I was talking to some friends the other day and they said their son was going to write a book entitled 'The Lessons of Life' and I thought it was a good idea. Just living life this summer has taught me some valuable lessons.
According to my brother between us my husband and I have gone through 3 of the most stressful things: A house move (to a completely new area), a new job (for DH) and a bereavement. To be honest we are both tired emotionally but not spiritually. I think we have learnt a lot of lessons this summer about ourselves and the God we serve. The move was uneventful; even if the moving company were not what could be termed helpful. We got here, saw our new home for the first time and we have been truly blessed with a beautiful home. It is larger and altogether more airy than our last place. Having said that we loved that old home and only realised how small it was when we moved here! Already, we have had lots of visitors and plan to keep it that way.
DH is now settling into his new ministry. The church is different from the old one and it is odd being 'an outsider' and having to ask 'Why?' all the time. It will take a while to fit in and get used to the way things happen here. God has a work for both of us and we are excited to find out what that is. I don't want to make any hasty plans that I regret later and find it hard to get out of. We will see and I will keep you posted.
Just after getting here we had a phone call from our previous church to tell us of the tragic death of a friend of ours. He was a little older than DH and had died suddenly and with no warning. He leaves a widow and a small baby. We were saddened and shocked (and still are) by this. DH and myself went back up to our old place for DH to take the funeral. My husband buried a man his age and that takes some doing and only in the strength of God was he able to do it. We don't know why this happened and struggle to see the purpose in it but God is sustaining our friend's widow. She has been a blessing but is taking it day by day.
On top of that we had a long drawn out battle with various big corporations to get the Internet up and running in our home. We both learnt that we had become somewhat dependant on it and hope to put it in the place it deserves and keep it there. We have both learnt that we worry about small things and that we need to rest in the assurance of God a lot more.
A good side of our summer is that DH and I are spending alot more time together. The time taken by the Internet, study and meetings are now filled with us just being together. It is good. Lets hope we don't forget the specialness of this time when life becomes busy.
I have been reading through New Testament books and have come across verses about trials and the strengthening of faith and production of patience. I really want this summer to produce in me a more Christ-like attitude. Life is short. The unpredictable will happen. Life is full of rubbish that others, corporations, etc will throw at us. We can't control that but we can control the way our hearts react to it. We can let it consume us and become overwhelming or we can use it to teach us more about ourselves and God. We can never use these events as an excuse for our bad attitudes. God is in control of all and having a right perspective on things will help.
