Now I am getting VERY excited. Our trip is feeling...REAL.
Other than a client lunch at the Yacht Club tomorrow, I'm done with work for TWO weeks. Bliss. I've been working 45-50 hours a week for the last month, and I'm pooped and ready for this break.
I have three days to clean the house, pack and repack. And to keep brushing up on my French. And to read the three novels set in France that I have begun. Sounds heavenly. Putter and read. Love it.
I have set up a new blog for our trip. The address is http://bonjourgracie.blogspot.com/
So, go there now and sign up to follow. I'm hoping to chronicle our Paris adventures there, so, check in often. And please oh please...comment!
Not sure if I'll blog here again before Monday, so, if not, au revoir!
4.22.2010
4.21.2010
Mysterious ways
Sometimes, often, God's ways are not my ways. He answers my prayers ... creatively.
We have a big, once in a lifetime trip coming up. I've been praying. I'm not a worrier, but this has been looming for months, and I AM a planner for sure.
A couple months ago I prayed earnestly that God would assist us financially so that the usual *stuff* wouldn't accompany Frank and I to Paris. Frank is an accountant, and he thinks in terms of budgeting. Everything. Me, I work hard and then like to enjoy the moments with the cash on hand. I don't spend beyond what we have, but I count the cost of missed opportunities more than the budgetary consequence. We've learned how to deal with that difference, but it causes a few tense moments. Actually, we balance each other out. On my own, I'd be broke but smiling. He'd be rich and dull. So...anyhow, I want our time in Paris to be stress free.
This morning as I made breakfast for Jake for the first time in weeks, I reviewed the absolute CRAZY schedule I've been keeping. I generally work 24 hours a week, but now I'm on my fourth straight week of full time plus. Add that to finishing a graduate school class, and keeping up with a busy family, a lot of singing at Easter, blah blah blah... you get the picture. I've never had five work projects on my desk at one time, but I do now! I've been under enormous pressure, juggling them and trying to keep them straight and moving forward. My work is all about deadlines, and the clients set the timing. When the Request for Proposal arrives in the mail, I have a deadline.
But this morning God reminded me of my prayers. My last two checks have been larger than usual, and the one I get this Friday will be close to double my normal paycheck. Just in time. Thank you Lord. I would have preferred finding a wad of twenties, but, indeed, You did provide.
As a diabetic, my health is another concern when traveling - I don't get sick that often, but when I do, the diabetes makes it worse. Also, I have not been sick since my lung yuck which landed me in the hospital this last December, so I've been wondering if the next cold or flu would hit my lungs. Well, God allowed a sinus infection last week, which is not a surprise since sleep was sparse and stress was high. Working non stop and finishing up this semester's final paper, the last thing I needed was a sinus infection. I'm coming out of it now, and it was intense. But hey... no lung involvement (thank you Jesus) and now my resistance is up. I generally only get one illness per season...so...I should be good to go!
Add to that the unpredictable amazing volcanic ash situation, and you'll have a glimpse of my recent duress.
And so this morning, as I sip my coffee, I'm smiling. God and I handled this one a little better than usual. I've been praying a lot, listening to uplifting music, and purposefully turning my thoughts to Him in the moments when panic threatened. My ten page fully annotated paper on "sanctification" is turned in, the Monday night final quiz went well, three projects are out of my hands and under review. The fourth and largest (60 pages of type and photo) ( times six copies, bound etc.) goes into UPS this morning. One more project to tackle, and I will get it done in the remaining work week.
My sinuses, along with the air space over Europe, are clearing.
Trust. I'm learning to trust. And this time, amazingly, I saw real progress in my reactions and in my inner responses. There's nothing like the peace that passeth understanding.
"Dependence" by Jamie Slocum has been my Prozac song of the last few weeks - God has really ministered to me through it. I'm growing. I'm leaning in. Who knows what He's preparing me for...
We have a big, once in a lifetime trip coming up. I've been praying. I'm not a worrier, but this has been looming for months, and I AM a planner for sure.
