it is well with my soul

On Sunday morning, during worship, after a night of anxiety ridden non-sleep, I came to a realization of what needed to be done with the rest of my weekend and this upcoming week mostly concerning boundaries and time management. I know, I know, I should have been listening to Pastor M's sermon kicking off the stewardship series about and how stewardship takes different forms, not just monetary, and about being content with what we have and not always striving for more as society so often tells us to do - Philippians 4:11 (see I was paying attention!). BUT I couldn't shake this anxiety - and therefore, in order for it to be well with my soul, I came up with some good work I was going to get done on Sunday afternoon and Monday. I came home from church and my computer had crashed...

BAM!

My computer has WAY too much control over my life. Not just the internet and all the email/facebook/blog temptations there, but just the fact that my whole life is organized in my computer - which is nice in some ways, but harmful in others. No fear, my friends, as a responsible seminarian I had recently backed up my entire computer and I have every paper, every download, and every form needed - I just don't have a machine upon which I can work (hello from the computer lab, friends!).

Although a rather petty example, this situation derailed me in so many ways, it was hard for me to think straight about what needed to happen next and how I was going to get my work done. Amidst this entire debacle I attended Love Feast and was humbly reminded while washing AGR's feet and having mine washed by JW that it IS well with my soul, that there is new life beyond this crashing experience, that despite this hectic-ness and busy-ness in my life there is a calling to which God has called me. These slip ups are simply lessons along the way.

[taken from my Ministry Formation blog post on 5 October 2010]