Well, I've been terribly delinquent at blogging. I guess I could use the excuse of still trying to get back into the swing of life after my long vacation, but I'm not sure how long I can pull that off ;) Although it worked very well as an excuse to skip my workout last Monday night.
So, my re-entry process is probably mostly complete. Last weekend was my slacker time. Other than church, a short run at the gym on Saturday morning and a longer run with my running partner on Sunday, I just spent my time enjoying Mark's company! Although I enjoy his company all the time, but last weekend was pretty special since we'd been apart for a while.
The week itself went well. By Wednesday, I was starting to feel more in the swing of things and was surprised when I realized I had only been home a week, felt longer. I also thought it was fun to be able to appreciate everything in my life for the high value it actually holds. I think that before I left I wasn't valuing the things in my life very well. Being away made me appreciate every piece of it! Even though elements I previously struggled with.
I didn't report this earlier, but while on my trip I spent very little focused time with God. I was surprised it ended up like that so was glad to resume my Starbucks lunches with God during this week. (Except for Friday when I went to the mall and bought a great new purse, on sale! I think God was cool with that thought :) I'm also back to memorizing scripture (currently Psalm 142) and because of the extensive journaling I did while on my trip, have discovered I've been in the mood to journal more than I was before I left.
Last night Mark and I went with Barb to the Good Friday service at Sunset. It was actually better than I thought it would be. We had planned to go all week, but as I sat there last night before the service started I wondered if I would just be bored for an hour (yes, I'm ashamed to say I did actually have this thought). But, I was pleasantly surprised when pretty much every section of the 7 "Word" service (it was on the 7 phrases Jesus said while on the cross) was actually very insightful and I came away feeling like Jesus was/is actually more human and like me than I had previously thought. I was also delighted to get a great explanation of what he said to Mary while he was on the cross. I had thought that he was being rather insensitive and it must have hurt Mary's feelings to have her son call her 'woman' but as Steve Halliday explained, it was actually exactly the opposite. Even in his greatest moment of suffering, he thought of wanting to take care of her! It was the illustration that reinforced how God/Jesus is never too busy for us or doesn't have time (even if it feels like he's not listening). He actually thought about us in his greatest moment of suffering!
One of my other favorite things from last night was when they said Jesus mentioned being thirsty. This was called the word of 'Need'. In other words, just like us, he was expressing a physical need that he felt. This was explained as Jesus setting the stage for us to express our needs, no matter how mundane or small we may think they are in God's eyes. Jesus DOES care about them. I have been praying for something lately that I felt almost ashamed to pray about (but have anyway) and thought that God probably hasn't cared but I was praying it more because it says that if we ask something, it will be given to us (if it's within God's will for our lives). And I figure that it never hurts to ask. I came away feeling that it was 'okay' for me to ask and not only was it okay but that Jesus/God really does care about that for me. It was cool!
After the service, the 3 of us went to dinner at Chili's (it was a previous semi-regular tradition of Barb's and mine and we have invited Mark to join us since he's been in our lives). We had a great talk about the service and other life stuff. Barb blogged some of her thoughts, which you should check out.
Happy Easter!
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