Another Semester, oh joy! :D

Ooh, it's the start of a new semester...

People ask me if I'm enjoying it, and I'll say, "well.. seriously... ummm...."

"not really?"

It's not that I don't like learning. It's not that I don't want a degree, it's not that I'm lazy. Well, not often lazy. :) It's not that I don't like balancing a job and school and homework and studying and church music ministry and and still trying to stay connected with my family.

No, no, not that I don't like it... ;)

I have to say though, I don't understand how working mothers do it! I don't! The most I try to manage my balancing act the more I am impressed with how working mothers keep their sanity. Like Sarah Palin, for instance. Now how can a woman have five kids and run for Vice President? I like her views, I appreciate her stances, I am very glad for a prolife candidate, but at the back of it all I wonder, how does she do it?

Gotta wonder.

Yeah, I like being back in school, I like staying busy. But you'd better believe that by the time I've started a family, I will be more than ready to let go of it all.

Yes. :)

Well, I'm off to finish my income tax and marketing study assignments. Not sure when I will post again but I will do my best to be more regular than I have been. Oh, and that last sentence was for you, Ginger. And for you, Aunt Laurie. ;)

Weekend!!!

YEAH!!!


(that's it, but I'll be back... :) )

The Miracle of the Sunrise

Today I got up early, and sat before my open bedroom window and watched the sun rise up above the hills and trees. Its light was softly glowing, long before it actually could be seen, and then suddenly, it burst forth upon the mountain tops, down into the valleys and into my window to shine across the room in such a radiant way that one could not help but feel the warmth shine right into the deepest parts of the heart.

It reminded me of another kind of sunrise: the sunrise that broke through one of the darkest and deepest of moments of my life. The sunrise that came slowly at first, so much slow that I could hardly dare to hope it would ever really come, and then, as if in time with a great unknown orchestra, it broke forth, sending it's bright and warming rays to the farthest corners of my heart. It did not take all the pain away, no, for pain is not a part of darkness, but the darkness, the deep black that blinded my eyes from seeing beyond the moment, was gone, and as I sat, quietly thinking of the road that I had travelled in the dark, I realized that it is true. Had it not been for the darkness, I could never have rejoiced as I do now in the breaking forth of the sunrise. Had there not been moments when by faith, I held on to what I knew was there but could not see, the sunrise would be but common place and ordinary. It was then that I realized that “We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness” (Unknown)

God has promised that every dark night has an end. There will be a sunrise, a glorious, beautiful sunrise someday. It might seem like the night will never end. Perhaps you'll only see the glorious dawning in the place where He makes all things beautiful, all wrongs right, but the morning will come. The darkest is before the dawn. Just hold on a little longer, because the morning is coming, and the sunrise will be worth it all.
- by Chantel Harding

(From the ylcf blog) http://blog.ylcf.org/2008/08/miracle-of-sunrise.html

His House

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.

But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to?

The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come in and live in it Himself."

-C. S. Lewis

Refuge in the Heat

"How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!

And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings."

-Psalm 36:7

"O taste and see that the LORD is good;

How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!"

-Psalm 34:8
"How great is Your goodness,

Which You have stored up for those who fear You,

Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You,

Before the sons of men!"
-Psalm 31:19

"But let all who take refuge in You be glad,

Let them ever sing for joy;

And may You shelter them,

That those who love Your name may exult in You."

-Psalm 5:11
"Trust in Him at all times, O people;

Pour out your heart before Him;

God is a refuge for us."
-Psalm 62:8

All Day, Every Day

"Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long."
-Psalm 25:5

"About Benjamin he said:
'Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him,
for he shields him all day long,
and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.'"
-Deuteronomy 33:12

"All day long there is the pressure of life, and perhaps some inner strain to the spirit known only to God. But all the day long, too, there is the lovingkindness of God. And so all the day long there the peace that passes all understanding."
-Amy Carmichael

We often speak of how quickly time goes by. Yet there are many days and seasons that just seem to drag slowly. It sounds ironic, but the years that seem to pass in the blink of an eye are comprised of many long, long days.

Sometimes we just need to take a deep breath, and realize that it's only one day at a time. And throughout each day we are sustained by His lovingkindness and shielded by His hand.

And one day we will look back and marvel, both at how His hand helped us...

and by how quickly the time flew by! ;)

Further Adventures of Gideon: In Which Gideon Attacks the Bumblebee

When I got home from work today I was greeted by Gideon and Lucky, our two dogs. Gideon enthusiastically greeted me and then started jumping all over the front step while whining continuously. I noticed a dead bumblebee on the step. Gideon pounced on it, then whined, then jumped back as with a reflex, then pounced again. I tried to calm him down by bringing him in the house, but I could not drag his attention away from the dead bee. Finally, I scuffed it into the flower bed with my foot, and pushed some dirt over it. Still Gideon crazily tried to paw at the ground to get that bee.

Later I told my sister Megan about his strange behavior. "He was probably stung by the bee and wanted to protect you from it." she explained. "You think so?" I asked. "Because it was... already dead."

Awww. The gallantry of the timid dog attacking his greatest fear for the sake of another person. Only he was wasting his energy. The bee was already dead.

Sound typical?

Food for thought: I wonder how many of my battles I fight fiercely and fearfully -- over a "dead bumblebee." How much energy do I waste wrestling over things that my Lord already has competely under His control? How much time do I waste digging up the dead bee to fight with again? How often has my Lord resolved my battles for me when yet I consider them unfinished, then drag them out to use up my energy all over again?

I'm not sure that Gideon learned a lesson from this ;), but I think I did.

Lord, grant me the wisdom to know which battles You would have me spend my energy on, and help me to leave the "dead bumblebees" alone!