No perfect thing except the Lord

When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, the first thing they did was have to march around the walls of Jericho for days to knock it down. It's too bad they couldn't have setup camp and celebrated first. No, they went straight into battle, and continued for a long time to claim this land they finally arrived in.

On top of that, nothing in this life is perfect. No person, no job, no place, no circumstance. Duly noted. And actually it's a GOOD thing that none of those things are perfect because then we would be tempted to put our peace and trust in that instead of God. Even still we let the good things become idols sometimes, or distract us or use them to try to satisfy us. So even if something was pretty close to perfect, that would be a bad thing because we might rely too heavily upon it. The only perfect thing is God.

"He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." - Ecclesiastes 3:11. So of course we have this desire for things to always be good, and for something to be as close to perfect as possible. There's always this moment of disappointment that comes when something bad/sad/hard happens in a good thing because you were hoping it just wouldn't happen. Or that maybe your expectations were just too high. Other times it's the enemy trying to bring you down and not appreciate what God did for you, or not allow your joy to infiltrate those around you. Even if the circumstances are good, satan tries to attack at your peace, filling you with fear or anxiety over things that are hypothetical or temporary or meaningless. Or sometimes they actually are important things, but you have to stand your ground and allow God to be what drives your heart and emotions and nothing else.

I have only listened to a few podcast in the car because sometimes I just want to listen to music, sometimes I've stopped podcasts halfway through because I don't like them, etc. But one I listened to this week that I really liked talked about how Jesus got in the boat with the disciples knowing in advance that it was going to storm and that He was going to stop the storm. And then, the second time around, Jesus sent them on in the storm alone, and He walked on water to them. But both times He knew that there would be a storm. It seems like the second time the disciples would have been better at it right? But no, they weren't. There are so many times when God has calmed my storms, and yet when the next one comes up I panic again.

Or when I'm on a metaphorical boat, knowing the destination but it's nowhere in sight, and God's even the one DRIVING the boat... I'm that kid saying, "Are we there yet? Why can't I see the land? Why have we stopped to fish - really? Ew, worms - I don't like this, can you just do it and not me?Can't we just keep going? Can we just GET THERE ALREADY??" "Jesus responded, 'Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!'" (Matthew 8:26) I don't have little faith that He knows where we're going, but moreso on the timing of it. The impatience. The fear of what's between now and then. The years that go by. But I will continue to attack the doubts and fears and lies with the Sword of the Truth. I will continue to combat the impatience and anxiety with continually writing down what I'm thankful for, how He has answered my prayer before, and how He will answer them for my whole life. I will continue to throw off the old self and put on the new.

First week

One week is under my belt at my new job! I have already met some really nice people, but have also met a TON of people and not a lot of time to talk to them. That's ok. It's literally only been a week. I started making my office look awesome and it makes me so happy. My bright blue mini-fridge is coming in Friday and I can't wait to put it in my office! I also look forward to being able to do my job without being trained / having to watch other people do it. I know every job comes with a learning curve, I just enjoy when that learning curve is over. :-) But don't we all. Most of the time it's SO quiet, and you can hear everything. It's weird, but nice. I like not having to work with the public.

Yesterday I went to lunch with other admins, and it was good to talk to some of them, and Friday I'm going to a coffee shop with one of them for lunch because I know we will be friends.

I like my french press to make coffee, having two giant computer screens, the water bottle filler in the hallways, the decorations I've brought in, being able to eat lunch and snacks when I want, being able to go to the bathroom as much as I need to without feeling guilty like at Starbucks, the flexible times to come in and to leave as long as I meet 40 hours in a week, and my cool mouse pad and wrist pad that are both beach themed and gel. I look forward to the first paycheck because man, it's time.

I can't say it's been easy to leave my church job still. I miss what I did, and I miss the people. It's a homesick feeling, like they're far away and I have moved. I know that I will eventually get used to it, but currently it's sad.

I think (knock on wood) I will have more emotional and mental capacity to focus on church, serving, ministry, etc. with this job more than I did with Starbucks. With Starbucks, I was so stressed and frustrated all of the time. I'm pretty sure this job will be different.

I'm going to bed around 10 PM, getting up around 5:45 AM, leaving the house around 6:40 AM, and getting to work around 7:45 AM. It's been a HUGE change from going to bed at 2:30-3 AM and getting up at noon for the past 6 months. My inner night owl is protesting against my new sleep schedule!!

Overall, so good so far, and I am very VERY thankful for this answered prayer.