ella

Can we talk about the Feast? Yeah we can, all night long. And we can also talk about how I left my camera at home, so all those wonderful shots of beautiful Texas are lost. ...until Deb sends me the ones she took. :)

So we spent the Feast in New Braunfels again. I love that place. It seems like it gets better every year. This year there were quite a number of highlights. One of the best highlights were the people. I am so happy that we got to spend time with David & Jen Ogwyn, amazing people. So are John & Audrey Robinson. It's amazing how God places people in your life at various times to just make it better. And I really do feel like a better Christian because of them. Yes, David, you make me a better Christian.

I got to know the infamous Kristen Vorel, lovely as she is. I met Miss Lacey Todd. One of the most solid and uplifting people I got to spend time with was Annette Frank. Yes, I've known Annette for years -- 11 to be exact. But there is something about someone who is engaged for all the right reasons. Annette and Charlie both have a solidarity about them that makes it really easy to call them friends. I cherish the time we spent together -- ahh, the lovely shops of NB, SA & talks about lovely lady things. ;)

Amid all this wonderful joy was an undercurrent of confusion. The Feast was not so wonderful for a lot of people. I know that many had a very hard time. The cases are too fragile to blog about. But the reality is that some people have it rough right now. I know I will be seeking Him "who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Eph 4:20) for them and for my own lack of faith.

There is one thing that I keep coming back to. It concerns my attitude. When it comes to things concerning my health or profession I tend to just let God know that I've got it. I mean, why bother Him with something that I can control? This is something that has come up time and time again concerning a job for me. I want to teach desperately, but I cannot seem to get a job. Obviously, that means that I am inadequate in one way or another.

But really? Am I inadequate? Not if I am Christ's workmanship, re. Eph 2:10. If God really is in control of my life, then there is something amiss in that perception. Perhaps teaching is not what needs to define my adequacy. So what then?

This, "I've got taken care of" attitude was manifest in another instance I came across. As I got to know the Robinsons, John kept bringing up Ella's eczema. It has affected his life tremendously -- been a long, drawn out trial that has pulled his family closer and has actually strengthened his relationship with God. Fabulous, right? But I was very curious about if John thought he "had it." Because as he was describing it, it sounded more and more like my job situation -- "God, it's okay, I've got this. What I can do is adequate enough." Ella's eczema is something God could quickly and efficiently heal, as my getting a job is something he could quickly perform. So what then?

Then it hit me -- it's much like the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9:14-29. This boy has had a demon since childhood; it threatens his life from time to time and is quite the annoyance. There are two significant discourses -- one between Christ & the father and the other between Christ & the disciples who tried to cast out the demon.

Christ: If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. (That's a promise...)
Father of the boy: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.

and

Disciples: Why could we not cast it out?
Christ: This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.

Prayer and fasting, eh? Next Sabbath I am fasting for Ella. Not that I need a miracle...but it's a promise. A promise from God. Um, I think He can handle it. It has to do with faith, my faith, your faith. Our faith. If all I have to do is draw closer to God so that innocent children like Ella can be healed of infirmities they've had since birth, I kind of feel like I am killing 2 birds with one stone. ...or perhaps - God is "killing two birds with one stone." He's got me possibly thinking along the right lines and His healing power is exemplified.

What did you learn at the Feast?