A couple months ago I prayed earnestly that God would assist us financially so that the usual *stuff* wouldn't accompany Frank and I to Paris. Frank is an accountant, and he thinks in terms of budgeting. Everything. Me, I work hard and then like to enjoy the moments with the cash on hand. I don't spend beyond what we have, but I count the cost of missed opportunities more than the budgetary consequence. We've learned how to deal with that difference, but it causes a few tense moments. Actually, we balance each other out. On my own, I'd be broke but smiling. He'd be rich and dull. So...anyhow, I want our time in Paris to be stress free.
This morning as I made breakfast for Jake for the first time in weeks, I reviewed the absolute CRAZY schedule I've been keeping. I generally work 24 hours a week, but now I'm on my fourth straight week of full time plus. Add that to finishing a graduate school class, and keeping up with a busy family, a lot of singing at Easter, blah blah blah... you get the picture. I've never had five work projects on my desk at one time, but I do now! I've been under enormous pressure, juggling them and trying to keep them straight and moving forward. My work is all about deadlines, and the clients set the timing. When the Request for Proposal arrives in the mail, I have a deadline.
But this morning God reminded me of my prayers. My last two checks have been larger than usual, and the one I get this Friday will be close to double my normal paycheck. Just in time. Thank you Lord. I would have preferred finding a wad of twenties, but, indeed, You did provide.
As a diabetic, my health is another concern when traveling - I don't get sick that often, but when I do, the diabetes makes it worse. Also, I have not been sick since my lung yuck which landed me in the hospital this last December, so I've been wondering if the next cold or flu would hit my lungs. Well, God allowed a sinus infection last week, which is not a surprise since sleep was sparse and stress was high. Working non stop and finishing up this semester's final paper, the last thing I needed was a sinus infection. I'm coming out of it now, and it was intense. But hey... no lung involvement (thank you Jesus) and now my resistance is up. I generally only get one illness per season...so...I should be good to go!
Add to that the unpredictable amazing volcanic ash situation, and you'll have a glimpse of my recent duress.
And so this morning, as I sip my coffee, I'm smiling. God and I handled this one a little better than usual. I've been praying a lot, listening to uplifting music, and purposefully turning my thoughts to Him in the moments when panic threatened. My ten page fully annotated paper on "sanctification" is turned in, the Monday night final quiz went well, three projects are out of my hands and under review. The fourth and largest (60 pages of type and photo) ( times six copies, bound etc.) goes into UPS this morning. One more project to tackle, and I will get it done in the remaining work week.
My sinuses, along with the air space over Europe, are clearing.
Trust. I'm learning to trust. And this time, amazingly, I saw real progress in my reactions and in my inner responses. There's nothing like the peace that passeth understanding.
"Dependence" by Jamie Slocum has been my Prozac song of the last few weeks - God has really ministered to me through it. I'm growing. I'm leaning in. Who knows what He's preparing me for...
4.19.2010
April 19th
Today is the one year anniversary of my father's trip to heaven. I still miss him. Grief is a strange travel companion. Just when you think you have dealt with it all, another memory hits and the tears well up again. But it has been a sweet year, for I am so thankful that I know without a doubt that Gib (that's what I called him for the last decade) is in heaven enjoying his eternal reward. Oh how forlorn the first year of grief must be without that assurance.
In my reading this morning, I am in 1 Samuel 1-3. It's one of those times when I'm simply reading the passage for the study I'm doing (A Heart Like His by Beth Moore) and wham... God's sovereign timing became evident.
The verse that hit me is 1 Samuel 3:13 and 14, " For I [God] told him [Eli] that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, 'The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'"
My dad had some tough conversations with his children near the end of his days. Some of my siblings still resent it, and wonder why he risked relationship. But as I read this passage I am so proud of my late daddy. He did indeed know that speaking plainly about what the Bible says about sin might risk alienation. But some things are more important than being popular. It was so not unloving. It was the essence of self sacrificial love. My father spoke the truth of God's word into a situation where God's Word is not seen as relevant. He knew the likely consequence. But he did it anyhow.
In this Scripture, Eli's lack of confrontation caused a *permanent* scar on the family line. That is very sobering.
So in addition to being thankful for the relationship I had with my father, the love of Scripture that he held until his last conscious moments, his steadfast spirit in times of duress, this morning I am thankful for his bravery. For his obedience. For his love and concern for each and every one of his children. He spoke the truth as he knew it - the God breathed innerant Word. There is no greater legacy.
