Sadness and Gladness
It has been a long day in many ways. Chuck's cousin's son, Chris, was killed yesterday in a tractor accident. He is young, married, and a dad to an 8 month old. It takes my breath away, how quickly life can end.
I find myself thinking about how wrong this is, that things like this don't happen. But they do. I know of many young people who have died, either suddenly or slowly, leaving family and friends behind to grieve. Gaping holes are left behind. In many ways it is not only their lives that have ended. The lives of those who loved them have ended as well, at least the lives they knew and were comfortable in. Now they live different and, at least initially, extremely painful lives that center around the loss.
So Chris's family, his young wife, his parents, his brothers and his sister, his grandparents, and his friends have been on my heart a lot today. I wish there was more that could be done to ease their pain.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I am celebrating a small thing tonight as well. I was getting pretty discouraged about finding Sunday School teachers, which is my job right now at church. I had a couple of positions open and had made a lot of calls. I keep forgetting that I'm just making the calls but God is in charge of finding the teachers. (Sometimes I would like for God to write up my call list for me so I could skip the 'no' answers.)
I really don't mind getting those 'no' answers that much, until I think I have already called everyone who might possibly be good at this job. I truly do not want people to teach if they find no joy in it. God knows how many teachers we need and I trust that God will give enough people the desire and the gift and the curiosity they need for it. So when I call people, I try to remind myself that I don't have much idea of what their lives or like or what their current calling is. If I am asking them to do something that would take them away from the things God wants them to do, they had better be saying no to me.
The thing I don't like is getting scared that I will never find someone that will enjoy this class or who will see how much fun it is to explore faith with these particular kids. And then I make a call to someone who says, "Thanks for asking me! I'd like to think about it but that really sounds like something I would enjoy!" Maybe I will still get another negative response in the end, but I have a better sense of hope at the moment.
I find myself thinking about how wrong this is, that things like this don't happen. But they do. I know of many young people who have died, either suddenly or slowly, leaving family and friends behind to grieve. Gaping holes are left behind. In many ways it is not only their lives that have ended. The lives of those who loved them have ended as well, at least the lives they knew and were comfortable in. Now they live different and, at least initially, extremely painful lives that center around the loss.
So Chris's family, his young wife, his parents, his brothers and his sister, his grandparents, and his friends have been on my heart a lot today. I wish there was more that could be done to ease their pain.
* * * * * * * * * * *
I am celebrating a small thing tonight as well. I was getting pretty discouraged about finding Sunday School teachers, which is my job right now at church. I had a couple of positions open and had made a lot of calls. I keep forgetting that I'm just making the calls but God is in charge of finding the teachers. (Sometimes I would like for God to write up my call list for me so I could skip the 'no' answers.)
I really don't mind getting those 'no' answers that much, until I think I have already called everyone who might possibly be good at this job. I truly do not want people to teach if they find no joy in it. God knows how many teachers we need and I trust that God will give enough people the desire and the gift and the curiosity they need for it. So when I call people, I try to remind myself that I don't have much idea of what their lives or like or what their current calling is. If I am asking them to do something that would take them away from the things God wants them to do, they had better be saying no to me.
The thing I don't like is getting scared that I will never find someone that will enjoy this class or who will see how much fun it is to explore faith with these particular kids. And then I make a call to someone who says, "Thanks for asking me! I'd like to think about it but that really sounds like something I would enjoy!" Maybe I will still get another negative response in the end, but I have a better sense of hope at the moment.
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