I recently told someone that my weeks had fallen into such a steady routine and that if anything gets off schedule then it could completely throw me off.
Mondays are work (first go at the week’s lessons and updates as needed, continued work on the week’s announcements), meetings, home for TV with my parents, and note writing. Also, beginning on Monday, each work-week afternoon includes setting up coffee for the next day on my way to afternoon duty.
Tuesdays are work and counseling or dinner with friends.
Wednesdays are school work, brief rest, and church work (worship service planning, choir practice, worship team e-mail).
Thursdays are work (compiling school-wide incentive data, e-mailing PTO, updating the incentive bulletin board, judging a school-wide writing challenge), home for TV with my parents, and note writing. The last Thursday of each month is dinner with a friend.
Fridays are work (handing out school-wide writing challenge prizes, changing the writing bulletin board, making a writing book, working on lesson plans) and either home or time with family and friends.
Saturday is my Sabbath--with as much rest and as little work as possible.
Sunday is church (two worship services), cleaning/nap, church (praise team practice), and weekly morning announcement preparation.
If I get off schedule, then, well, sometimes I get behind. Or if I don’t get behind, then I sometimes find myself ill that something has intruded upon my schedule.
Today, I found myself both behind in my work (from getting off schedule last week) and feeling ill that something had intruded upon my schedule.
Tonight was the Little River Baptist Association Annual Meeting. It was also the night that my dad was planning to announce his retirement (effective March 2016).
As my dad’s daughter, I knew that I needed to be at the meeting. As a teacher fighting a cold and feeling like poo, I knew that I had little desire to be at the meeting. But I went. And I’m glad that I did.
Not only was I there to support my dad (and mom), but I was also there to see a couple near the top of my “nicest people in the world” list.
We met many years ago when B and I started teaching and the wife of the couple, Betty, became our favorite volunteer.
As we talked tonight, and caught up, and I shared my heart for JES, I confessed my desire to be a chaplain in the schools—to support and encourage the many teachers who do and give so much to their work and students. I also confessed my wish for Betty to come volunteer at JES. She really was/is an amazing volunteer!
As I started to leave tonight, I mentioned that I was going to go to Starbucks to get some coffee. Betty agreed that that was a great idea and then reached into her purse to get something. I thought that she was reaching for a card but instead she was reaching for $10 to pay for my coffee.
As I was saying thank you, she continued reaching in her purse. Still thinking that she was reaching for a card, I was shocked when she handed me $100 and told me to use it however I felt led for my ministry—at school.
Speechless, I hugged her and said, “Wow. I wasn’t expecting that.”
She said, “I wasn’t either. This was a God-thing. I just felt led to do it.”
Then we both cried.
Folks, Betty comes from humble means. She does not have $100 to spare. And yet, hearing my heart tonight and having a heart for the public schools herself, she sacrificed out of the goodness of her heart.
Because she believed in me.
And my ministry.
And to think that I almost missed it because it wasn’t part of the schedule…
God: Thank you for structure. Thank you for schedules. Thank you for giving us the opportunity and ability to organize our lives so that we can make the most of our days. But God, when that structure and those schedules become so confining that they cause us to begin missing life, forgive us. Help us always to remain open to you and your leading—even when it interrupts our plans—and even when it doesn’t seem to make sense. And, God, help my dad as he begins to transition into retirement. I love you, God. Amen.
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