Prayer for Quiet Confidence

Oh God of peace that has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved,
in quietness and confidence shall be our strength:
By the might of Thy Spirit lift us, we pray Thee, to Thy presence,
where we may be still and know that Thou art God;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Wait

These days

Are the good

Old Days

Just Wait

And See

~Steve Turner

reflectioning the changes of life

I am now sitting at the reception desk of the Health Science Dept. at a local community college. The ladies are talking about the business of registering students for classes. I have a computer mouse in hand and text-books, notes and a notebook scribbled with the latest vocabulary words scattered about me. I hear an adviser's phone ringing with it's gentle bep-bep-beep-bep. The copying machine is busy running of tests and at any second a student will enter and inquire about the programs offered here. As I put my work-study time in I am reflecting the changes life has shown.
I've been home for just over a year. On one hand I don't know where the year has gone, in the other I cannot believe I did everything I did in only one year. Currently, my full time job is being a student. A blessing which often wears a disguise. I began my college education journey at a local community college this August. I had every dream of beginning at a 4-year college and staying put for a change, filled with studying, service, dorm life, community, new friends, away from home ... all those things imagined in 'moving away to college'. Instead, I'm attending a local community college (30 min from home) and moved in with my grandmother. All my preconceived ideas of what college was going to be like were shaken. Slowly, I am seeing the blessing of the un-expected yet God intended time of my life.
When I came back to KY last October, I thought I'ld jump back into life as I left it. But like Nelson Mandela said, "There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." I had changed. or at least something had. It took a bit of adjustment swinging into my family's cabin life routine and back to my job caring for a family's handicap girls. In January, my family moved to our long awaited home. Sometime in that time I also began working at the Galilean's Children's Home caring for the severely handicap. That lasted until harvest time came on the farm in July-ish. Then I worked with a family on their large produce farm growing melons, peppers and tomatoes. We worked our butts off for a couple months. Until school time rolled around... then I was forced to pick up and change gears again.
All the experiences of the past year have been good and fully worth it. Even though it's been good and all, I'm ready to settle down... I'm weary of being the stranger, of 'stepping out of my comfort zone' ... I'm ready to settle in a place called 'home' and staying there for a long-long time. Yet, I don't see that happening for awhile... Why life is full of change? I don't know? Guess, I must embrace it and say, "Lord, Thy will be done."

quote

"What the caterpillar calls the "end of the world", the Creator calls a butterfly."

-E. Elliot

Christ the Lord is Risen!

And all God's people say, "Amen."We enter this season of the resurrection with "the prayers of the people", "cross of Christ", and "Holy Scriptures".

All God's people also say, "Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah!"

Trillium

Reflections

It has been a long while since I've created a post. Mostly because I didn't feel the creativity of writing a story or thought (too lazy to communicate through literature). While I reflect on the past months of life I say, "God is good, life is sweet, thanks be to God." Also, life is busy.

One highlight for myself was a week long silent retreat I took at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Bardstown, KY. This monastery is inhabited by 80 or so men who have dedicated their lives to praying for the world. One of their "ministries" if you will is hospitality. They have retreats available for about 50 people at a time. You are given a room, meals, and all the time and silence you would want. They have church seven times a day, hundreds of acres of wilderness to explore, a library of books to devour and counseling available. Oh yeah, all the other retreatants eager to "talk to somebody" after a day of quiet...

Of all I learned in the "silence" that week, the thing that struck home the greatest to me was the concept of living the moment intensely. One women challenged me, "Don't wait - LIVE today." Amen to that. How many times have I worried myself sick about the future rather than opening my eyes to the beauty of the present? This has been especially challenging for me in the wondering where I will go to school next fall. I want to figure it all out right now. (I've been waiting 4 months to hear from my college of top choice, when I was told it would be about 6 weeks.) So in that sense yes I need to wait and trust God to lead, but I need not "wait to live".

Be challenged in this little reflection, to "live the moment intensely" as Mother Teresa once said.

God's Own Fool

God's Own Fool

It seems I've imagined Him all of my life

As the wisest of all of mankind

But if God's only wisdom is foolish to man

He must have seemed out of His mind

For even His family said He was mad

And the priest said a demons to blame

But God in the form of this angry young man

Could not have seemed perfectly sane

When we in our foolishness thought we were wise

He played the fool and He opened our eyes

When we in our weakness believed we were strong

He become helpless to show we were wrong

So we follow God's own fool

For only the foolish can tell

Believe thee unbelievable, and come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter's son

For a madman who died for a dream

And you'll have the faith His first followers had

And you'll feel the weight of the beam

So surrender the hunger to say you must know

Have the courage to say, "I believe"

For the power of paradox opens your eyes

And blinds all those who say they can see

When we in our foolishness thought we were wise

He played the fool to open our eyes

When we in our weakness believed we were strong

He became helpless to show we were wrong

By: Michael Card