Forgive my absence. My time to write seemed to have dissipated the last couple of weeks. Wes and I celebrated 21 years of marriage on September 21st. I know it is called a Golden Birthday when the age you are turning and your birth date is the same. So, I used the term Golden Anniversary with a student, but I confused them into thinking we were married 50 years. Oops. Haha!
Wes and I celebrated by spending a night out at Spa Castle. We spent most of our time in ‘Sauna Valley’ sweating our way through various rooms, each having its own benefit to the body. We also did some hydrotherapy in the spas. We enjoyed detoxing together!
One of the reasons we chose to detox is that our bodies are still struggling. My nauseousness and stomach aches continued to increase until it provoked me to make a brutal decision. I have given up coffee.
After days of headaches, it hasn’t been too difficult or traumatic. Yet after three weeks, in a moment of weakness, I celebrated National Coffee Day. I felt horrible all day long! And I couldn’t sleep that night. It is disappointing to have it confirmed that my body rejects my fondness for coffee.
After our anniversary, I taught in the 11th grade class in our youth group. After serving with this group for over 3 years it was my first time to lead in teaching. It shouldn’t seem like such a stretch, but I don’t care for being the center of attention and I enjoy leading table discussions so much more!
I chose my time to teach based on when it seemed most convenient for me. After I was committed I took a closer look at the topic and materials from the curriculum. Oh boy. The topic title rubbed me the wrong way and it covered some verses that I had always struggled with how churches presented them. And honestly verses that I was still struggling with God in how to understand them myself.
I studied weeks in advance and spend a good amount of time praying for God’s wisdom and understanding. I felt a bit like Jacob wrestling with God. And gratefully I can say that God did bring some enlightenment to my mind.
Ironically, God didn’t call me to share what I learned about those specific passages. He did lead me to engage the students minds by asking them questions and to lead them into engaging God in interpreting Scripture. If something is True it can be held up to scrutiny! We should be questioning and wrestling! I did overhear one student as she left, “That was a really challenging lesson… in a good way.”
So, where are you being challenged in life? I pray that you are overcoming and living abundantly in His presence during it all! You are loved!
I love knowing you challenged your student! Not surprised. 😉 That’s so awesome. I think we (the church) too often think that kids and teenagers aren’t engaged, so why bother with something deep. But you already know what I think of that. 😛
Sorry for the coffee situation. It’s been a few years for me and I feel so much better without it. BUT…just this week, I got some loose organic chicory and loose organic roasted dandelion root from Natural Grocers. I mixed them and have used them to make a really strong caffeine free tea (in a diffuser) with a little coconut sugar. It’s not coffee, but it does hit the spot in the morning when you want something warm and yummy. Tomorrow I will blend it with a bit of coconut oil in the blender to make a faux bullet-proof. Double-blessing: it’s a great detox tea!
Love and miss y’all!