Surviving the First Week!

Well, my first week of work is over and as I sit on the couch watching my cat play with his toy with the Mariners game on in the background, the mere exhaustion is rushing over me. This has been a week of meeting people, asking questions, trying hard to take in what feels like 'a fire hose' of information, and LOTS of time in the car stuck in traffic. This is life now. This is my new reality.

It is hard for me to imagine that just one moth ago I was getting ready to walk across the stage and officially be handed the piece of paper that would let me be done with school forever, fully prepared for a summer of rest and a continued journey trying to find where God wanted me to be. Little did I know that within 5 days, I would be first getting word of what my new reality was going to be.

Now that the first week is over, I find myself wanting to be like Jonah (yes, I know I am going back to the good ol' BSM days but it all makes sense)...run FLEEING from what I know God has called me to do. "But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord." Jonah 1:3...sounds easier right?! Exactly.

Satan wants us to see that easy way out. He wants us to run from what God has specifically called us to do, not allowing ourselves to be all that God has called us to be. And, I am not going to lie, that does sound pretty attractive. Just saying, 'I give up now' sounds so easy. Instead, I am CHOOSING to be like Jonah in chapter 3...after God sent him to be swallowed by the big fish...'Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.' So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.' (Jonah 3:1-2)

I do have hope that things will get easier. I will eventually be done learning people's names. The questions will still be asked and the doubts will still creep in, but for now, I am rejoicing that I KNOW this is what God has called me to. This is for sure a 'God-sized task' that he is calling me to and I am SO grateful for the opportunity to even more understand what it means to rest and rely on HIM for all my needs.

THANK YOU to those who have been praying for me through this whole process and I ask that you please continue to do so. Pray that I would have renewed energy for Sunday as I continue to meet new people. Pray that I get good rest when I do and pray I can continue to be patient as I learn new things. Thank you for walking this journey with me and for helping point me to Jesus. I am so so blessed.

"The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He heads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoXWIK1lfyo