A day of rest...
Supposedly, that's what Sundays are designed to be. A day to remind us that God Himself rested after accomplishing what He set out to do when He created the world...but it seems to be one of the busiest days of my week, and I had a pretty easy day compared with a lot of others. One friend was on the go, at church, from 7 a.m. this morning till late tonight - and I think several others were working right alongside him for most of that. I thank God for the blessings God brings to our church, and to me, through the hands and hearts of these awesome servants. JD, JW...I hope you get some rest tonight.
On to "Surprises" -- God surprised me this morning in several ways. "Jake's dad" (aka Joe) asked me to get up in front of everybody at the gathering this morning and talk about the journey God's taken me on over the last four years, in moving here to Abilene and beginning to understand that it was all part of His plan. I hate, hate, hate getting up in front of people - I'm a background kind of girl, always have been. Microphones scare me. Seriously. I have a bad history with microphones. Sophomore year in high school, first youth choir performance at my new church. Sunday night service. Walking into the choir loft, I trip over a cord and fall face-first, which leads me to say something I truly shouldn't have said anywhere, especially not in church, most especially not as I'm falling past a microphone. Twenty years later, I'm still afraid I'll trip and fall onstage - hopefully, I'm older and wiser and wouldn't repeat what I said back then, but still...the fear was there. HOWEVER...God surprised me with encouragement and great advice this morning from several people before the service started -- thanks, Jerris, Lisa, Tim, John, and Joe, who got me into this in the first place. God also surprised me by letting me get back to my seat after it was over, in one piece, with most of my dignity intact. I did NOT trip over a cord, I didn't talk too fast, I didn't die onstage simply from being scared -- overall, I think it was okay. Joe's lesson today was great. He's right...sometimes God teaches us through the "rain" in our lives, whether He shelters us from it or simply walks through the storm with us. I think He brought me through the "rain" of fear this morning -- with a few good friends coming alongside to say it would be OK, they'd been through the same rain a thousand times and it wasn't nearly as bad as it looks.
God, thank You for your surprises today.
On to "Surprises" -- God surprised me this morning in several ways. "Jake's dad" (aka Joe) asked me to get up in front of everybody at the gathering this morning and talk about the journey God's taken me on over the last four years, in moving here to Abilene and beginning to understand that it was all part of His plan. I hate, hate, hate getting up in front of people - I'm a background kind of girl, always have been. Microphones scare me. Seriously. I have a bad history with microphones. Sophomore year in high school, first youth choir performance at my new church. Sunday night service. Walking into the choir loft, I trip over a cord and fall face-first, which leads me to say something I truly shouldn't have said anywhere, especially not in church, most especially not as I'm falling past a microphone. Twenty years later, I'm still afraid I'll trip and fall onstage - hopefully, I'm older and wiser and wouldn't repeat what I said back then, but still...the fear was there. HOWEVER...God surprised me with encouragement and great advice this morning from several people before the service started -- thanks, Jerris, Lisa, Tim, John, and Joe, who got me into this in the first place. God also surprised me by letting me get back to my seat after it was over, in one piece, with most of my dignity intact. I did NOT trip over a cord, I didn't talk too fast, I didn't die onstage simply from being scared -- overall, I think it was okay. Joe's lesson today was great. He's right...sometimes God teaches us through the "rain" in our lives, whether He shelters us from it or simply walks through the storm with us. I think He brought me through the "rain" of fear this morning -- with a few good friends coming alongside to say it would be OK, they'd been through the same rain a thousand times and it wasn't nearly as bad as it looks.
God, thank You for your surprises today.
posted by Beth at 6:51 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for you willingness to step into puddles and splash a bit. The words you shared were inspired.
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