Lately I have been thinking that God either has a really good sense of humor or He really has it out for me. Being that I don’t like to think the later…I am opting for the first.
Why do I think this? Well, I will share this with you as you too have been part of the journey that is leading me to this laughter. But I have to warn you that it might just be me that finds all this funny. You might just see it as a coincidence or as divine intervention …or as nothing at all. And that is all well and dandy…but every time I think about this the corners of my mouth start to turn up as a smile breaks across my face and the laughs aren’t long behind.
I laugh because I am such a silly girl to have doubted that I am any where except right where God wants me…and that He continues to show me that even in spite of myself. I laugh because just this past weekend a good friend said almost the exact same thing to me as I fretted over something in my life. Literally here is what she wrote as if God was saying this to both of us: “You sweet silly child… CHILL OUT! I cannot WAIT to show you what I have lovingly and creatively planned!!!”
So here is the short of it…I feel lately like I am caught in some sci-fi movie or that movie with Will Ferrell “Stranger than Fiction”. Not that I am hearing someone narrate my story that only I can hear…or am I? Here it is…and you’ve probably picked this up already before me: That if I am struggling or journeying in a specific area that God has hand-picked messages for me to listen to at JUST the right time. I know I can remember this happening OCCASIONALLY in my walk with God in the past…but really – can it happen this much in a span of about 6 months? And can it keep going indefinitely into the future? Does someone at MPPC or Sanctuary have privy to the minute inner details of my life and know exactly what I need to hear and when, or to make sure to drive home the lesson I’ve been learning just this week? I know they don’t…that this is ALL God – but can you see why I laugh to myself now?
Here are just a few examples:
* Late this summer as I had been contemplating whether or not to change churches…but felt called to be at MPPC…I was questioning if this was even possible. Low and behold I found a message from John that talked specifically about his calling to MPPC. The funny thing to me was I hadn’t heard that message when it was preached live for that was the one weekend I had missed due to a last minute travel plans. The destination had been timely…and the message later that summer had been timely.
* When I needed to know if I was hearing God right, He literally gave me Scotty’s message Sings from God confirming that I had heard God right on a very important decision I had made. How much more clear could that be? 🙂
* The messages from the end of this summer in the Sanctuary at MPPC from Scotty and Kevin…talked about them in “Facing my Demons” series. Again, timely, divine and makes me laugh.
* Just as I realized that I was “Jonah” in more ways than one…I had passed right over this sermon series from Scotty until one day it finally stuck out…how had I never noticed that one before? Finding Jonah is the series…each one meant something specific to what I was going thru or doing… Jonah 4.0
* When I was starting to descale my eyes about my role as a woman in this world, in the church and the home…I found the earth shattering, foundation tumbling message “Why does the bible say only men should lead?” This is reflected in my Earthquake series, specifically here.
* When I realized that I was needing to come out of hiding from the bondage of my emotional past…I found a series on how to venture into community as I was venturing into community in a community that is like none other I have been in since…well ever. That might say more about me than the communities I’ve been part of – since I was “in hiding” and all. Togethericty is the title…a title I might have to beg, plead or just downright steal for my future community center. And the last one in this series was the inspiration for Practice Joy.
* The series on James…that’s what even brought me to Sanctuary…
The list could go on and on and on…but I’ll wrap it up here with these last two.
* Sex-ed…this happened to be the module that we were on at Life Skills. It seems that while I was to be investigating my sexual past – God was restoring it at the same time with this series. This is about That
And last but not least…the series that we are about to embark on. But first a little insight into the private life of mio. So I’ve been having a LOT of dreams that I actually am remembering open waking. I’ve never been one to heed my dreams much …but I remember hearing in class that dreams can potentially help us uncover memories that are locked in our subconscious mind and that God won’t bring these things out until it is time to deal with them. Don’t get too excited…I’m not going to share all the dreams – we’d be here way too long and you really would get bored.
But one of them just last week was about getting off a bus with my pull-a-long suitcase and the duffle type bag that goes on top. I was strolling along at my normal brisk pace thru some nice park – like Central Park. I turn around to glance at my luggage when I realize that I have LOST my top bag. But I was sure that it had just been there…really. So I run back to the airport (why when I was on a bus?) and am trying to negotiate with the baggage guy to let me look in those big blue bins to find my missed baggage. He finally turns to me laughing and opening his arm up to the now 7 big glue bins I am more than welcome to look through. It’s like guess which door has the prize behind it!
Needless to say that is when the dream ended and I awoke…and decided to investigate the meaning of yet another dream. Now who knows how much weight I should put in some dream dictionary…but they said that the bag I lost was symbolic of the emotional baggage I rightly needed to lose. While the suitcase symbolized the part of myself that was the very composed, together person. Or it could mean that I need a vacation…that couldn’t be more true and hopefully about to come true. Why I went looking for my lost bag – well I haven’t figured that one out yet. Just let it go – right?
Next, as I prepare for the next module at Life Skills this dream seems fitting for we will be looking at Memories and how they can bring healing in the present. Supposedly the most difficult module – great. And it goes for almost 3 months – double great!
Then, as I land on Sanctuary’s page today to go listen to some other messages…I see this…and literally freaked out momentarily…before I started laughing:
This Sunday: “Baggage Claim” ~ Scott Scruggs
I really hope someone else is laughing at this along with me…and if you – like me – are starting to think that I am in some freaky narration Stranger than Fiction movie…well, I don’t want to spoil what the next sermon series might just be about. But I have my guesses. Yet maybe God is done laughing at me and will move on to someone else by then…a girl can only hope right?
