Consider It Pure Joy

Yeah, it's been a hard week. And yeah, I'm joyful. I don't know that I've ever felt God's presence more really or closely than in this past week. It started almost exactly a week ago with a worship night, and I was prayed over. The prayer was that I commune with God, instead of just rushing around busily, which I've done a lot of this semester. Between taking four classes, teaching two, and working in the leadership of two student groups, it's a pretty hectic time. Try to work a social life and 7:00am prayer all week in there, and forget burning the candle and both ends - it's just been tossed into the fire.

This isn't to say the whole week has been bad - I had a restful Tuesday, a good weekend, good grades, etc. But it's also been very trying, and not just with the Red Sox losing.

Friday I spoke in a couple of 11th grade Catholic school classes about the genocide in Rwanda. Telling horrible stories, stuff I've never posted here. Telling of sin so abominable it turns my stomach. That's not a great way to begin your day - it cast a cloud, a shadow of death, over my mind and spirit, and a sense of melancholy that's hard to shake. In all that, God met me. Very quietly, very internally.

As the week has progressed, especially in the last 24 hours, I've had disappointing personal news, been confronted with major impending decisions (grad school, etc), and had a lot of work dumped on me all of a sudden. And God has continued to meet me, to challenge me.

He told me to "wait" for something; I would've preferred to act, but to honor Him I waited. The opportunity went away; and I felt as though no good deed goes unpunished. But even when the results are "bad" in my opinion, He's still good and knows what's best for me, even if it's not the most comfortable.