School & Serving

I never thought I'd say this, but I miss school! This is my last semester of college and right now I only have one class (online). This class seems relatively easy, so different from last semester! I know I've earned this time away from campus. I know I've worked hard for many, many years. I know I'm not being "bad". But I feel like I am being very bad. I feel like I'm skipping classes or something. I suppose that is a normal feeling after 6 years of being conditioned to attend all classes and type papers until my fingers ache. But for now... my house is clean and organized. Dishes are washed. Dinner has been cooked & eaten. Homework is done. What am I supposed to do? Maybe I'll paint my nails and lay out my clothes for tomorrow.... the first day of my internship. Maybe working and staying busy will help.

Things are going really well right now. Being bored is my only complaint (lol). And I'd gladly take that over being stressed out or too busy! I've had a terrific day! I slept until about 9am, prepared manicotti for lunch (which ended up being around 3pm), got ready for church, and listened to music while I was doing all of this. I spent the morning before church praying and preparing my heart for the message. I was even in a good mood when, 9 minutes before we needed to leave, my brother called and asked us to rescue him. He had locked himself out of his car and left the keys inside. We got there and I remembered I was supposed to bring a book for someone, so we had to go back home and get it. We ended up being only about 10 min late and arrived while everyone was still singing.

I wanted to share something I read today from Matthew 6. I use the NASB translation, but sometimes I re-read passages from The Message (which is a paraphrase of the Bible, not a translation). Something that is always stressed at Blue Ridge is that people should serve out of obedience to God's calling, not to be seen, recognized, or thanked. Everything we do is about our motives. I suppose it is our human nature to want to be recognized and thanked, but when that is our motivation, we take the glory away from God. It's something I have to remind myself of from time to time.

Paraphrase of Matthew 6:1-6 from The Message:

" Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding. When you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. You've seen them in action, I'm sure—'playactors' I call them— treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that's all they get. When you help someone out, don't think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out. And when you come before God, don't turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

⁶"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.