I've been fighting myself to get things written the last few weeks and, unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to wait another week or so before I'll really be able to dig into anything of substance here. Taking out my wisdom teeth also took my energy from me for a few days. I spent a day and a half home from work, spent the weekend mostly sleeping (occasionally opening my eyes to see what the scores in the NCAA tournament looked like and have spent the last two days trying to muster the strength to try to get back into the swing of things at work. Add to that the fact that I'm preaching on Sunday at the Sheldon Church of the Brethren and it leaves little time or energy to give thoughtful consideration to the topics that are in my head right now.
In the news... We're still waiting to hear back from Lincoln, NE about the jobs we applied for. I didn't anticipate hearing anything prior to the end of the month, but we applied almost two weeks ago now and waiting seems like all we've been doing since last June. We do have a peace that if this is not the place for us, that something will come along, but my patience with my current job situation grows more tenuous each day.
I did get my confirmation that I am all set to take the teaching exam at the end of April. I registered before all of this thought about another relocation and reentry into ministry started, but since we don't know how long it will be before anything develops, there is still a strong possibility that this fall could see me headed to the classroom. Plus I paid $115 for registration for the test, so I'm taking it even if I am otherwise employed by the end of next month (not likely).
We took my friend Patricia out for lunch yesterday. She's still a few days away from being able to drive after her surgery, so it was a chance to get her out of the apartment and catch up a bit. The kids were on their best behavior and we had a good time. Amy invited Patricia to the class that she's teaching at New Hope for the next several weeks based on John Ortberg's book "God is Closer Than You Think". I feel a real responsibility to get her connected somewhere where she can begin to grow in her faith. Discipleship is something I missed early in my relationship with Christ and it took me almost 10 years to wake up to the fact that there was more than simple behavior modification that God wanted to do with me. I'm realizing that Patricia needs someone to disciple her, but I don't think it should be me. I'm not trying to abdicate responsibility, I just recognize that we may not be in town much longer and I also happen to believe that one on one discipleship can be very dangerous between men and women. If I were to be a main player in Patricia's discipleship, it would have to be in a group setting. My hope is that she'll connect with someone at the church that she can really begin to dig into Scripture with and that I can just be supplemental to her growth through regular conversation and friendship.
In the meantime, we keep praying for new jobs, the sale or rental of our house in Marion and more direction on where we are supposed to be and what we're supposed to be doing. Life is rarely dull, but we've been praying for the same stuff for a year, so I feel like a lot of my prayers are on repeat. I'm looking forward to being excited about work and ministry again. Going through the motions is tiring, but hopefully will be rewarded with a greater sense of joy and gratitude when this season is over.
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