Just hold on
Ever have one of those weeks when you just feel under attack? Or.. one of those days?
I think God was preparing me on Monday with the rest of a day off from school. I got to sleep in and enjoy some time to myself and time specifically set aside for conversations with God. I spent the afternoon with Leah, catching up on life and taking advantage of Dickey's $1 barbecue sandwich special that's running through February. It's days like these that make me wish that every weekend was a three-day weekend.
Then came Tuesday. My day got off to a bad start thanks to someone's car alarm going off outside my window at about 2 in the morning. [Insert Dane Cook joke here.] I must not have been sleeping soundly because it completely woke me up and I realized that I was soaked in sweat and had a fever. After taking some medicine, I tried to go back to sleep only to wake up every hour until I had to get up for school. I barely functioned all throughout the school day, thankful for lesson plans that included tests and independent practice for my classes. My poor kids could tell that I was off, which says something because I can usually cover sickness/fatigue pretty well. I mean, I didn't miss a day when I had walking pneumonia (which apparently makes me like Dwight Schrute)!
My afternoon went downhill as I had a meltdown, asking my dad for advice about personal matters. I just felt like after I had just renewed my heart's desire for God's will in my life, Satan found a way to bring me back down. I was thankful for my workout and time with Britt watching The Biggest Loser, just so I could find a mental escape from such an exhausting day.
For the past few days I've been more thankful than usual to have my daddy as my pastor. It's pretty nice to be able to call home and pour out my heart, knowing that he's listening as my loving daddy, and he'll give fatherly advice. But it's also from a pastor's wise perspective, often complete with scripture references. This morning, I called him during my planning period to update him on my circumstances and he reminded me of a verse he used in his sermon on Sunday:
"A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all"
~Psalm 34.19
He gently reminded me that as Christians, we can't expect to live lives free of problems. In fact, if we are following God with all our hearts, that just gives Satan more incentive to come after us in order to discourage. But thankfully, we can trust that in times where we feel completely overwhelmed with the weight of the world, we hold fast to the faith that God will come to the rescue in his perfect timing. That reminder helped my perspective so much this morning. In fact, I woke up with a peace that everything is going to be okay, because God is in control and I'm not. In a way, I'm glad situations come around that are beyond me, because it gives Christ a way to shine through me and make it evident that I made it through by his grace, not my own will.
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."
~Romans 8.28
I think God was preparing me on Monday with the rest of a day off from school. I got to sleep in and enjoy some time to myself and time specifically set aside for conversations with God. I spent the afternoon with Leah, catching up on life and taking advantage of Dickey's $1 barbecue sandwich special that's running through February. It's days like these that make me wish that every weekend was a three-day weekend.
Then came Tuesday. My day got off to a bad start thanks to someone's car alarm going off outside my window at about 2 in the morning. [Insert Dane Cook joke here.] I must not have been sleeping soundly because it completely woke me up and I realized that I was soaked in sweat and had a fever. After taking some medicine, I tried to go back to sleep only to wake up every hour until I had to get up for school. I barely functioned all throughout the school day, thankful for lesson plans that included tests and independent practice for my classes. My poor kids could tell that I was off, which says something because I can usually cover sickness/fatigue pretty well. I mean, I didn't miss a day when I had walking pneumonia (which apparently makes me like Dwight Schrute)!
My afternoon went downhill as I had a meltdown, asking my dad for advice about personal matters. I just felt like after I had just renewed my heart's desire for God's will in my life, Satan found a way to bring me back down. I was thankful for my workout and time with Britt watching The Biggest Loser, just so I could find a mental escape from such an exhausting day.
For the past few days I've been more thankful than usual to have my daddy as my pastor. It's pretty nice to be able to call home and pour out my heart, knowing that he's listening as my loving daddy, and he'll give fatherly advice. But it's also from a pastor's wise perspective, often complete with scripture references. This morning, I called him during my planning period to update him on my circumstances and he reminded me of a verse he used in his sermon on Sunday:
"A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all"
~Psalm 34.19
He gently reminded me that as Christians, we can't expect to live lives free of problems. In fact, if we are following God with all our hearts, that just gives Satan more incentive to come after us in order to discourage. But thankfully, we can trust that in times where we feel completely overwhelmed with the weight of the world, we hold fast to the faith that God will come to the rescue in his perfect timing. That reminder helped my perspective so much this morning. In fact, I woke up with a peace that everything is going to be okay, because God is in control and I'm not. In a way, I'm glad situations come around that are beyond me, because it gives Christ a way to shine through me and make it evident that I made it through by his grace, not my own will.
"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."
~Romans 8.28