The Rearrangement

I'm not the most flexible person God created but sometimes, we have to make changes. The following, from March 1, 2006, is about the need we face at points in our lives to do some rearranging.

Yesterday was strange. I got sick on Tuesday and I never get sick. I've never missed a day of teaching due to illness and was not about to start; I toughed it out. A headache came on early in the day and three aspirin and eight Tylenol couldn't shake it. As soon as I got home from school, I hit the bed and slept for three hours. Food had no appeal and neither did work. I just wanted to get better. Guess how I feel today? I can't tell you how absolutely great I feel! I wish I felt this good everyday! The truth is, I do feel this good 99% of the time but it takes a bad day to realize it. By tomorrow, the euphoria will have passed but, at least for now, it's pretty exciting!

How often do we take life for granted? Mission trips sober us to the reality of the bounty of our lifestyle. Many feel a sense of guilt re-entering our culture with its opulence after spending time with some of the poorest humans on earth. But soon, the feeling goes into dormancy until our next trip. Most of us have exactly what we need, not to just get by, but thrive. This in my first blog entry from home. Last night, 10:00 pm CST, my Compaq Presario 1200 met the Internet for the first time, having been introduced by the computer matchmaker of Westbury Christian, Kevin Duncan. It was a difficult courtship, complete with anger, impatience, miscommunication, and PRAYER! Finally, the romance was a reality. What a terrific way to end a miserable day! In the course of installing my computer and its DSL, I had to rearrange my apartment. The desk now resides where the easy chair was, the easy chair moved to replace the dining room table, and the dining room table took over the space vacated by the desk. It's like I have a brand new apartment! Now, you have to realize I have lived in the same place for eight years and haven't changed things around one time. Necessity required a shuffling of the furniture but it's almost made it fun to come home. The furniture is not new but being in a different location gives it a different feel. The pieces were already there; moving them around just makes them seem, if not quite new, at least newer. To quote the worst grammar ever from a rock song:
"Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man,That he didn't, didn't already have." (America, 1974)
Every English teacher in the US could grind their teeth over that word usage but we get the point. Our lives resemble a jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces are there but putting them together takes time as well as trial-and-error. I am convinced that God gives us the parts to succeed, along with an assembly manual but we don't believe we have the necessary materials encoded in our DNA. I could have been computer literate but I chose to doubt myself. I could have done many things that I convinced myself were beyond my reach. Confidence comes from success and success grows from the seeds God plants in us. It's Spring; time to let those heavenly seeds germinate and bloom!

Applicable quote of the day:
"What a surprise to find that you could shift the contents of your head like rearranging furniture in a room."
Lisa Alther

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com