I'm back

So it's been six months since I've posted here. School, work, family, church and free time (what's that?) has been taking up all my time. But I was encouraged today in the least likely of places.

As usual, I spent the day in a mad rush, trying to get everything accomplished. I was in tears as I drove up to a school board meeting I had to cover for the paper. I have mid-terms to study for and I am more than a little behind in one subject. My daughter needs help studying and my husband and I never get any time together. I found myself wondering if it is all worth it. Admittedly, I let it all get to me at least once a week.

So I settled into my chair (they give me a real comfortable one to sit in and I'm always thankful for that). The chairman always reads a devotion and I usually look over the agenda during that time to see what's going on but today I listened.

He talked about perseverance and said that goals always come with a price. Today the devotion mentioned school. He read about long nights studying for exams, long hours working to pay for what doesn't come cheap, the sacrifices that must be made and the way to get through it all. Envision a goal and keep it in mind. Great explorers never see the obstacles, he said, they see the wide expanse before them and the prize at the end. Then he likened it to the race we run as Christians.

What a lesson. In the midst of my day (or evening by this time), God found me when I wasn't looking for him. He encouraged me even though I didn't approach him for encouragement.

Several times throughout these past couple of days this has happened. I wasn't listening for his voice at all (sadly enough) but I've heard it in the voices of friends, family and, more often than not, complete strangers. There's been a mix of admonition, encouragement and good old fashioned advice that people weren't even directing towards me, but it was there.

I wonder what I would have heard if I was actually listening.

Be still and know that I am God.