WHAT A WEEK!

I just had one of those weeks that...well, that probably most of you have EVERY week. But truly it was different in that it is very seldom that you have a week where almost every day you are being: graded, judged, evaluated or checked-off.

This week I appeared before our elders on Monday night to be allowed to teach a Life Group at our church. Tuesday I had to do a fasting blood test to determine what needs to be done for my health. Wednesday I taught my ladies in Bible study and then immediately drove to Greenville to be checked-off on my sonography skills and then on Thursday drove to Waco to speak at a ladies' event. Something I had not done in quite a long time.

It was the week I had been preparing for and dreading all at the same time!! It's one thing to be busy - it's another to push yourself to live up to the expectations of others.

But here's what I learned about busy, busy weeks. The kind like I had push you to God! I would prefer a busy week in which I knew all I had to do was rely on my skills, my organizational ability and my intelligence to get me through. Those kind of weeks are manageable for me. And often, I plod through with a nod to God in my morning devotions and a get-out-there and get-um mindset. I usually end up getting the job done but leaving a trail of casualties behind me. Casualties of my tongue or my lack of courtesy or simply a lack of noticing anyone else was around.

But when you know you are being evaluated or that you are being pushed beyond your own abilities - you are forced to run to God and plead your case. At least I was! I had no clue what the elders would ask me. So I prayed my brains out...for God to go before me and for me to listen and speak AFTER thinking. Turned out, I didn't have to speak at all. The information sheet I supplied them from my training class answered every question. I discovered I worried a lot about nothing and that God indeed had gone before me.

Still don't know about the bloodwork. Awaiting that response.

Wednesday morning's Bible study brought such a sweet spirit and genuine delight to my spirit that I attacked the drive to Greenville only to come to a dead stop on I-30. I used that opportunity to pray: that I would get there on time, that the babies would cooperate, that the moms would have stamina, that the checker-off-er would be patient and kind, that my brain would function clearly!! Got to the clinic and baby #1 was curled up in a ball! I had prayed against that!! Told the instructor I had prayed against it. Baby #2 was about as uncooperative in where he put his head but I just prayed and scanned, prayed and scanned. It wasn't pretty, but I passed.

Thursday night's group was beautiful, kind and I have no clue if I had any impact on them or not. I just pray that God's word penetrated because I know the vessel He used is weak!

All that to say - weeks like this drive us to God. There is no way when the needs are so great and the outcome so important that we should rely on our own gifts and talents. And yet - truthfully - we should never rely on anything other than His strength and power. Our own gifts and talents are pitiful in comparison. It shouldn't take tests or evaluations to lean on Him. It should become our everyday pattern of living. Because in actuality - every day is a test. This life on earth is a training ground for the life we will one day experience.

I learned a valuable lesson in this hard week and I hope to remember it in the weeks to come. I NEED Him everyday. I want whatever comes from me to be an outflow of what He has put into me. Only then will the world come to know Him. My life hidden in Christ Jesus!

FALL INTO FALL

Well believe it or not - it is OCTOBER and fall has arrived. I don't know how it got here so fast. It's been six weeks since I last posted - I hope you noticed! :) Believe it or not, my life has been SO busy. Who would have thought that in the fall of my life I would be this busy? I sure didn't. I couldn't imagine how I would fill my days after those three little boys left home. They WERE my schedule. But as God would have it - every season has its purpose for being.

Thankfully I have always loved fall. It is my favorite time of the year. I love the colors. The leaves changing and the fruit and vegetables that grow this time of year are vibrant and brilliant in their color. I love that! I love the crispness in the air after the oppressive heat of the summer. It seems like the last days of summer drain everything of life and then the cool air comes with that promise of relief. I just love that! I also LOVE the smell of baking in the fall. Baked sweet potatoes. Pumpkin pies and pumpkin muffins. Apple struesel. Baked breads of all kinds. And SOUPS. I love the smell of a soup simmering on the stove all day long. The anticipation of hot cornbread and that soup!!! It also happens to be that many people I love were born in the fall! My Justin, my mom, my firstborn, my niece, nephew, mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Ahhh, fall is lovely.

So is the fall of life. I love that the busy-ness in my life these days is pretty much of my own making. I pray that I am smarter now about what I say "yes" and "no" to. That my schedule is an indicator of my life - God-centered and God-honoring.

There is a purpose for every season under the heavens. Fall is a good time to slow down. To be purposeful. To be grateful. To breathe deep and to love greatly. I'm probably pretty far from the winter of my life (though only God knows that for sure) so I intend to thoroughly enjoy the fall of my life. I have a feeling it will go by quickly.

Wishing you a purposeful fall!