ekpenyong.us!

This is a word that a dear friend says and I have adopted it for myself.  In general it is used to express delight and joy and sometimes for me, it can even be used to express other emotions as well.   Today has been a pretty good day but also a day of frustrations and joys.  Today I learned about the way one must orient the car when parking on city streets around the university campus.  In case you didn’t know, you are supposed to park your car with the flow of traffic, not against.  So, as Dave Ramsey the financial guy says, I am having to pay some “stupid tax”.  This is my own fault.  I think I should know better but the interesting thing to me is that “stupid tax” lessons typically come for me at times when there isn’t a lot extra in the bank account.  The verse that comes to mind right now is in 1 Thessalonians… I believe it says something like…in everything give thanks for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.  So now is my chance to make the choice to be grateful for the way He allows me to learn life’s lessons and that He lovingly teaches me these things in ways that aren’t too much for me to handle even though sometimes it may seem that I’m on the edge.  I’m grateful that the price for learning that lesson wasn’t worse and that nothing else happened.  You know, and as I think about it, there are sooo many great things that God does for us that we don’t even thank him for.  Things like the way my toddler daughter was not harmed after she got a hold of a sample of a muscle relaxer last week and that the test for birth defects for the baby growing inside me came back normal.  These are things God doesn’t owe me in the least but that he choses in his kindness to do for us.  There are many other things just as wonderful and were I to mention them all, I would run out of time.  All that to say, “thanks, Lord.  For the way you take care of my family and me.”

Today I find myself thinking about how suddenly life can go from a very high and exciting point to a very low and traumatic point.  I guess this means life is fragile and further that we are desparately in need of a loving God to rescue us from the mirey pit.  It’s interesting to think about some of the hymns and verses that I know…Hymns like “I need thee every hour” and verses like Prov. 3:5&6 “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding….”  What do we do with the days when we’re making every effort we know of to do that and we still wind up in a confused beaten mess…..I guess the bottom line is that in these times, we need the Lord Jesus to rescue us or bring us healing from the blows that come our way.  I guess these things also make us long for heaven when there will be no more crying and no more pain.  God please give me grace for the journey and help me to honor you.

You know after reading the blogs of other friends, I am drawn in to thinking over my life and where I am. Sometimes I’m tempted, as I guess many of us are, to compare where I am to where others are and feel a sense of dissatisfaction but today that’s not where I am. Today, I’m realizing that each phase is significant because it is a part of the recipe that God uses to make us who we are. I’m glad for this period in my life where I have 1 sweet, easygoing but curious child and all the things I learn through trying to shape her into a wonderful contributing member of society as well as a significant warrior for the kingdom of God. I pray that God would help me to be consistent and have the strength to be diligent in chipping away a Karis’ fleshly tendencies and helping her to understand what it means to exercise self-control. I am also praying that God would strengthen me to exercise self-control of my own as I try to bring our environment into order. There they are, my rambling thoughts of gratitude and hope mixed with a deep need for God’s intervention.