Challenges of the Week

Last week was a tough week. It was one of those weeks when nothing seemed to go right:

• Several things happened at work that did not go smoothly (and were extremely frustrating) that weren’t my fault (though it usually is) or anyone else’s. One of the things being that there was a problem with Google and I couldn’t get a campus-wide email out in a timely manner.
• The upper radiator hose in my grandma’s car started splitting, spewing antifreeze. This should have been an fairly simple repair, but the manufacturers put the lower clamp on the hose upside down, making it almost impossible to get to. What should have taken an hour, took almost three. Plus, my pliers stopped working.
• I discovered I contracted head lice from one of the ministries I am involved in. I haven’t had to deal with this since South Asia and it’s got me wondering, is this going to be my Achilles heel of ministry? :) Oh, and I gave it to my sister as well.
• I have had late nights and little sleep due to taking care of the above two things, so I have been extremely tired.
• My laptop decided it didn’t recognize it’s battery. It told me to install an official DELL battery. (?!) The original battery has never been removed. I restarted it and I think it is okay now.

By the end of the week, nothing caught me by surprise. I believe the Lord is using these things to humble me. It’s a lesson I never seem to catch on to. I am completely exhausted now (and sore) and realize more than ever how much I need Christ in every moment of every day.

The pesky clamp (put back in the upright position)

The week, of course, had some bright spots. I went to a Hymn Sing on campus where the Lord graced me without His presence in a much needed way. In the weeks preceding, all I could see was my sin – my selfishness and pride and self-absorption. Every motive, every decision and even my worship seemed to be rooted in these things. I felt like I really was living life in Romans 7 (“for I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is in my flesh,” verse 18). And the worst part about it was my apathetic disposition towards the Lord. My feelings were not warm towards Him and I had no desire to do the things that I knew I should do. I hated feeling this way. I prayed constantly for Him to reveal what was going on and had others praying as well. The Lord is extremely kind in all this – even in allowing me to see the ugliness of my sin. It is only when we see ourselves as we truly are that we can see and appreciate and grow in love for Christ. At the Hymn Sing, the Lord was like water to my parched soul. I could literally feel the scales of sin and stubbornness fall from my being and my heart was warmed toward the Lord.The external struggles that I faced this week are much preferred to the inner ones I experienced the weeks prior. (I hope I don’t have to eat these words later).

Also, during these difficulties, I got to watch my sisters in Christ step up to the plate to help me. My friend, Jodi, who went with me to the Hymn Sing and was with me when I discovered the split hose, worked right along side of me to repair it (even though she knew I had lice!). My other friend, Katelyn, gave up her Saturday night to de-lice mine and my sister’s hair. Hasn’t the Lord given me amazing friends?! This is how the body of Christ is supposed to function – something the Lord is teaching me a lot about lately.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:3-7