Have Faith in God

            We sing a great hymn in church sometimes called Have Faith in God.  I was thinking about the lyrics the last time we sang it and realized how applicable that song is to my life right now.  Our assistant pastor also found it applicable to his sermon.  He preached out of Luke 8:22-25 about the time when Jesus calmed the storm at sea.  The disciples were doing exactly what God wanted them to do when the storm hit, and that shows us that even if we are following God’s will in our lives, the storms of life can still hit.  We may think we have control for a while, but when things get rough, we finally turn to God in prayer.  That is something we often forget, trials are not always due to sin or wrong choices, they sometimes come to teach us or to remind us of who is in control.  Even if things seem unfair and we don’t understand why, God is still there and He still cares for His children.  We live in a fallen world where bad things are going to happen.  Those of us who are Christians have the task of shining God’s light in the darkest of times and reaching out to those who are lost and hurting.  So, when the darkness falls within our own lives, we must keep our eyes on Christ and have faith.  He can calm the storms and bring peace in His time.

These are the lyrics to Have Faith in God, written by B. B. McKinney:

 

Verse 1: Have faith in God when you pathway is lonely,

He sees and knows all the way you have trod;

Never alone are the least of His children;

Have faith in God, have faith in God.

 

Chorus: Have faith in God, He’s on His throne;

Have faith in God, He watches o’er His own;

He cannot fail, He must prevail;

Have faith in God, have faith in God.

 

Verse 2: Have faith in God when you prayers are unanswered,

Your earnest plea He will never forget;

Wait on the Lord, trust His Word and be patient;

Have faith in God, He'll answer yet.

 

Verse 3: Have faith in God in your pain and your sorrow,

His heart is touched with your grief and despair;

Cast all your cares and your burdens upon Him,

And leave them there, oh, leave them there.

 

Verse 4: Have faith in God though all else fail about you;

Have faith in God He provides for His own;

He cannot fail though all kingdoms shall perish,

He rules, He reigns upon His throne.

October IWSG

            Time for another posting with the Insecure Writers Support Group, where writers can share their insecurities and encourage one another.  IWSG was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh and we share our posts the first Wednesday of the month.  The co-hosts for October are:

TB Markinson, Tamara Narayan, Shannon Lawrence, Stephanie Faris, and Eva E. Solar.

            In September, IWSG announced that they would be having an anthology contest for group members.  We have until November 1 to submit a short story about a parallel universe or alternative history.  This is my insecurity this month.  As soon as I saw the contest, I was so excited about it, but now I’m having mixed feelings/second thoughts.  I really want to submit a story, I have an idea, I have the characters lined up, and I even started writing.  I am just not sure if I can pull this all together in a sensible way by November!  During this process, I realized that I have not written any fiction since high school, beyond a list of ideas and a couple opening paragraphs to stories that may never come to be.  I don’t even know if my fiction will be likeable, but I guess this is an opportunity to find out.  I have to start somewhere.  I hope I can get it done. 

 

Back to Blogging and Question of the Month

This is the day which the Lord hath made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24 (KJV)

               Well, after taking some time away from this blog, I am back!  I missed my blogger friends and sharing my writing, so I am glad to be getting back to a normal routine.  At work, we finally hired a new pharmacy cashier, so hopefully things will get back to normal there as well.  September was a rough month for me, and I do not want October to be a repeat, so I am using this new month as an opportunity to revive my writing.  I apologize to anyone who commented on my page last month who I didn't get back to, and I will try to catch up and make the rounds this week.  With this fresh start, I also decided to do a little rearranging and autumn redecorating on my page, I hope you enjoy!

October’s Question of the Month

The Question of the Month is a bloghop that occurs the first Monday of each month and it is hosted by Michael G D'Agostino from A Life Examined.

Who would play you in a movie of your life?

                You know, I tried to put more thought into coming up with the perfect person for the role, but my mind always went straight to the same person.  My problem is that I admire a lot more actors than I do actresses, so there are not many women I find capable of the role.  Someone who could probably play the role well is Jennifer Lawrence.  She is a talented actress, and I think she would understand my introverted character because she appears to be an introvert herself.  I thought of her because when I have watched Jennifer in interviews, I can tell that she feels awkward and nervous, and I also feel that way around large groups of people.  Beyond that, I don't think we have that much in common, but I still think she could pull it off pretty well.





Taking a Break

          Whew!  It has been a hectic week!  I meant to get this post written and put up by Monday, but that obviously didn't happen.  Three weeks ago, at work, we had someone who quit and her replacement has not yet completed the hiring process.  For the past two weeks another coworker and our pharmacist manager have been on vacation.  And two days this week, someone was sick at home.  There were some terrible, busy days, and I am starting Day 6 of 6 in a row today.  Hopefully, when the vacationers get back and the new person starts, things will calm down and my schedule can get back to normal.  For now, I am taking a short blogging break until the Insecure Writer's Support Group post and possibly the Question of the Month in October.  Until then, I'll miss you guys and I hope to catch up on your posts next month.

Verse I need to keep reminding myself of this month: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13 (KJV)

Question of the Month

                Happy Labor Day, everyone!  I will try to make the most of it, which won’t be easy since I have to work :(  I like September’s Question of the Month, so I thought I would participate.  The Question of the Month is a bloghop that occurs the first Monday of each month and it is hosted by Michael G D'Agostino from A Life Examined.

Here is this month’s question: What’s the best job you’ve ever had?

