Update

wow, it has been awhile since I have posted, so this may be a long one! It has been a LONG week, although I'm not sure why. I got off REALLY early a couple of nights but stayed pretty late some other nights. And I think some of it comes from having a meeting last weekend so I didn't get to relax as much as usual. I also miss having church Wednesday nights. It is nice to both get off early in the middle of the week and to just talk to people from church But I don't have to work tomorrow so I'm excited!

I have also been thinking about calling this week and what it means to be called. This has kind of come from a variety of sources and experiences. We have been talking about the Joseph narrative in church and how Joseph was called but it took quite awhile and a lot of "detours" for it to all work out. I suppose I need to be patient in letting God work things out in my life.

I'm also on a discussion list and some of the people have been talking about calling. Some of the people have been saying that they don't really believe in calling in the sense of God telling us what to do. It is more God has given us gifts and talents and calling is us living out those things in our lives. We aren't "called" to something specific; just to live a life pleasing to God.

I have also just finished reading a book called "Twenty Something". One of the quotes in it says "The eternal call of Christ on our lives is not to a particular person, place, or position here on earth, but rather to a deepening relationship with Him, Though at times, people, places and different job position will manifest themselves as part of that call, the heart is to be a follower of Jesus Christ."

I'm also thinking about my job. I love my job and I love the kids, but I want more. I want to be able to tell them about Jesus. I can love them and they know that I'm a Christian, but it isn't the same. I want to tell them constantly how much God loves them. I want to tell them about what God has done and is doing for them. I want to tell them how valuable they are in God's eyes and in my eyes. I wonder if everyone who works in the secular world struggles with this or if this means this isn't where I'm supposed to be long term.

So I have all of these thoughts rolling around in my head, but I can't make a whole lot of sense of them and don't know where they are taking me.

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And now for some other random thoughts. People amaze me some times. It is amazing how rude and silly people can be and how sweet they can be! This really struck me the other day with some of the parents of my daycare kids. One of the boy's grandma came and picked him up and he had poop running down his leg. Now let me say that I had been playing with him just a few minutes before this and he was fine and I offered to change him, but the lady was pretty rude about the whole thing. And I guess she called my boss the next day. No big deal for me, but still. So just a little bit after this lady left, one of the girl's mom came in. She is the absolutely sweetest ladies in the whole world. She is always nice to us and ALWAYS says thank you, often more than once. She is just so kind! I'm so thankful for people like her in the world!

I'm also thankful for my church. There are some great people there that I really enjoy spending time with. I love being able to just chat and eat after church in the evenings. That is some of my favorite times during the week. I also love watching the kids run around and play while the adults talk. And again I'm so thankful for the way children are viewed within the church, like they really are part of the church and important for what they are doing right now. This past week the kids were supposed to save change to put in a cup to help give kids in Liberia a well so they could have clean water. It was neat to watch them bring in their cups and to see how much they all gave. It was also encouraging to them hear the children's sermon about how they were showing us how to give. The pastor also talked about how we are changing things within the church for them, so that they can learn more about God. I just LOVE that!