So it’s been a few days. Yesterday someone mentioned that I may be prone to thinking of myself as a bit of a tomboy despite the fact that I am very much a girl. Perhaps this comes in light of my activities the past few days?
Things I have done: programmable thermostat is now installed and behaving as desired, mp3 player is nearly all programmed and ready to go, new travel locks have been set to easily recalled combinations, timers for lights and TV have been set. Notice all the references to programming?
Now I just have to finish packing for Africa!!! Yesserri-bob … darling dearest is heading off to a much warmer climate. Far away from the land of snow and scraping frost in the morning and toques and mittens. I will do my best to find an internet cafe to share all my stories and maybe even a few photos. Not to worry … I’ll be back in December. Tootles.
So, I went down to my local Canadian Tire (CT) in search of a few items and ended up picking up a programmable thermostat (PT). I installed said PT. I even got to use my cordless drill. But the silly PT, while it worked to a certain degree, it only worked in an “on” sort of fashion. Despite it’s programmed settings, it continued to allow the furnace to heat and heat and heat. I figured it was to prepare me for my upcoming Africa adventure.
So what did I do? I turned off the breaker. And I went shopping. And then out for drinks and appy’s. And then I came home. Fiddled with the silly PT. Googled to find potential issues … with my luck it’s either a faulty PT or I messed something up royally. Then uninstalled silly PT and reinstalled old manual thermostat which works just as it did before. Thus confirming faulty PT and nothing royally messed up. :)
It is now 2:30 am. It appears I shall venture back to CT tomorrow, after a long sleep, and find myself a new PT. Perhaps of a different brand name. And if nothing is to be found at CT, perhaps Home Depot or Rona will prove to be more helpful. Maybe I can even find a helpful (and cute & single) lad to assist me.
What I found this evening at allAfrica.com: Gambia: Kicking Locusts Out
The Project Coordinator and his team of experts have been charged with the responsibility of ensuring that The Gambia is locust-free.
Yes, that did bring a smile to the face of some of you, didn’t it?
I just got a phone call from a friend who is working at a shelter/mission here in town. Their choir meets tonight but their pianist, having been unable to attend the last two meetings, is also unable to make it tonight … would I be able to fill in. Apart from thinking I need to get call display to screen my calls, all the reasons why not to go raced through my head. Sure I love to play piano but I have never played well in front of folks and I have really never played well when having to accompany. I stumble through chords, can’t transpose in my head and no longer know anything by heart. In short, I am inadequate for what they need.
But, for some reason, I said yes. Tonight will certainly not be about me or some amazing musical ability. This was a “who I am” moment/opportunity: I am a servant. (I come early to set up, stay late to clean, make sure everyone has a drink and is well fed. I toil in the background.) Tonight is about serving and offering what I do have.
It comes down to bread and fish. I will bring my fingers, some sight-reading ability and old sheet music from that box in my closet and let God work his thing.
In an old post I quoted Brennan Manning: When I am serving, that is when I feel closest to God.
Two thus saith’s for today’s reading pleasure.
The first is the blessing from mass last week:
May the Lord’s presence be in everything you do this week.
The second is the passage offered to me at Bible study this evening:
Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Psalm 37:3-7
Truth be told, I’m not “excited” about heading off to Africa. Sure, I am looking forward to going but I’m not overwhelmingly emotive about the whole thing. And I find myself thinking about it as a “service as a pharmacist” versus a “mission to the people”. Which isn’t necessarily wrong … my vocation, my calling, is as a pharmacist. It is in this role/profession that I serve God and others. Maybe it is that I cannot separate my work from my ministry–for they are one and the same. Truly, that is a fantastic thing. (It’s wonderful that the afore mentioned insight “came” as I was typing.)
Africa is only half of the background behind the second saith. The other half is the tearing of my desires. How does one pray for another? Can one pray selfishly and simultaneously selflessly? What if the best for you does not appear to be the best for me? (and vice versa) I’ve struggled through balancing “it is/it is not” all about me in the recent past and I still find myself on the “not” side (i.e. it’s all about you) most often. After a few moments of thinking, I have come to an answer of sorts: Prayer is not about asking questions or favours. Prayer is a dialogue and so conflicting motives, ends, means, requests, desires, or hopes matter little in and of themselves. It is the chance to lay the tangled mess before God. Prayer is an opportunity for God to be revealed.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for…
Hebrews 11:1a
