Wow

Have you ever had one of those moments where you were left speechless by God's perfect timing? Well, mine was yesterday. Due to a freak occurrence where Grace slept until 9:45 am, we missed first service and were cutting it very close for second. We debated skipping and just watching it online, but I really felt the need to be there and thus kicked the getting-ready process into high gear. By the time we checked Grace in (only our second time to do this) the worship center had filled up and we were directed into an overflow room. This has happened a few times and, I'm embarrassed to admit, has the ability to put me in a slightly annoyed mood. It's just not the same (although Watermark has pretty much perfected the overflow room experience, which now includes singers in addition to the huge screens). But, when Todd announced that the next four weeks we would be hearing from Jonathan Pokluda - the Young Adults Director and an incredible speaker - I got excited. JP went on to deliver the most humbling, most applicable, and most needed message that David and I could've heard.

You see, just a few days prior we'd made the decision for me to leave my job. My maternity leave had ended over the holidays and I'd started back part-time, from home, at the first of the year. I was still trying to get the hang of working 10 hours a week when they asked me to increase it to 20, something I wasn't expecting to do for a while. Four uninterrupted hours a day is a LOT with a little one that's totally dependent on you. The thought of it completely stressed me out. I knew at least one area would suffer, whether it was work or Grace...or David, due to me being frazzled at the end of the day. The chance of slacking on my work was unsettling, but the idea of not giving my best to Grace and David just broke my heart. Lots of tears! We weighed everything and even tossed around the idea of a nanny/housekeeper, but in the end it just didn't make sense. So I left. The decision brought freedom, but also fear. This was going to mean some big changes in our spending. I'd gotten used to just buying things (baby clothes, house decorations, yummy food, etc.) whenever I wanted. Would I be content with our new situation? For David, my keeping a foot in the door at work had provided some security. Knowing we'd have something to fall back on, if something were to happen to his job, had taken a small weight off his shoulders. Needless to say, there'd been an undercurrent of nervousness in our household since making the decision.

Well, the Lord (through JP) totally took that away on Sunday. His message on worry was the best I've heard. There were several times that David and I exchanged sheepish "he is SO talking to us" smiles. It's not that I didn't know that, as believers, we're not supposed to worry. I've heard and read it a hundred times...it's just somehow never totally resonated with me. I truly believe that the timing of the message, in combination with the way it was delivered, were what made it so powerful. Here is just one of the many great points he made:

We battle worry with control and replace faith with comfort.

How true is that?!?! Yet so unbiblical. If you're interested, you can hear the whole spill here (Message 1 of Life's Too Short from 02-07-2010). As someone that has always had a tendency to struggle with worry, I honestly walked out of there with a peace like I've never had before...