Finding Purpose

There is a reason and purpose for everything and we are to walk within that purpose.

It’s a wonderful Sabbath today and I just had a nap in my pillow fort.  I am a little bleary but refreshed still. 

I thank the Lord for the message I am listening to right now on Issues & Answers.  The host looks like that Korean girl interning from buzz feed and the person who was sharing his testimony to me was an unusual character, which was the reason why I didn’t pass on to the kitchen and stopped to watch.  I came in on the tail end of the conversation, but I still heard something important and useful.  We go through so many unpredictable and even uncomfortable situations.  We get a job in a workplace to find it stressful, no fun, and are ready to quit as soon as we get there.  We are rushing to the airport for a flight to only find it is going to be delayed.  The speaker encourages us to ask why this is happening and how we can use each situation to do God’s work and glorify Him.  The speaker went on to say how when he arrived at the airport with his family they were waiting for something so small (a lightbulb to be replaced in the bathroom on the plane) and because of this delay, he decided he was going to allow God to use him.  God had it so that he and his family connected with a mother and her two young children which was preparation for actually getting on the plane.  When they were on the plane, they soon realized the lady and her children were sitting right behind them and when the infant started to cry, his wife asked to hold the baby and the baby was calm for the entire flight.  None of this would have happened if he had not allowed the Lord to guide him with starting a conversation with the lady in the gate area in the first place during the delay.

It makes me think of my family trip to the Bahamas.  I was about 10 years old and remember all the connections we took to get there.  There was a family with a young child about my age and we continued seeing each other on every plane.  When we finally arrived in the Bahamas, I couldn’t understand why we were not allowed to leave.  The other family stayed with us and I think their luggage was lost but the child and I and my sister were able to hang out with each other during a long period of boredom.  I was to learn later that someone stole my birth certificate out of my mother’s purse and they were trying to prove that I belonged to them and that I was American.  I was able to leave eventually for the resort and we were able to return home after our trip, but it’s nice how the Lord puts people on your path to help with a difficult situation.  I don’t know what the beliefs of the family were who traveled (perhaps Christian, who knows), but it was a comfort to see them even as we returned to the airport to fly back home those several rounds too. 

This week did not go the way I had planned it to go.  I texted my mechanic on Thursday to find out what was happening with my car.  My mechanic promised that it would be done this week but I just received a response from him with photos that he still needs to put the doors back on and no definite date or week slated to finish.

The last time he fixed my car after it was totaled, it didn’t take that long (what a week?).  I am soon to have been without my car for 2 months and I’m not sure the reason for it.  Perhaps there is a flaw that needs to still be discovered and worked out by the mechanic.  There is opportunity even in this to allow the Lord to use me even as disappointed as I am.  The little blue car is fitting the bill right now and even though it guzzles through gas like I breathe air, it’s getting me where I need to go and handling these streets like a pro.  I thank Jesus for this little car. 

As for my job, I was not thinking clearly about my week and a snow storm hit on Tuesday so I had to take off that day.  But God is good because that Tuesday, I didn’t have enough work to justify being in the office and could not even pull it out of thin air.  I was glad to have cancelled a meeting and rescheduled it to the following Monday. Other meetings were cancelled and the unexpected happened with some of my clients/teams.

The Adventurers club I had been excited about bringing my son to is cancelled for tomorrow because the snow storm stopped some of the materials from arriving as we were expecting.  I stayed home today because they said we were getting more snow and sleet and I didn’t want to lose my parking space.  Several spaces are still covered in ice and if you didn’t work on it Tuesday afternoon after the snow moved on for the most part, you were going to be stuck all week.  I had my son watch youtube to keep him in one spot while I went out and worked my car free in one of the snowiest and iciest spots in the lot.  I had to leave early Wednesday morning (5am) so I used two buckets of hot water to loosen up the last part that was catching my tires and keeping my car trapped.  Maintenance did not come around so it was really everyone out for themselves.  I opted to shovel and salt the door entries of my three other neighbors just so when they stepped out they wouldn’t slip immediately on a path of ice, but I didn’t have the strength to handle a full path of heavy icy heart attack snow, plus my son required my attention.   

This week didn’t go the way I expected it, but God is good and still provides. I’m looking out my window at another sight I never expected.  I see a flock of seagulls.  I never see seagulls out here, not this far inland anyway.  What ever the case, I am exactly where I should be and even if it is uncomfortable, I can still make the best out of it.  God can use me in any situation and I look forward to seeing what He will do with me for the new week.