Page 104 was not only Good Friday, but it was a good Friday as I was able to sleep in, put in an eight hour workday, and still get home about six hours earlier than a typical Friday.  I began the day by finishing the writing of yesterday’s page before heading into work.  With the school and preschool both out for Good Friday, it was a quiet day at the building as MJ, Susan, and I each did our work in the peacefulness of the empty building.  After taking care of a few things in the office, I went out to finish up the mowing for the week so the grounds would have the appearance of a fresh haircut for Easter Sunday.  My goal is always to wait until May to begin mowing, but the lawn was already looking shaggy and keeping the grounds looking nice is more important than my keeping to an arbitrarily set goal.  It was a rather chilly morning on the mower, so once I was finished I headed inside to warm up with a cup of coffee.  

After a morning outside, the afternoon was spent inside getting the building cleaned and ready for Sunday.  As I worked my way cleaning from one end of the building to the other, I spent time praying for the people who would be present for Easter Sunday in each area.  I enjoy celebrating the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus each Sunday that we gather together as a church family, but I also realize there are those who will give thought to the message of the gospel this weekend that don’t normally think about the events we gather to remember.  I prayed for visitors who may be considering attending a church service on Sunday.  I prayed that the enemy would not be effective in keeping them away.  I prayed for those of us who normally attend.  I prayed that we would look beyond ourselves and our routines and be welcoming to those who visit.  I prayed for those who will led in worship.  I prayed for David and the sermon he will share.  I prayed for those who will serve throughout the building.  I prayed that God’s name would be glorified in everything that is done.

As I took the trash out late in the day, a pair of hawks were soaring overhead in the clear afternoon sky.  The evidently have a nest and live nearby as I see them almost every day as they play in the spring breeze and hunt for food.  Later in the day as my work was done and I prepared to leave, they were still out soaring so I got my camera out and took the shot that made today’s page as one of them flew directly overhead.  They are a beauty to see from a distance, but even more so when the camera brings them up close with their wings and tail spread out so they can glide through the sky.  I used to dream that I could fly and soar through the sky like this hawk — I’m obviously not equipped to do so as he is.  Once home, I have spent the evening relaxing as I write today’s page and look forward to a Saturday with my family.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” is a principle taught by Jesus that is true in regard to more than just a day of rest.
• God’s laws, commands, and precepts are meant for our good and not for our harm.  They are designed to free us rather than enslave us.
• When your plans don’t match the actual need, it is best to change your plans.
• A little warmth on the inside goes a long way toward warding off a chill on the outside.
• “One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike.” (Romans 14:5)  Personal preferences that are different doesn’t necessarily mean that either person is wrong.
• While I consider each day alike, I know that there are those who consider Easter Sunday as a special day and that consideration provides an opportunity that may not exist on other days.
• Wherever you are, there are things that you can, and should, pray about.
• God has equipped you for the good work He created for you to do, not the work He created for someone else.

After choosing to head home before cleaning the building last night, page 103 began early as I went into work to do the cleaning and building prep for the day.  Some days are easier to get up and going than others, but the peaceful atmosphere of a quiet building is always worth it.  Once the building was ready for the day, I took care of some correspondence and messages and then thought about doing some writing but my mind just wasn’t focusing.  With needing to work on Good Friday to get the building cleaned and ready for Easter Sunday, today was a planned short workday.  By mid-morning I had wrapped up my work at the building for the day and Susan and I headed out to pick up some janitorial supplies that I will need tomorrow.  I had thought we might stop by the zoo on our way to Gordon’s but it was rather cool and drizzling when we left the building so the zoo trip will wait for more suitable weather.

After picking up the supplies, we headed home where I fired up the pellet grill to make some bacon cheeseburgers for lunch.  The afternoon was spent in rest and relax mode as I spent time on social media and playing Wii games.  One of the things I continue to notice on social media is how easily angered people seem to be.  I get it.  Many of the articles, news stories, and opinion pieces are designed to tug at our emotions and one of the emotions that is often tugged at the hardest is our anger.  It’s not that this tugging is new, perhaps the frequency and availability have increased, but rather the opportunity to instantly respond has caused many a word to be “spoken” that never should have been said.  At one time, we would take in these hard to digest stories and opinion pieces at a much slower rate.  While they would still often anger us, there was rarely an option to respond immediately so we had to deal with out emotions and even allow them to challenge and convict us regarding the specific point that angered us so greatly.  Our response, if we ever gave one, was generally delayed so that it was reasoned and based on truth.  God tells us through His servant, James, that “everyone is to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”  Sounds like good advice for daily living and great advice for social media users.

