So this morning I take my dad to the slug line, as usual, nothing new there. (For all you non-DC area readers, slug line is our lingo for the commuter lot! I'm too tired to explain much further than that, so if you still don't get it, Google has just become your best friend.) I went back to sleep when I got home, and when I woke up, I just laid in bed for a bit thinking,
Okay, rewind!
sluglineoversleepinglayinginbedthinkingaboutwhattodo
Oh, right! So ever since that sermon I've been much more diligent with spending quality time with Jesus, and this morning I grabbed my Bible and my Our Daily Bread, or whatever that little devotional pamphlet is called. The reading for the day was from Acts 16, when God let Paul and Silas to go to Macedonia and spread the gospel and the people they met along the way and the persecution they faced that eventually led to souls being saved. (Take some time to read it! Gotta love Acts!) Well the message in this devo was basically saying to be open to the Lord's leading and not get frustrated when plans don't go how we foresee that they should because ultimately God is sovereign, and He has a plan to work all things together for good! I meditated on this, and really felt the Lord leading me to seek Him regarding changing my perspective on how I view "mishaps" during my everyday life.
Alright this is getting long-winded and it's about time for me to go to bed, so let me attempt to speed through the rest (attempt being the optimal word). That beginning part was the foundation though! So I had my devo and the Lord kept it on my mind. That's when I tried on the wedding dress I raved about yesterday. Can I just say... I shouldn't have raved so early? Okay, I'll say it: I shouldn't have raved so early. I'm not going to get into the whole situation, but saints/readers/friends, please be in prayer that I can...handle some things. Lol. No really! Butttttt, guess what?? The Lord has a plan with this little detour, and I must say I look forward to seeing how it all turns out! Once all is well and good, of course I'll share in more detail. ;-) But this was the first thing during the day that had me really applying what I read in my Word.
While my mom and I are handling my dress situation, another situation arose: my brother's super nice football cleats got stolen!! Right before practice, with a game coming up soon! Seriously, though? People are trifling, and it's super shameful how students just go stealing other people's stuff! Grrrr. Rant over. Anyways. So my mom had to pause to handle that while I'm still trying to handle something with my dress and this is right. before. work. UGH! Bad timing!! ...or wait...God has a plan right? I calm myself down and stop freaking out and I smile and I chuckle and I say to myself, Detour, that's all! (Oh, and an exciting highlight with the shoe situation! Whoever stole the shoes managed to leave them on one of the benches on the field after my brother's practice without being noticed. Praise the Lord! He probably convicted him into giving them back to their rightful owner--however indirectly lol.)
So I finally get to work, right? I got there for a little after 3:00pm today, and though I wasn't too down or frustrated about the prior two situations, I was immediately confronted with issues at work, one of which may leave me out of a job! Now at that point my anger and frustration were really starting to rise, and it was showing. So I turned away. I breathed. I reminded myself that no situation that arises is outside of the Lord's knowledge or control, so what am I doing wasting time and energy worrying? I let it go, left it at the Throne, and I'm trying not to take yokes on myself that Jesus wants to take from me. How freeing! And then along came a customer who I really enjoyed working with, so that lifted my spirits.
When I got home, I was ex.hausted. And hungry. If you know me, you know that is never a good combination. If you've read any number of my blog posts, you know that is never a good combination. So I took off my shoes, and walking gently (my feet ache after standing on them for 8 hours straight!) I head straight to the kitchen, purse and coat still on. After downing a tasty piece of chicken (I had the chicken ready for dinner for my fam before I even left for work! GO ME!! hehe), I was ready to relax. A lovely email reminded me that my dress situation isn't over, so I handled that as much as one can at 1:00am, then called my boo. Lemme just say...when it rains...it pours. Yep, that's right, ya'll, it ain't ova!
I won't disclose our conversation, but when we finished talking all I could do was cheese and laugh. And certainly not because we'd just had a funny conversation. (Trust me.) I could probably attribute part of my weird reaction to the fact that I was tired and I can randomly have these maniacal giggles when I'm lacking sleep, but in reality I was actually feeling (and still feel) kinda excited!Like I said before, this day has been somethin' else. But to be able to see God's Word ALIVE in this day in the reality of it's application is bringing me ridiculous amounts of joy. And you know what? I count it a privilege that God would see fit to allow me to go through such things as this; though minor in the grand scheme of things, and certainly temporal, I see them as a beautiful opportunity to grow closer to my Lord and be conformed into His image! Plus I get to love on and support my amazing hubby-to-be in the process, and I seriously just can't think of a greater gift than that.
"Disappointment--His appointment,"
Change one letter, then I see
That the thwarting of my purpose
Is God's better choice for me.
~Young
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12
I haven't been to your site in a while. It looks great! Reading your post I was just thinking about how God isn't into giving us boring days. :) The challenges and spice can be fun (just maybe not at the time).
ReplyDeleteJen! Thanks! And wow, that is so true, I need to write that down and stick it to my wall! hehe. It's a good reminder! And this is true, though you're right, typically it's in hindsight that we appreciate the challenges! Trying to do that now though lol :)
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