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| I do not consider myself artistic But I took a chance and painted this for Laura's bday It is Princesa Sofia colors |
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| It's not Princesa Sofia. I hope she'll still like it! |
This morning I focused on The Art of Listening Prayer by Seth Barnes. Since I need some answers from God, a friend recommended it. I am blessed to have the time to really sit and focus on it. This morning during my prayer time I had the vision of myself. The image started from far away and zoomed in until I could see myself. I was sitting cross legged, younger, dressed in blue jeans and a long sleeved royal blue shirt. The sky was very blue behind me. I was extremely content sitting there. But I was sitting in the very middle of a really, really high bridge. My knees were hanging over the edge as I sat.
Nobody else was present. No cars on the bridge. No boats in the water. No other human beings. It was just me and the tall bridge. The water was below, but not something I was thinking about. The general feeling was a peaceful one of being present in that moment, sitting on the bridge with my legs folded, my elbows on my knees and my hands supporting my chin. The way little kids sit when they are in a circle around the kindergarten teacher, listening to a story.
I think God was telling me to take the leap - a leap of faith. That's what it felt like to me. I'll pray about it. The good part was, I didn't feel scared. I was quite content just sitting there. But I think that could also be the bad part. Not wanting to move from there.
As I was in class last Saturday and then again as I was studying today something drew my attention that I never noticed before. It is in Matthew 17:14-21. In my class we are learning about Evangelism, so we are talking about how Jesus taught the disciples:
Instruction:
Spending time with them
Through parables
Came back to be with them for 40 days after His resurrection
Demonstration:
Preaching at every chance he could
Performing miracles
Debating and speaking articulately
Showing patience and compassion for the needy
Involvement:
Jesus empowered the disciples by allowing them to perform miracles too,
He sent them to put into practice His teachings
Evaluation:
The disciples reported back to Jesus about the success or troubles in their missions.
He made them see their errors and called to attention their mistakes.
That last part is where it gets funny to me.
After just having said to Peter, "Get away from me Satan!" in chapter 16, (Now those are strong words!) they are now with a crowd of people. A man approaches Jesus and says he asked the disciples to heal his son, but they couldn't. Jesus turns to the disciples and says, "You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you?..." Then he heals the boy and talks to the disciples more calmly about having more faith. "... if you have faith even as small as a mustard seed" you could move mountains.
The part that makes me laugh but also really makes this whole thing so human to me is when Jesus says "How long must I be with you?" Come on now! Are you serious? Get with it people! "How long must I be with you?" This is something simple. You only need faith the size of a mustard seed for this.
I am feeling like the back in college days. My bed is full of books. So full that last night when Laura came over there was no room for her to get up on the bed with me like she always does.
There are two big differences between now and my college days. One is that part of my studies are in Spanish. The second is that I am not waiting until the night before the exam to study. The test is not until Saturday for all of this stuff on Evangelism.
I have always said I never want to go back to college. But I have to admit, it feels nice to be surrounded by books and learning. I am really enjoying it.