As evening came, we headed out to have dinner with my parents.  As the years go by, the thought that they won’t always be here to have dinner with gradually increases.  It was a good dinner with a few stories of years gone by.  There was talk of re-roofing buildings that I had roofed and a barn that dad put a new roof on when I was young and it just didn’t seem like either of those original events was long enough ago that new work would be needed.  But as we added up the years that have passed, the numbers told a different story.  As I came home from dinner and began to write today’s page, there were only a few photos I had taken during the day.  A pair of cardinals came by the office in the short time I was there, so today’s photo is of one of them as he searched the lawn for bugs, worms, and nesting material.  In between his meals and work, his song of praise joined with others to fill the morning air.  I wonder how often my meals and work add to my songs of praise and how often they distract from it.  About midway through this writing, weariness overtook me and I went to bed to finish up the writing of this page the next day.  And so, as a new day begins I reflect through writing on the page just lived.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Finding a place of peace and quiet can be difficult but sometimes that place isn’t as far away as you might think.
• Not planning for times of stillness will usually mean we don’t find, or notice, them.
• You will read and hear things that make you angry.  How you respond says more about you than about the one who has angered you.
• The emotion of anger often shows up unannounced.  
• Being “slow to become angry” often begins by learning to be “slow to speak”.
• When anger is present, our response time usually has a direct correlation to the inappropriateness of the response.  
• “Stop, look, and listen” are not just good instructions for approaching a train crossing, they are good instructions for approaching the issue of anger as it rises in us.
• Spend time with loved ones when you have the opportunity.  Someday that opportunity will not exist.

After heading to bed early the night before, page 102 began early as I left for work with frost on the truck and a bright full moon shining in the crisp early morning sky.  I began with a quick walk-through of the building to see what needed done then sat down with a cup of coffee to finish the writing of yesterday’s page.  While I had begun the writing last night, my mind was too weary to finish it so I got the sleep I needed and felt better about writing it this morning.  After yesterday’s page was written, I did the usual morning cleaning and prep so the building was ready by the start of the school day.  

Once the school day began, I spent some time on some minor maintenance issues that were out of the way of the day’s activities.  Eventually I made my way back to the office to spend some time in prayer, listening, and writing.  As I was writing, a bright red cardinal came and perched in the brush outside my office window.  After posing for a while, he flew off and it wasn’t long before I noticed a turkey walking past my window.  There is a small group of wild turkeys that I’ve often seen on the property, but this was the first that I had one walk by without a group with him.  A good sign that spring has arrived is discovering that the lawn needs mowed.  After taking a walk outside to see how it looked, I discovered some of the lawn areas would look much better for the weekend if I mowed them.  So I got the mower out and spent the afternoon in the bright sunshine mowing lawn.  There is something about sitting on the mower seat with the hum of the engine around me and the warm sun shining down upon me that makes me sleepy.  I did get mowed today what I hoped to and now we will see if I do the cleaning for tomorrow after the building clears out following the Bible study classes or if the sleepiness takes over and I decide to come back early tomorrow to do the cleaning.

While I was mowing, there was a pair of hawks circling overhead most of the time.  I don’t know if I was disturbing their resting places or if they were hopeful my mowing would scare up some dinner for them, but they were beautiful to watch as they soared high overhead with seemingly little effort.  As I sat down to write this page, a blue jay came and perched outside my window in the evening sun.  I love the variety of birds and wildlife that God has placed around me.  It is a joy both to see them and to photograph them so they can be shared with others.  Today’s photo is of my evening visitor that God sent so I could share him with you.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Sometimes it is important to press through our weariness and complete a task.  Sometimes it is important to rest from our weariness and complete our tasks later.  Wisdom is knowing which time this time is.
• Often the “why” is as important as the “what” — maybe even more so.
• Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart.  I want both to be pleasing and acceptable, but choosing to work on the heart results in the outward appearance being changed as well.
• There is beauty in the ordinary situations of life if we pay attention enough to notice it.
• Sometimes I wonder if the Christian community has turned Resurrection Sunday into something we worship instead of worshiping the One who is Resurrected.
• When God says to make the most of every opportunity, special days such as Easter can often be an opportunity to share about the hope that is within you.
• What has God put into your life today that He wants you to share with someone else?

