the timing of Jesus

I know what you're thinking. If I don't have anything else to do all day but sit around painting my nails, watching soaps and eating bon-bons (whatever those are), then what seems to be the problem with updating my blog? geez.

Whatever.

I think it was about a year ago that Timm listened to a sermon from Tim Keller (a pastor here in NYC who is a great teacher/author) called "the timing of Jesus". And, it came at just the right time to encourage us. It restored our faith in the PERFECT timing of God. And, just so you know, His timing IS PERFECT. Even when we can't see the big picture.

We have been blessed to see some very tangible, concrete answers to our prayers. We have been fortunate to see God's perfect timing unfold before our eyes. But, sometimes, we don't see the things we want to see and it is frustrating, and confusing, and it rocks our faith. But, God can be trusted no matter what we see.

Anyways, I have been lamenting about my issue of "How does God want me to spend my time?" A few years ago at a "hearts at home" conference (a wonderful place for moms to be encouraged, equipped, and affirmed) I learned that there are some moms who tend to be "do-ers" and some moms who tend to be "be-ers". In other words, some moms are really good at DOING things, while other moms are really good at BEING in the moment. It was a good lesson for me. Because, those who tend to be "do-ers" often look at "be-ers" and think "Why am I not more content with spending downtime with my kids? Why am I so impatient and why am I anxious if we don't have at least two things scheduled on our calendar each day? I wish I could be more relaxed and less scheduled like my neighbor. She is so relaxed and she never seems uptight about what they are going to do". Then, those who tend to be "be-ers" often look at "do-ers" and think "Why can't I be more motivated to get up and go? Maybe my kids are missing out on things because I'm not more like my neighbor who seems to be signed up for every activity that is offered."

In other words, we often don't see the value in the way we are wired. We only see someone else and measure ourselves against their strengths, weaknesses and temperament. But, we need to STOP DOING THAT!

OK, now, back to what I was going to talk about. That was just a sidebar that has been on my mind lately.

Anyways, I have been praying each day for God to lead me to the serving opportunities He has for me. I was able to meet with someone from a very cool organization called CHIPS . You can click on the link to check it out. Such a neat place and they have a parallel vision/mission to our church! I think I am going to volunteer one day a week preparing, serving, and cleaning up a meal in the soup kitchen. They serve up to 200 meals a day! Anyways, that was an answer to prayer.

I was also able to help out a group from our church at a food pantry one day this week. That was great. I am a do-er by nature, so I absolutely lOVE doing.

Then, I was excited that our first PTA meeting was this week. I was praying that God would provide for me some opportunity to be used. The meeting was last night, and it was interesting to me what God placed in my path. There really wasn't anything presented at the meeting that I could do for the school like I was anticipating. I had already signed up to volunteer for a few fundraisers and stuff. But, they announced that the speech pathologist from our school was just diagnosed with breast cancer. My jaw dropped. Of all the staff at the school....the speech pathologist is my next door neighbor. She just found out. She has a one year old baby girl. And, she is going to be facing treatment soon. I'm not sure exactly how I can serve my neighbor, but I know that God has placed us side by side for a reason. Here I was at that meeting, fully expecting God to reveal to me a divine appointment, and an opportunity to be used by him. But, I thought it would be IN THE SCHOOL. Maybe it is right next door?

God has been reminding me every day to be PATIENT. His timing is perfect. He has plans for me. My temperament drives me to fill up my calendar with obligations, commitments, serving, fun, and opportunities. God is telling me to quit getting so far ahead and to take each opportunity as he places it in my path. The timing of Jesus is always perfect, but it is often mysterious to us. And, it usually doesn't follow our projections for how things will unfold.