The school year was filled with the marvelous, the horribly challenging, but never the mundane. After much reflection, there was so much need and turmoil there wasn’t time for much of anything else. Most of the year I seemed to be in “survival mode” plus “what more can I do for student a, b, c, d, e, and f? What else haven’t I tried? Do you remember the amusement park game Whack-A-Mole? That was what the school year was like. One student or family need or challenge would pop up and as soon as it would be taken care of, another one or two, or three would leap up. I’m not kidding.
Then there were three significant family crises. One for each season: fall, winter, and spring.
There were many sweet moments with family, students, colleagues, church family, and friends. There were soft, kind encouraging moments with Jesus. I just didn’t record them like I usually do.
The question I ask myself now is, could I have done a better job than I did? Did I show God’s love to others as much I as could have? My type A- personality says, “Really, you didn’t do enough.” My super supportive husband says, “You did your best and it was enough.” What does God think? Fortunately, Robin Mark wrote a song for just these sort of occasions, called, “When it’s all been said and done.” (I’ve tried multiple times to link the song here. I’ve even googled how to do it a few times. It’s not working, but, like the subject of this post, we press on. Please listen to the song on YouTube. The lyrics and the music are hauntingly beautiful.)
I had a sweet, refreshing time all alone today. I looked through my journal today and saw there were no entries from October through April. I noticed the last blog post on this site was in 2016. I organized all my crafting supplies and projects and noticed there were many I want to finish. And start.
I spent too much time on social media this year. But some of it was good. I connected with acquaintances and now know them a bit better than before. Many people shared prayer requests on Facebook. There are many Twitter accounts and Facebook pages that share God’s word. That’s always good. So very good.
You know what got me through? The prayers of God’s people. My husband’s prayers. My mother’s prayers. My daughter’s prayers. My church family’s prayers. My friend’s prayers. God’s church, God’s people are one of his greatest blessings. I am thankful and humbled by the love they continually show.