I had a tough time getting up and going to start page 101, but I made it happen and headed into work to get the building cleaned and ready for the day.  It was a foggy start to the day as I drove to work, but not so much that visibility was a problem.  After getting the cleaning done and the building ready for the day, I took the trash out and found great beauty in the fog lingering above the ground in the twilight of early morning.  Today’s work was a mix of sermon prep, prayer & listening, newsletter work, and writing — with a few maintenance tasks thrown in for good measure as they came up.

As I spend time with God, I often contemplate what my life might look like from His perspective.  I imagine it is a tough thing for anyone to consider, but when your mind is wired in a way that holds onto all the times you didn’t measure up by someone’s standard, it is easy to to question if God sees me as they do or through my faith in Jesus.  The good thing is that this contemplation draws me closer to Jesus as I realize how hopelessly lost I am without Him.  Not that the thoughts of inadequacy fill my mind on a daily basis, but there are days when the circumstances of life somehow access memories that it seems like would be better off erased.  It is in times like these that I lean upon God to help me take every thought captive as I walk in obedience to Him.  

As I worked, it looked like it could rain at any time, but it didn’t.  The birds were active today and not only filled the trees outside my office window, there were many who hopped along the ground pulling bugs, worms, and whatever else they could find useful out of the ground.  Today’s photo is of a Flicker as he made his way across the lawn, poking his beak into the soil on a regular basis.  Normally, I see him in nearby trees tapping away at the bark in his search for food.  When I first began seeing this type of bird, I assumed it was a woodpecker and referred to it as such.  After being politely corrected online one day, I did some research and discovered that it has its own name.  Sometimes it is far too easy to lump people together into categories because of a somewhat similar characteristic and in the process completely miss their unique qualities and who they are as a person.

It was a day where most of the things I was working on are ongoing projects that I didn’t complete today, but by mid-afternoon it was time to call it a day as I stopped for lunch on the way home.  After spending a little time unwinding at home, I fired up the pellet grill to get some pork chops started for supper then began working on a drainage issue with our sump pump.  Our ground has an extremely high clay content, so that it becomes easily saturated and then then the water doesn’t drain away.  The grass around the discharge area had begun to die so it is time to figure out a new drainage field for it.  It, too, will be an ongoing project as I didn’t get finished before the pork chops did so I covered my work area for the night headed in to eat and finish out the day.  I began writing today’s page in the evening but was so tired that it was difficult to focus.  I finally gave up on it and went to bed where I had a good night’s sleep before finishing this page at work the next morning.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Sometimes the hardest part of the day, or project, is getting started.  In those times it is important to press on with what you know needs done.
• Some days we recognize that our visibility is limited.  Those days should remind us that it is always limited — we only see in part what God has planned for those who love Him.
• There can be beauty in not being able to see everything if we focus on what God  has chosen to reveal to us rather than on what He hasn’t.
• Words matter.  
• The words you speak are never fully erased from your mind or the minds of those you’ve spoken them to.  
• The words you hear are always with you and sometimes need to be overcome by the power of the Word of God.
• Knowing how the enemy attacks helps you to recognize him when you find yourself in a battle.
• God’s love and His Word are meant to flow through us.  We must gain from it but we are not meant to fully contain it, it must be shared. 
• Finishing later than what you planned is not failure.

Page 100 was a Monday and for the most part followed a typical Monday routine.  With spring break last week, it had been over a week since I last set my alarm clock for anything and its early morning buzzing was not a welcome sound.  I’ve gotten to where I don’t mind early mornings once I’ve developed a routine of rising early.  But for me, a week is all it takes to get out of that routine to the extent that the early mornings are difficult for a few days.  But difficulty can often be overcome with determination, so I skipped the snooze button and got myself up and off to work.

The workday began with the normal cleaning and building prep.  As I finished, daylight was just beginning to break over the eastern horizon.  With the ever-increasing daylight hours as summer approaches, it seems like each week requires a change to the outside lights timer so they’re not on when they don’t need to be.  Once the building was ready for the start of the school day, it was time to settle in with God to work on the prayer guide for next week.  With the calendar in my mind, it didn’t take long to settle on the general topic of the resurrection.  As I spent time in prayer refining what that would look like in a daily prayer guide focus, I was drawn to the idea of the dead coming to life as a new creation.  As it came together, each day of the week following Easter Sunday will focus on an aspect of living a resurrected life that is new.  

