Perfect Peace

Has it really been almost three weeks since I posted an update on my blog?! Wow... time flies when you're - um, what's that saying again? - having fun?

Well, fun or not, the school year is here. In between my last post and today, I had one more week of working at summer camp, one wonderful week of mostly vacation (some church music work required, but nothing major... which allowed Kim and I to spend a whole bunch of time together that week... big smiles all around!), and then this week - the week of Teacher Orientation for this next school year. Yup, it's here, folks. Two days down; two more to go. I've gotten very little done so far due to all the meetings that we've had. The sad part is that there's still many more meetings to go in the two remaining days. There's no way everything is going to get done that needs to be done...

• I just finished ordering curriculum today. It's a long story about why that waited so long, but let it suffice to say that it's not completely my fault - people being on vacation means that's it's hard to get approval for things over the summer. Okay, so it's probably mostly my fault, but at least a little bit of it isn't.
  
• I haven't touched lesson plans for any of my classes.
• I haven't even considered what I'm putting up for bulletin boards, except that it might just be some posters that were "handed down" to me.
• I've got evening activities scheduled each night this week beginning at 4:45 (except Wednesday... that's 6:30). College registration and Wednesday night church both will run into the 8:15-8:30 range.
• I have a lot of work still to do for the music program at the church too... special music schedules, bulletin preparation for Sunday, choosing new choir music, finalizing some goals for the music program this year, and even Christmas programs.

Seems pretty depressing, doesn't it? I feel like all I'm doing is spinning my wheels and not getting anything done. What's worse is that I don't even get to see my girlfriend for much of this... we work just one or two hundred feet away from each other, but our paths will rarely cross this school year... and that's already started. :(

But you know what? God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good. As I've thought about things tonight and how busy I am, two distinct memories have come back to me. The first is that of last year at this time. I had NO IDEA what I was doing last year during Teacher Orientation week. I very happy to report that I've been in both my computer labs both days so far (last year, I didn't get to the High School lab until Wednesday, and I didn't get to order books until Thursday... I'm actually 2 days ahead this year!). Last year, I had no idea how to write good lesson plans or anything else. But God was good... and He helped me through it. The year ended up going pretty well in spite of all the mistakes I made at the beginning and the horribleness of that Teacher Orientation week. My second memory that came back today was of grad school. Talk about late nights and long hours... Ugh! I really don't have any desire to go back to that crazy and hectic lifestyle. But you know, a few extra hours here and there won't kill me. It's not like I'm looking at staying up until 2 AM routinely just to get my basic work done. [At least, I don't think that's what I'm looking at... Shhhh!!!] God was there, overseeing everything I did in grad school... and He's still there.

Isaiah 26.3 reads, "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Ah... peace comes when we trust in God. Better yet, perfect peace comes when I trust in God. Only when my focus is correct can the rest of my life fall into place. I have no hope of succeeding without His help, and He is sitting there just waiting for me to ask. Think of Jeremiah 33.3 - "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known." God, who knows everything, asks us to petition Him to answer our needs. He knows exactly how to answer each situation and often uses ways that are initially hidden to our eyes. Trust Him, because His answer is infinitely better than yours!

Okay, at this point, I need to log off and go home. I'm tired, and I've been here since 8:00 this morning (it's now 11:00 PM). But the good news? I'm NOT the last one leaving this place tonight. (Yes, Mom and Dad, that's right... I'm NOT the only one here right now!) There are others who are still here and may be here for another hour or more tonight. But what's even better news than that is that God cares. He's there to help me, and He's always good all the time. "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You." What a great thought to end tonight on...

On Life, and How It Has Been Lived...

Time to give all of you blog-readers another short update on my life as I've been living it... My work with the summer camp here is mostly over, and for that I am very happy. Two weeks ago (not last week, but the week before) was my last full week of camp. Last week was a quasi-vacation week for me. My parents stopped for three days by as they were driving up I-95, en route from picking up my sister at college. It was nice to see them again, and we enjoyed spending time relaxing here in the area - something that we've not had a chance to do as a family even though I moved here almost a year ago. Actually it will be a year ago, this coming Sunday, that I moved here. Anyways, they were here for church services on Sunday, met a number of my friends (including Kim) over Sunday lunch at Old Country Buffet, went to the National Archives Museum and the Smithsonian American History Museum in Washington D.C. on Monday, spent Tuesday relaxing and visiting a railroad museum, and had a nice meal at the Crab Shanty on Tuesday night. Kim came out to eat with us twice in addition to the large group that ate together for Sunday lunch, and I can tell that she and my sister are going to get along great (my parents too, but especially my sister). The rest of last week I spent catching up on some stuff for the church's music program... and I spent a fair amount of time being "pleasantly distracted" by a certain young lady. :)

Speaking of that certain young lady, I'm very happy to say that as of last night (Tuesday) Kim and I are officially dating. Things have gone well this last month as we started to really get to know each other, and I'm thankful to God for what He has allowed us to become. You know, I have to say that the way God works in people's lives is rather interesting. I really wasn't expecting any of this to happen between Kim and me... at least, not expecting it in the way it actually happened... but it's intriguing to see how God has worked things out for us so that we can now take this 2nd step together (the 1st step being the trying-to-really-get-to-know-you step). As Isaiah 55.8-9 (ESV) reads, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." I don't know about you who read this post or this blog, but I know I'm glad that He is the one who arranges the events in history and not me. Truly, we serve a great and omniscient God! And, as I've said before, to Him alone belongs any and all glory for what He has allowed Kim and I to become.