I read a bit more in my book thismorning on Solitude and Silence. And I took the time to do it for about 1/2 hour, it looks like. And you know what... it felt/feels great! I put away my books and just sat here and quietly meditated on Jesus; on the things I read this morning in my Bible, what I read in my book. I prayed some words... and in the quietness of the morning, the solitude of being alone... it felt good. I could stay here in this place.
Church online yesterday was good. We watched CCV online and they are doing 'at the movies' still - and I love the movie they spoke on yesterday. It is a favorite of mine, one that I have watched many times. 'Rudy'. And what did they pull from 'Rudy'? Perservance. Keep going after the dream. I loved seeing the clips they showed again, and yes, I cried once again when the ND football team put Rudy upon their shoulders. That hasn't been done since 1975. I'm sure Rudy made a difference in many lives that he touched while he was there. Can you even imagine an entire ND team giving up their jersey for the last game so that this one man, Rudy, could run out of the tunnel. If you haven't watched it, I would encourage you to do it. The REAL Rudy is now a motivational speaker I heard. What determination and perservence. James talked about it in his book.....
James 2-4: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perservnace. Let perservance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
As we all know, facing trials of many kinds do not usually bring us joy. Not even a little bit. Sometimes it is sickness that brings us a trial. Sometimes it is the limitations of our body. Sometimes it is people in our lives. Sometimes the trial is financial hardship. There are different kinds of trials and struggles. And every one of us may deal with it differently. But one thing I do know, is that when I lean into Jesus and put my struggle out there and talk with Him about it, for some unknown reason, I feel like I'm not alone, that I know that He understands, and He is walking me through it.
It's one of those 'This too shall pass" moments. We struggle for awhile, but how we come out on the other side is up to us. What do we learn from our mistake - if that is what caused the trial. What people do we need to eliminate from association if they are the ones who create our trial? Even more personal - what changes in our lifestyle do we need to give up that creates that hardship, that trial, for our bodies? Some things we have no control over, for sure, such as disease. As tough as we think we are, that we can get through things without sharing it, we really aren't. Sometimes suspicions come true.... don't be so proud that you don't share what is going on in your life. Ask for prayer... it never hurts.
It's Monday morning and we're back at work. But I do have something to look forward to... we have scheduled a few days out of town next month. I may have already shared that.... I originally had said we shouldn't go... but... it would be nice to get out of these four walls for a few days. So it is scheduled and right now I plan to take my laptop with me so that I can continue writing. I may bore you, but it is a balm of sorts for me. I can share my real feelings about things, I can be angry and get it out (and seeing it in print sometimes causes me to erase it cause I don't want to be like that), I can share my joy and excitement about things. This blog allows me to do that, and even though they are my thoughts, I often hope that some of the things I share will touch your heart and help you look at life differently. Better.
My boss will be in an all day meeting today so I will have another day without much to do. Unless she worked this weekend and sent me meetings to schedule. I rarely check work stuff on the weekends, unless I am behind. It's been over a year since I had to do that. Today may be another quiet day. And that isn't such a bad thing... except it seems to be the norm pretty much anymore. I know that once I get my two new bosses, I will be getting overwhelmed again. How much longer can I manage it? How much longer will I have to? I don't know.
I love having a little extra that I can go to the grocery store and not total up my bill as I go along. Yeah, I've had to do that before. I would know how much I could spend and would choose things that would get us through, adding that total in until I was close to what I could spend. I'm sure some of you have done that before too. My sister has told the story of going to the grocery and picking up all kinds of food and putting in her cart until it was full.... then she would go back through the store putting things back... until she had what she could only afford to get. I never did THAT, but I have had to watch it very closely. I remember being 'allowed' (many, many years ago) only $5.00 to spend on food a week, money was so tight. But food was also much less expensive. I could buy a bag of potatoes, a gallon of milk, and pork steaks and lamb chops...not so much ground beef, that I recall. But that was when I learned to make a lot of things from scratch. And I discovered my love of cooking. I don't do much cooking anymore, and that makes me sad. I'd love to be able to cook big meals whenever I wanted to. I love the taste of noodles made from scratch, or flour tortillas, and of course cookies and cakes! I love food...what can I say?!
Think I will stop, and take a bit more time, just to sit. So I'm going to stop for today and turn this off, turn off my light, and sit in the semi darkness (cause it is getting light outside) and be silent for a few minutes before I must get up and get in the shower and prepare for my day. Just 5-10 more minutes to just 'be'. When was the last time you shut everything down, sat back in your chair, and allowed yourself to 'rest' for just a few moments. Let your mind wander over the mountains, over the beaches, over the things you love.
Which reminds me, I had one thing for my son that I meant to take to him yesterday along with the potato salad ... and I forgot it. Maybe I can get it to him soon. I've even thought of mailing it to him. He may - or may not - feel about it the same way. Now I know I have him curious a bit. Good. Maybe I can take a break sometime this week and drive over to drop it off. Will see.
Hope that you have a great Monday.... a new beginning... a new day. What will you make of it? Got any perservance in you?
Go for it!
Blessings!
