Last night I was unable to sleep and ended up tossing in the bed from 11pm to 12:15am. I couldn't breathe and it turns out that I have strep and because I still have my tonsils it was worse-it was painful to speak and to swallow. As you may or may not know, I drove myself to the hospital in Estes Park, much to the disbelief of my youth leaders and the youth leaders in general. I ended up staying there until 3:30am with an IV stuck in my arm and was pumped with nearly 3 bags of fluids, given a numbing agent in order to swallow pills-Amoxicillin, Tylenol, and Ibprophen. The end result was hydration and a recharge! Yeah, it was 3:30am, but it didn't feel like it.
Once I got back, I laid down and passed out like a little baby. I did wake up at 5:25am in order to let the boys out for a run, but I went back to sleep. The nuts and bolts has been hydrate, rest, and reflect. As I give thanks for the wonderful doctors and nurses at Estes I give thanks to those who prayed and the Great I Am for all that he has provided. I am sitting at a laptop with no harsh or sore throat. While I feel great, I'm still contagious for another 12 hours. So while I do my best to stay away from close contact with the youth and the youth leaders, I am busy combing the scriptures for God's nudge and Spirit to lead me (not just for tonight's campfire, but for the rest of the week).
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I told God that if it was His will that I be laid aside and unable to speak then I was good with that. Yeah, on the inside I was bummed, as I usually feel it is my duty to step up, but I meant it as I truly feel that it isn't about me, it's about God's plan for this trip-the youth and the youth leaders. But today as we continue with our main scripture verse: Acts 4:11, we move onto a different phase for the week, a different focus: "Jesus is..."
And it got me thinking, there are a lot of ways a person could run with that. Yeah, we could all go with the Sunday School-cookie-cutter-answers and directions, but there's a depth here that could be explored...and for many, perhaps it should be explored. While the youth are unable to read this, I challenge you to re-read the scripture and ask yourself "Who Jesus is..." in your life. Is Jesus your sustainer and provider, the one you turn to in prayer and give thanks to or is he just a convenient reference on Sundays or a conversation that seems to be too deep?
If we're honest we all struggle with keeping a close relationship with Jesus. It isn't enough to merely say I'm a Christian or to do some good things, but to really be passionate about what He can do in and through you and I as His hands and feet in the world. Jesus is...usually right, we need to let go of the stuff or the trash in our lives that we let get in the way of His work in us.
Enjoy the video below called "Trash" and see if you can't relate to this as there is a difference between calling yourself a Christian and really letting Jesus in and having a close relationship.
1 comment:
Dang man! Strep in Colorado, with tonsils :( no good. I hope the Amoxicillin is helping to make it go away (I haven't read through all your blog posts yet.) and that you can speak and breathe more easily now!!
I think you hit the nail on the head about stepping 'out of the way' when we need to when you said, "...I told God that if it was His will that I be laid aside and unable to speak then I was good with that. Yeah, on the inside I was bummed, as I usually feel it is my duty to step up, but I meant it as I truly feel that it isn't about me, it's about God's plan..."
I think many people can relate to that feeling - we want to be involved and be an 'active' part of what is going on. I think a lot of that is just because of our limited perspective; we don't often see what God is doing when He is working. We just get to see the fruit at the end of the work, or maybe just find out some day when we are talking with Him in heaven. I don't know :)
I think that is a great conversation starter! "Jesus is..." There are so many ways to finish that sentence, and yeah you could just go with the 'Sunday School' answer but that can definitely lead to some deep conversation!
I hope you are feeling better!! Keep drinking water and taking those drugs :P
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