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Reflection by Nancy Bryan
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I am one of the world's worst in believing that I can fix things myself and in the time frame I need and want things to be done. If you offer to help me I may or may not be able to graciously accept. On the surface this might seem a good trait to have...look at how much I can do! But....it is not a Christian and faithful way to live.
When the organization I had led for 25 years closed, I decided that I wanted a few months to rest and recover and, later, get a job that was not in the non-profit world. One that would not break my heart, keep me up at night with worry, nor have me begging for money to keep it open. That was my plan. Then began a year and a half of applying for job after job, sometimes never even getting a call to be interviewed and sometimes being interviewed and told...well, you were first runner-up! In the meantime, I opened myself up for any opportunity to make money: I kept children, sat with the mother of a friend while she recovered from a difficult surgery, sat with a cancer victim so his wife had some breaks, and even raked the yard of a friend for some cash. As a bill-paying challenge arose, a solution would soon arrive. God was providing in his time and in his way, and the blessings of the jobs I took were amazing, yet still I was growing more anxious. When would relief come? Why is it taking so long? Have you forgotten me?
Pressures continued, and my faith was strong, yet impatient. Then, one day after a total meltdown in Father Lonnie's office, the call came. An Executive Director was needed at Ruth's Cottage and the Patticake House. I remembered. This was a role that I had been approached to take several times over the years and had quickly said that I would never consider doing. Too difficult! So, the Lord took matters into his own hands and in his own time frame, answered my prayers, humbling me mightily in the process. I remembered...that what I knew and had forgotten, from the Bible, from sermons, from testimonies, from song...that He has got this...whatever "this" is for each of us. For me. I remembered, and was thankful.
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| "Turn, Turn, Turn!" by the Byrds |
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Click to read previous entries and to learn why our devotional is called "Think Outside the Manger."
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Think Outside the Manger
is a daily Advent devotional written and produced by members of St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Tifton, GA. Visit www.stannestifton.com to learn more about our church.
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