So, Sunday’s sermon…

Our pastor started his sermon on Sunday with a story about traveling to Europe at the age of 19 with a group of musicians who were doing mission work. The story he wove was so vivid and hilarious and painful all at once, and I could never do it justice so do yourself a huge favor and take time to listen to it online at firstdecatur.org/Jesus conversation Holy Spirit March 8…..

but…

The gist of the story was that after many delays and much miscommunication, he made a very long journey by plane, tube, train, bus and on foot with armloads of gear and suitcases and one contact phone number and all of this during the era when we used… pay phones and had to make collect calls and well, basically, the dark ages people…and at one point the only word of feed back he got was a woman who told him, “You’ll never make it dear.”

And I thought as I sat there listening, and half laughing and half crying, that I feel like that just about every day of my life.

I have a To Do list that is just ridiculous. Things like….clean the house, get the package ready for the mail, clean out the entire basement, catch up the 20 shirts you are behind on ironing, work on the kid’s baby books…not the grandkids, mind you…no…our kids…yeah…and a zillion other things I would like to see finished by sundown.

There are pictures of current kids piling up in droves on my phone and in iPhoto and, shudder, on that “cloud” out there somewhere.

There’s stacks of books I want to read and pages of scribbled notes that I want to form into paragraphs and chapters.

There’s projects for knitting and paper crafting and embroidery. Recipes spilling out of cabinets.

There’s study to be done. Questions I have jotted down that I want to research. Bible study books not completed and lessons to prepare.

And there’s people to text and chat with and sit across a table at Starbucks from.

So quite honestly, most days by 3:00 I feel as if I am toting enough baggage to spend several months abroad and some lady has just told me….You will never make it dear….

Which is why I am so thankful, His mercies are new every morning. Because at some point in the day, when I could fall in a heap and feel like a failure yet again…I know tomorrow is another day.

And I am so thankful that the point of the whole message was that I have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit inside me to help me determine which of all those projects and chores and tasks is a priority, strength to accomplish them and grace to let go of the rest.

All I have to do is ask. And listen. And obey.

So, good news dear, we WILL make it, you and I!

Praise God, we will make it!