What a Weekend

I am exhausted. I am so looking forward to crawling into bed. However, it will wait a few more minutes. Honestly, if you look at what I did this weekend, you wouldn't think much of it. Yes, I got a lot accomplished but there was down time too. Most of the days were spent alone with my evenings filled with good friends. However, when you get alone with God, he does some pretty heavy duty stuff. He deals with the stuff you are pushing to the side. He knows that laundry needs to be aired and he sure does take care of it. However, he doesn't just leave it at that. Once those spots are cleared out, he puts things on your heart. And this weekend, he sure did that. While I may not understand some of it, he has given me some hard things to sift through and pray over. So that is what I'll be doing for a while.

Getting alone with God - it is the best kind of exhausting there is!

Glory Be

We all go through seasons of learning in our lives and I wanted to briefly share where I am right now. This theme is being played out in Sunday morning Bible Study, daily recall, and in my reading. I'm not going to spell out the specifics of how it applies to my life as of yet because some of it is still rolling around in my head. I'm sure you will see if unfold as time goes by - at least I hope you will. For now, this is a brief excerpt from John Eldredge's book Waking the Dead. I hope it encourages you:

Back in the beginning of our time on earth, a great glory was bestowed upon us. We all - men and women - were created in the image of God. Fearfully and wonderfully made, fashioned as living icons of the bravest, wisest, most stunning Person who ever lived. Those who have ever seen him fell to their knees without even thinking about it, as you find yourself breathless before the Grand Canyon or the Alps or the sea at dawn. That glory was shared with us; we were, in Chesterton's phrase, "statues of God walking about in a Garden," endowed with a strength and beauty all our own. All that we ever wished we could be, we were - and more. We were fully alive.

I daresay we've heard a bit about original sin, but not nearly enough about original glory, which comes before sin and is deeper to our nature. We were crowned with glory and honor. Why does a woman long to be beautiful? Why does a man hope to be found brave? Because we remember, if only faintly, that we were once more than we are now. The reason you doubt there could be a glory to your life is because that glory has been the object of a long and brutal war.

No Wonder....

Since I am in the midst of writer's block and it is time to update the blog, you get to read yet another school story. Don't worry, you only have a few more days to have the possibility of reading student stories. :)

I have two third grade girls that I work with for intense math intervention. Last Wednesday, we walked into my room and I noticed that one of them (L) was staring over my head instead of at what was before her on the table. Here is how the conversation went:

L: *deep sigh* I just feel so sorry for them.

Me: For who?

L: (pointing behind me to a nursery rhyme poster) Jack and Jill....

Me: Why?

L: All they wanted was some water. And they got really hurt!

Me: You do know that it is a poem, right?

L: Yes, but I still feel bad for them. Who would you rather be, Jack or Jill?

Me: I don't know, sweetie. What do you think?

L: Jill, definitely Jill. I mean, she just took a tumble. Jack busted his head open. I'd rather scrape my knee than break my skull.

Me: How long have you been thinking about this?

L: All week. That is why I haven't finished the multiplication chart yet.

Me: I see.......