a blessed day

Where to begin?

Maybe at 6:10am when I got out of bed. In a good mood.  Listening to great music.  I love sleeping in!

Maybe at 8:30am when I was running on the treadmill, in my own little world, exercising and worshipping my little heart out. 

Maybe at 10:30am when we left for church.

Maybe at 12:15pm when Pastor Jerry hit us with the shofar! And made me smile. 

Maybe at 2:10pm, during the service, when God reiterated why I was doing what I was doing. And Katie promptly sent me a text message elbowing me from across the church.  Ouch!

Maybe at 2:30pm, after the service, when we stood around the baptismal pool, waiting for the festivities to begin!

Maybe at 2:45pm when I made Katie put my certificate to the end of the list (from the beginning) so that I would go last (instead of first). 

Or maybe, just maybe, after 8 other people confirmed their decision to follow Jesus, it was my turn. 

I climbed in the pool. 

And smiled.

And giggled nervously. 

There were some questions.

Pastor Jerry spoke for me, for a few minutes, telling everyone my story.

And then,

Soaking wet, smiling from ear to ear.

A song.

“I have decided to follow Jesus…no turning back, no turning back”

A prayer, a blessing, an anointing.

And a self portrait picture with Pastor Jerry ;)

  

Now, don’t you feel like you were there?  If not, don’t worry, I have it on video, thanks to Melissa ;) 

God is great, and so faithful…and I’ve committed to following Jesus every day for the rest of my life…wherever He leads me!

If God is love, then…

“God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. God is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails.”

(1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)

26

It’s my birthday.

Another year older!

But this one just kind of snuck up on me. How is it already October 21?  The weather is still in the mid-30’s.  There are no colourful leaves.  Thanksgiving was kind of a blur. 

Which is probably for the better, really…birthdays always seem to make me sad.  Almost like a disappointment.  I forget that it’s just another day.  I don’t ever feel older, or wiser, because that doesn’t come with the number on your birth certificate.

I don’t want to be the centre of attention, but…I don’t want to be ignored, either. Does that make sense?  Who knows.

I feel like there’s something missing.

As though I should be in another realm, it seems.  But that just sounds crazy.  This world isn’t where I’m supposed to be, and I won’t ever feel completely complete until I’m with the One who created me.

But I am happy (to the point of dancing and jumping) to have such amazing and thoughtful friends, a great life, incredible experiences, a divine purpose, and countless blessings…God is truly faithful.

Amen!

worship is…

While at the gym the past few days, I’ve been listening to Passion podcasts and laughing my butt off (while running said butt off…two for one!)  It’s some of the most enjoyable 45 minutes of my day.

Louie’s been speaking on worship, and it’s really eye-opening, heart-opening, convicting, encouraging.  And this is his definition of worship, I just wanted to share it:

Worship is our response, both personal and corporate to God – for who He is (exclamation point!) and what He’s done (exclamation point!!) expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.

- Louie Giglio

Like Pastor Keith said a few months ago, God’s favourite song is the song that we sing with our entire heart.  Doesn’t matter if it’s a hymn or a chorus or a whisper…and Louie says that it’s also evident in the way that we live outside of church.

Dear Louie:

Keep doing what you’re doing. 

Love, Katie.

Download the Passion Messages podcasts. They’re fantastic.

PS. H1N1 (or the fear of) has invaded our school and I have had more students missing in the past 2 days than in the first 5 weeks of school.  Insanity.  But it sure makes painting clean-up a lot easier!

And then I was a photographer.

I have a few former students who are fans of my photography, and when they heard of this exhibition going on, they pretty much signed me up for it! They paid for the space, helped me choose pictures, and had them printed.  All it required of me was a bunch of taxi money and a whole bunch of time!  It was very fast – we decided to do it on Tuesday, got the pictures printed Thursday, hung up the pictures on Friday, and then I spent much of Saturday morning and all of Sunday evening at the gallery.

They were printed very small, but I guess that just makes people get closer to the pictures!

A few of my favourites…

The winning photo – Amna Dashti took a picture of a little girl in Kenya.  She’s going to be having a fundraiser for Kenya at the end of the month – and I will definitely go and see all of her other pictures!

Some days Kuwait still amazes me.  God still amazes me with His blessings. 

²⁰Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen!!(Ephesians 3:20-21)

And then life exploded…with busy-ness

So.

This week has been insane.

As I wrote before, Saturday was insanely busy.

Sunday didn't really let up much - once we arrived at school on Sunday morning, I spent my first block prep period setting up my classroom into a functional space (as everything was still in the centre of the room from the big move on Thursday). 

 

I had a meeting after school, followed by a little rearranging of the room.  Then a quieter evening, that still involved enough marking. 

On Monday, I left my apartment at 6:45am.  I spent my prep period marking some more.  After school, I got all of my grades in order for our progress reports.  At 4:45pm, I led an Academic Games meeting with coaches from other private American schools in our league.  At 6pm, I left the school and went to Bible Study at a friend’s house.  I finally made it home at 9pm.

Today, I spent my prep period writing and printing progress reports.  I had 60 to do this year.  And then taught 3 lessons. I’m beginning to realize how uncomfortable my shoes are!! :)

This evening is finally one that I have off.  My lesson for tomorrow is planned, everything is marked (or will be marked at school tomorrow), and I have honestly sat on my couch since getting home from school at 4:30.  And it is good.

Tomorrow I have meetings after school.  Thursday I am leading a Bible Study with my friend Katie (we are the Katie Squared).

Friday is hallelujah day.  I look forward to Fridays every day and thoroughly enjoy them when they arrive.  They are church day.  They are relaxing day.  They are not thinking about school day. They make me happy.  A little part of me cries when they are over.

And then my former students just talked me into showing my photography at an Art Exhibition on Saturday and Sunday.  …Whattheheck?  So now, to choose pictures and get them printed…

Life has entered sprint mode.

I guess I’m making up for the slow summer?

Life

I'm tired.
It's been a long day.
I woke up at 4:30am. It seems to be my new wake up time.

I won't complain. I really enjoy the mornings.
And because I woke up so early, today was a very successful day.

A Proverbs 31 day, if you will.

I'm amazed that the more time I commit to prayer, the more time I seem to have throughout the day. It's pretty cool. But that's not why I do it. It's becoming more of a need. Less like showering, more like eating.

Anyways. Let me share the über success of today:

This day involved:

• watching the sunrise (about 5:45am);
• cleaning my apartment;
• buying a cordless drill at True Value Hardware (among other things);
• getting groceries (among many other things!);
• fixing my love seat (it works!...just don't jump on it);
• planning my lessons for the week;
• creating rubrics;
• marking an entire set of assignments (about 60 drawings);
• getting more groceries (at the stores near my house);
• showering;
• listening to an online sermon;
• creating a photo scavenger hunt
• and creating a bathroom pass.

Oh! And updating my blog.
(Not to mention many many visits to Facebook and Hotmail).

And it's only 8:15pm.

Just thought I'd share. I'm a little shocked and amazed.