Perspective Change

Several things gave me a perspective change in the last 24 hours. I can now take a step back from the stress of struggling in my Hebrew class and get a dose of seeing God's grace first-hand and the essentialness of what truly matters in life. We, scratch that, I, get so caught up in my own world that I often fail to recognize the bigger picture and not that everything revolves around me. As in the last post, very hard lessons...so, here is a list of the last 24 hours of witnessing God's grace first hand....

1) After writing my post yesterday, I moped around the entire day with absolutely no energy. A neighbor called and asked if I would to like to join his family for dinner. I received a healthy dinner, a glass of wine and great conversation. When I was walking away from dinner, another friend (in my Hebrew class as well) who I haven't spoken with in awhile was walking up to campus with her baby to print something off one of the campus computers. I joined her on her errand and we talked. The reconnection felt good and soothing. We said that we would study together during the week. Once I got home I went to let my dog out, I ran into my downstairs neighbor whose seven weeks from the due date of her baby and we equally had a sweet and heart-felt conversation. Uncanny timing with all these encounters, God showing me that I am loved? Hmmm.....

2) Had one of those conversations with a friend at church before the service started that was like one of those moments when even though two are in a crowded room, it seems as though the two people talking are all alone. My friend was telling me about a bad traffic accident she was apart of over the weekend. She and her daughter were fine but pretty shook up over it. She went over the details of it and her feelings about it. It became a grace moment because not only was I very thankful she and her daughter were okay, I could feel God's presence in the midst of our conversation.

3) After a specific reading as part of the worship service at my church, the young troubled youth who read the reading asked for a moment and then preceded to tell her mother, who has been battling cancer and very recently had a family member die, that she loved her and was so sorry for anything she did to hurt her because she loved her so much.

4) A classmate friend and his wife (she's my friend too...that's sounds silly) asked me to take pictures of their baby's dedication. I got to share this moment with them in a special way and then got to be right in front of the baby when the congregation gathered around the baby and the family to pray over them.

5) I got to lead worship at the Trinity Center again today. I read Exodus 3: 1-30 and I shared my blog with them from the previous day as part of my sermon. We talked about Wyeth's painting depiction of Christina. We shared human struggle and pain. At the end, the diverse served and servers all joined hands and sang the old African American Spiritual, We Shall Overcome. We are all standing on holy ground and God will always be in the midst of us even when we cannot always look at God.

6) One of the homeless people (the center calls the people they serve who are on the streets or desperately poor Neighbors), who came to the center this Sunday turned in a wallet found on the street. The wallet was full of credit cards and even a $100 visa gift card. Someone having nothing and passing temptation and what would seem like an easy take did a honorable thing just the same. Just say no to stereotypical judgment I tell myself.

7) Making breakfast plans with one of my best friend's in the world for the morning to exchange Christmas presents; and knowing that I have a clean start to the rest of the Jan term.

8...Bonus.....MLK day tomorrow and then Inauguration day the next. God, thank you, thank you, thank you...please be in the midst of us, protect us and let us learn to love in grace and divine humility.

9)...The ultimate bonus.... an absolutely gorgeous day in Austin followed by an absolutely stunning sunset.

p.s. By the way, I took a generous sabbath from Hebrew this weekend and it's done me a world of good. And, I pray I'll pass and will work very hard in the next nine days (actually more counting weekends) but I've let go of the blame game, hopefully, and committed to press forward. And if I fail, it will not be because I gave up...