I miss you Gib, but I'm happy for you. You've made it through the preparatory school of human life, and you've moved on to the real thing. See you soon!
.JPG)
In my reading this morning, I am in 1 Samuel 1-3. It's one of those times when I'm simply reading the passage for the study I'm doing (A Heart Like His by Beth Moore) and wham... God's sovereign timing became evident.
The verse that hit me is 1 Samuel 3:13 and 14, " For I [God] told him [Eli] that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, 'The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'"
My dad had some tough conversations with his children near the end of his days. Some of my siblings still resent it, and wonder why he risked relationship. But as I read this passage I am so proud of my late daddy. He did indeed know that speaking plainly about what the Bible says about sin might risk alienation. But some things are more important than being popular. It was so not unloving. It was the essence of self sacrificial love. My father spoke the truth of God's word into a situation where God's Word is not seen as relevant. He knew the likely consequence. But he did it anyhow.
In this Scripture, Eli's lack of confrontation caused a *permanent* scar on the family line. That is very sobering.
So in addition to being thankful for the relationship I had with my father, the love of Scripture that he held until his last conscious moments, his steadfast spirit in times of duress, this morning I am thankful for his bravery. For his obedience. For his love and concern for each and every one of his children. He spoke the truth as he knew it - the God breathed innerant Word. There is no greater legacy.
I miss you Gib, but I'm happy for you. You've made it through the preparatory school of human life, and you've moved on to the real thing. See you soon!
.JPG)
4.12.2010
New Toys
So, yesterday I had an appointment for a Mac class at Mayfair mall. I went early to play with the iPad, as I was really considering buying one. In another post I might explain my uses, but for now, let's just say that I would get as much use as most out of this new toy.
A salesman approached me - we'll call him Mark. He asked me if he could help, and I told him I wanted to see if the apps I use regularly on my iPod would transfer well to an iPad. He of course asked for an example, so I explained that I am a theology student, and I would need the Olive Tree Bible software to work at least as well. I have various Bible versions and also a Systematic Theology text on there. At that point it became very fun, for Mark looked right at me and excitedly told me that he had been going to church for one month, and didn't really know what to do next as far as studying the Bible. We talked about the church, a non denominational church in Wales, and how much he loved attending. I was able to show him the Bible application, and also direct him to Living on the Edge dot com where there is an entire online discipleship class - R12. (R12 stands for Romans 12)
This really was a kick for me. I am not overly gifted in evangelism - my forte is more in the discipleship area. But this was really exciting, and will spur me on to be more open about my passion for the Word. As in a previous post where I shared with a business partner and was asked to pray for our lunch, I am finding that sharing about my studies opens doors. Or not. But either way is okay - that is God's business. My part is to be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within me. (1 Peter 3:15)
TIme for work. With our big vacation just TWO WEEKS from today, I'll be working 40 plus hours a week unti then. I miss my Mondays off already!
A salesman approached me - we'll call him Mark. He asked me if he could help, and I told him I wanted to see if the apps I use regularly on my iPod would transfer well to an iPad. He of course asked for an example, so I explained that I am a theology student, and I would need the Olive Tree Bible software to work at least as well. I have various Bible versions and also a Systematic Theology text on there. At that point it became very fun, for Mark looked right at me and excitedly told me that he had been going to church for one month, and didn't really know what to do next as far as studying the Bible. We talked about the church, a non denominational church in Wales, and how much he loved attending. I was able to show him the Bible application, and also direct him to Living on the Edge dot com where there is an entire online discipleship class - R12. (R12 stands for Romans 12)
This really was a kick for me. I am not overly gifted in evangelism - my forte is more in the discipleship area. But this was really exciting, and will spur me on to be more open about my passion for the Word. As in a previous post where I shared with a business partner and was asked to pray for our lunch, I am finding that sharing about my studies opens doors. Or not. But either way is okay - that is God's business. My part is to be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within me. (1 Peter 3:15)
TIme for work. With our big vacation just TWO WEEKS from today, I'll be working 40 plus hours a week unti then. I miss my Mondays off already!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
FBL website logo