Wednesday without words

Following my calling and rejoicing

Fall is in the air, Gentle Reader!  Around my home, that means the gardens are getting leggy and overgrown, the air is tinged with the smell of roasting green chile, and I am busy planning for classes. Today I spent hours on lessons plans and standing at the photocopy machine making copies.  And the weird thing is, I love it!

Some people can't understand why I would love these tasks, but the truth is, I am called to be a teacher.  I love thinking about those young minds and hearts, and trying to come up with ways to sink the truth deep into them as I teach them various skills.  I love the interaction with my students, the challenge and creativity called for when you are leading a class, the amazing places of the mind and the heart, and the privilege of helping to develop both in the lives of my students.  What could be a more important job, after all?

Now, my sweet husband is not a teacher.  He does sometimes teach, but he doesn't love it, and it is not what he is best at.  Give him a detector with interesting stuff on it, and lots of data, and he is happy as a clam.  Or better yet, let him go and collect the stuff before it goes on the detector!  He has a different calling than I do, and I'm glad he does.  He rejoices in the chemical world, and I rejoice in teaching humanities, and when we each follow our calling, between us much is accomplished. Having a calling brings focus and joy to my life.  What a beautiful plan God had when he called each of us to follow after Him, and to follow our bent. I don't have to feel guilty that I am not analyzing stuff, or doing anything else.  I can just follow my calling, and rejoice.

Taste and see...

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
~Psalm 34:8-10

The honey bees have made a comeback in my garden, and have been very busy on my sunflowers.  It's amazing that something regurgitated by an insect tastes so good (honey).   But it certainly does, once you stop thinking about it, and get it in your mouth..

God's goodness is not always evident on the surface, either. Sometimes you have to really taste it to evaluate it.  Those of us who have been carried by Jesus through times of loss and disease, trials and heart-break, have tasted deeply of God's goodness-- not despite those difficulties, but in and through and because of them.

If you've not yet tasted to see that the Lord is good, Gentle Reader, don't wait another day.

Got gas? We do!

 Here is the hole that was created to check for gas leaks in front of our house yesterday.

 It was quite a production! And the street was even closed.  I wish I'd taken a picture earlier, when the gas was blowing, or when the firemen were all around, or when the high-pressure welder was burning the gasas he welded the fixture.  It was sort of exciting!

 The utilities guys worked into the evening, resting in the shade under our front tree and chatting with us.  And the neighbors came to watch and visit. It wasn't quite the day I had planned, but I am grateful that we were kept safe, and by the evening, we had a new gas meter and working water heaters again.

The joys of home ownership...

It's been a warm week at our house.  Our evaporative cooler decided to have a mind of its own last Sunday, and turn on by itself while the switch was off, and short out and trip breakers and lots of lovely stuff.  Dave searched everything he could, and we finally had a visit from the electrician yesterday.  The bad news:  whomever put in the swamp cooler jury-rigged the thing: no ground, reversed polarity, wrong gauge of wire, and it is a providential blessing that we haven't had a fire.  However, repair will require a new cooler (or at leasy new motor and pump), complete new wiring, and a new hole in our pro-panel roof.  The electrician estimates 2 guys for four hours.  Yikes! Do you know what electricians cost these days, Gentle Reader?

Then this morning, I returned home from working out at Curves to find a back hoe and two utility trucks in front of my house.  They told me they were repairing an electrical fault that was affecting someone else, but was located in front of our house.  Well, in the process, they ripped through the natural gas supply line to our house, sending gas steaming and smoking into the air, and we soon had 4 more utility trucks, along with an ambulance and a firetruck, and our street blocked to traffic.  What excitement!  They now have a huge trench in the street in front of our house, and we, of course, have no gas (so no stove, oven, or hot water.) But the welder is on his way to put a new fitting to the main, and then they will relight everything for us.

At times like this, I long for the home where things don't break or wear out, where the Builder does everything right and with the best materials.  Can't wait for that kind of home ownership!

Wednesday without words...

Being safe for sad people...

Thanks to my friend Randy over at Somber and Dull, I listened to a wonderful lecture here  at Gospel Coalition today. It was a workshop given by Nancy Guthrie, whom I don't know anything about, but who gave an excellent workshop on how to minister to those who are suffering, and the marks of a church that accomplishes such a ministry.  It is challenging and true.  I challenge you, Gentle Readers, to listen, and examine your own heart.  May we be safe friends for sad people, and have churches that are safe for sad people.