                I would have to say that my favorite job was actually through a work-study program at my university.  It was called America Reads and we tutored first graders in reading for an hour after school on Mondays-Thursdays.  I enjoyed it because I love helping kids learn.  I love it when they get that “ah-hah” look on their faces and knowing that I was able to help them reach that goal.  Reading is especially fun because there are so many activities I can do with them to learn letters and sounds.  America Reads was also fun because we were able to work together one-on-one which is how I like to teach; that or small groups.  This is the reason I quickly burnt out when I taught kindergarten, because I had fifteen students and only had help for about an hour a day.  With all of my students at different levels, it was impossible for me to help all of them and that made me sad.  So, being able to focus on one student per semester was a great experience.

                I thought I would also include my second favorite “job”, which I would love to do for a living, but I don’t think there’s enough of a demand for it in my area.  In recent years, I have had a few opportunities to dog-sit for two different couples in my church.  I would go to their homes after I got off work, feed the dogs and other various chores, and stay the night.  I have stayed from three nights all the way to two weeks and it is kind of fun to pretend I live somewhere else, although I did get a bit homesick during that two week period.  I have enjoyed some pleasant babysitting experiences over the years as well.

One of the dogs I cared for, Slink, who has since passed away :(

IWSG: Overcoming Writer's Block

              Time for another posting with the Insecure Writers Support Group, where writers can share their insecurities and encourage one another.  IWSG was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh and we share our posts the first Wednesday of the month.  The co-hosts for September are Julie Flanders, Murees Dupé, Dolorah at Book Lover, Christine Rains, and Heather M. Gardner.

             I said last month that I would give an update in this post on how I did with time management and keeping up with this blog. Well, I did not really take into consideration the fact that I had gum graft surgery in mid-August and how tired I would feel. I did manage to get one good day in for responding to my comments, visiting those who left a comment, and even catching up on a few others I follow. So, that's better than only catching a few followers sporadically throughout the week! My main insecurity at the moment is with my gums, which I have already written about in my last two posts. I just pray that the surgery has done its job and the new gums will take, but only time will tell.

              Since I'm not feeling particulary insecure in my writing, I thought I would share something that has helped with writer's block moments and just clearing my head. Emails or notes to a friends have helped inspire ideas. If I share some advice or a train of thought with my friend, I sometimes see how I could expound upon it and turn it into a blog post or an addition to my book ideas. Writing letters to various people in my life (like roommates, bosses, crushes) has also helped. Most of those letters are never actually given to the adressee, but venting out frustrations or feelings on paper can help bring some ideas to the surface. I have also written out prayers, especially in moments of distress over my circumstances or worries of the future. When I look through my prayer journal entries, I realize how much writing it out can help me calm down and bring out some revelations to the surface. I have seen it in my regular journal/diary entries as well; there was even one time that I started writing with so much frustration and venting about a horrible day and I ended up turning it into a prayer of thanksgiving. Writing has definitely proven to be a great tool for focusing and calming my mind. So, if you are feeling stuck, just keep writing, usually something good will show up!

            Besides letters or journals, I enjoy writing prompts from time to time. I came across this article recently and thought it had some fun prompts: 30 Days of Writing Prompts
 

 

Feeling Rather Tired

            The last two weeks have passed in a whirlwind of sleepiness.  Ibuprofen seems to have a groggy effect, even on those days when I only take two capsules all day.  So besides that side effect, I thought I would give an update on my gum graft surgery since my post early last week.

            Last Monday, after work, I had to do some much-needed grocery shopping for liquid and soft foods.  I found quite a few decent things and besides my brother’s smoothies, my favorites have been some various flavors of Greek yogurt, mashed potatoes, and the surprisingly-soft Oscar Meyer Carving Board Chicken.  The first couple days back at work were pretty tough, my mouth would start getting pretty irritated halfway through the day, and then I was starting to worry that being at work would cause too much stress and that the graft might not take.  I tried to take it extra easy in the evenings and I would just read and relax.  I felt much better by last Thursday on my day off, and I was able to get a few things checked off my to do list.  I spent that evening with my good friend Lauren and helped with her children, including Victoria (click here to read about the power of prayer in Victoria’s life).  Tori is doing well, she still has to work with a speech therapist, but other than that, she acts like a normal two-year-old.

            Last Saturday, I participated in Conquer the Gauntlet, which was quite a challenging experience.  I searched online to check that it was ok to exercise after my surgery, and the general consensus seemed to be between 24 hours to 4 days after surgery that it is fine.  Since it had been 9 days and my mouth was feeling almost normal, I figured I was alright.  Conquer the Gauntlet is a 4 mile course with 29 highly challenging obstacles most of which involved climbing.  I would not have made it through without the help of the team I was with.  We had to push and pull each other up on some of the obstacles and it was a great lesson on community and endurance.  Some people from my church participated and we talked about how it relates to our walk with Christ at Sunday school the next day.  I was sore and bruised afterwards, but I’m glad I decided to still do it despite my surgery.

            Let’s fast forward to this Thursday, I had my post-op appointment to get my stitches removed.  It was surprisingly short and my doctor said that everything looked good and that the graft was taking well.  Praise the Lord!  I still have to be gentle with the gums on my lower front teeth, but I am just grateful that the mental stress of work and the physical stress of the Gauntlet did not have negative consequences on my mouth.  It is amazing what our bodies can endure!  Besides having to eat with more delicacy, I think I should be getting back into my normal routine of trying to balance everything in my life, lol!

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5-6 (NIV)