.  The first Friday of this was a blessing at the school because I saw nearly all of my kids at least once throughout the day.  And then after school I spent the afternoon/evening with my friend, Allan, his kids, and our pets.  I don't normally bring Piper places because she throws up in the car, but we felt bad for leaving her caged all day and not wanting to cage her all night, he went and picked her up, put her in the back of his SUV, and brought her to his house... with no puke!  The next day my roommate in Uganda, Jean came down for the day/night.  So, we went to get my car back (Allan had let me borrow his car to bring the dog home the night before) and then spent the rest of the day geocaching.  We found 3 caches, 2 of which were within walking distance of my house.  Then we spent the evening watching a movie and hanging out.  It's always a blessing to spend time with Jean.  I got up the next morning and headed to church and she left to head up to Princeton where she was going to church.

After church it was gorgeous outside so I took the dog for a walk before coming home to rest.  We chilled for a little while and then I got ready and went to Allan's... where I was throwing a Superbowl party for the young adult group from church.  We had a lot of fun, despite the lameness of the actual game!  It's always nice to hang out with the young adults, outside of church.  I stayed until everything was cleaned up and then came home wanting to go right to bed... of course, Piper wasn't having that.  After little sleep on Friday night and little sleep on Saturday night, plus getting up early on Sunday, I was wiped.  I "slept in"on Monday until about 8 and then got some stuff done around the house before heading back to Swedesboro for the day.  Allan's kids were home sick from school so we just hung out and watched movies and then worked on homework.  Mondays off are wonderful.  

The rest of that week was spent preparing for our Winter retreat this past weekend and then of course I subbed on Friday.  12 of us loaded into 3 cars and headed up to Keswick (retreat center), though the weathermen warned of impending doom.  We made it up there and settled in no problem, before the storm hit.  We got about 4 inches of snow where we were, but the next day warmed enough to clear it all of the roads.  The retreat was great!  I really enjoyed the speakers and the band.  The best part about the whole weekend was the fact that I was able to simply hang out with my kids.  What a blessing to not be in charge of lessons or worship and to just spend time!  We laughed a LOT, slept a little, and had a great time.  The Saturday night alter-call type service prompted lots of prayer with the kids and the opportunity to understand a bit more about where they're at spiritually.  Nearly every single one of my students reaffirmed their faith or committed for the first time, praise the Lord!!  Now comes the hard part... nurturing those kids, challenging others, discipling, leading, teaching, etc..  It's a good thing God is so sovereign because on my own I'm not able, but with God it's all possible.

I took the whole day Monday off, including my Monday night Bible study, so after I woke up at 5:30am to help a friend, I headed back to bed around 8 and slept until 11.  I seriously did nothing all day.  I didn't clean or do laundry.  I laid around, played with my puppy, played Nintendo, and slept.  It was fantastic.  The next day I got up at 5:30am again, but was home by 8, napped until 9:30, and then went to work.  This was a slow week for me... mostly because it took me so long to recover from the weekend.  You know you're getting old when it takes you days to recover and feel refreshed.  

This was also a challenging week at work.  A group at church made a decision that seems to be unpopular and it has become the focus of many.  Though it wasn't my decision, the original idea was mine, so I somehow feel responsible for the discord.  I'm convinced that satan is trying his best to cause disunity and to discourage, especially after things went so well on the retreat.  When I read about the early church in Acts, I long for us to be a people so focused on doing God's work that nothing else matters.  A people who don't worry about physical and material things, but whose main goal is to fulfill the Great Commission.  I long to see the Body of Christ unified, following the advice of Paul, and most importantly: glorifying God.

Aside from the busyness of life and work, I miss my family and friends in the midwest.  I've not been doing a great job of staying in touch because of said busyness.  It's been a few weeks since I skyped with my nieces... I miss seeing their pretty faces and hearing their sweet voices.  I've been able to talk with my parents, but not so much with my siblings.  It's weird to feel such a disconnect with them.  

I am, however, thankful for more of a connection here.  It's been nice being able to get closer to people and feel more at home.  Relationships with the youth and young adults are moving forward by leaps and bounds.  In fact, I spent my day yesterday hanging out with a group of the young adults... because they wanted to.  How humbling!  

With Lent underway, the Lord keeps prompting me to allow His timing to be best, to be patient and trusting, and to simply love Him with all I am.  Even as I strive to do those things, I'm anxious on this journey to the cross.  Remembering Jesus' ministry challenges me in mine.  Remembering His temptation and victory over it challenges me to use His strength to overcome.  Remembering His death drops me to my knees, humbled and so grateful.  And remembering His resurrection and ascension makes me lift up my heart, head, and hands as He stands in victory.  I'm so in awe.

Yes, I've posted this song before, but it's just so darn good!  This is my prayer today.