The rest of the morning was spent finishing the prayer guide and getting it formatted and scheduled to be posted and sent out on Sunday.  When all the work on it was done, I turned my attention to the early stages of a sermon I will share at Deer Run during the morning service on April 30.  It will be an opportunity to both preach and share about the work of Impact Prayer Ministry with my home congregation.  Regardless of the topic, it will be a prayer-based sermon that will come out of my prayer time with the intent of encouraging others in their prayer life.

By mid-afternoon my workday was done and I stopped for lunch on my way home.  The weather forecast was calling for storms to move in but they hadn’t arrived by late afternoon so we headed out for a family walk at Potato Creek State Park.  As we hit the trails we were greeted by the presence of a variety of early spring wildflowers.  Today’s photo is a grouping of blossoms from one of those wildflowers as it broke through the dead leaves which covered the forest floor.  It reminded me of the story of the resurrection — of new life conquering the grip of death as the blossoms break through the tomb of the ground to live anew.  

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Routine by itself is neutral.  Good routines are good, bad routines are bad.
• Developing good routines can be useful as long as the routines are tools that help us do the good work God created for us to do.
• When routines become the point for existence, we become enslaved and miss the usefulness they could bring.
• Life is always a series of adjustments as we continually learn to make the most of our relationship with the Son.
• When we come into relationship with God, we are called to die to self — not so death can be celebrated, but so a new life can be born through the power of the resurrection.
• Living a prayer-based life has great benefit in our walk with God, but it also is meant to be shared in ways that encourage and benefit others.
• God plants beauty and illustrations of His principles all around us and His desire is that we would pay attention to both the beauty and the lessons.

Page 99 has been a great day filled with much variety.  Once I was up and going for the day, we headed to church where the Sunday School class I attend finished our study of 1 Thessalonians.  Our discussion today focused on living in a way that represents Christ well and being ready for His return.  

After the Sunday School class we had a great worship gathering as David continued a series from the book of Luke with a sermon based on the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on what we’ve come to know as Palm Sunday.  As we considered the events of that day so many years ago, and the days leading up to it, we looked at three types of people in the crowds that lined the roadway into the city.  If you’ve ever wondered what it would have been like to be there and what you would have done, a quick look at what your actions today say you believe could give great insight into which of those three types of people you would have been because it’s likely the type you are today.  The good news is that Jesus loved, and loves, each person in the crowd including you.  His desire is that each of us would come to know Him as our Savior.

The crowds on that day,  and the crowds today including you and me, are filled with the following:

• The Critic:  Some in the crowds were critical of Jesus, and had been throughout His entire ministry.  Many of these in His day were the religious leaders who thought they were the experts in knowing God.  The teaching of Jesus was done with an authority that the religious leaders lacked.  Jesus did everything in ways that honored and fulfilled scripture while often directly contradicting the teachings of the ruling Jewish leaders.  They did not believe that Jesus was God’s Son sent as the Messiah who would save His people from their sins.  They wanted to silence the crowds who were hailing Jesus as Messiah.  Today’s crowds also include critics.  There are many who do not believe that Jesus is God’s Son sent to save them from their sins.  When we seek a relationship with God on our own terms, we will often be critical of God’s Word and the teachings of Jesus when they are found to be in conflict with what we believe  While many of the harshest words of Jesus were directed at the critic, He never excludes them from coming to Him to find salvation and truth.
• The Curious:  Most events that draw a crowd probably have the majority of those in attendance there simply as those who are curious.  Throughout the ministry of Jesus, word of everything He did spread throughout all of Israel.  As stories circulated of people being healed, large crowds fed with a few loaves, lepers being cleansed, blind seeing, deaf hearing, and even dead raised to life, it was enough to make the curious come out in droves to see for themselves what was happening.  A problem with being a part of the curious crowd is that our curiosity is often satisfied simply by seeing the miraculous happen in the lives of others without ever experiencing the life-changing transformation that God wants to see take place in our life.  The curious are often swayed by the best show.  Curiosity can lead to yelling “Hosanna!” with the crowds on Sunday and by mid-week be yelling “Crucify Him!” with the crowds which follow a different leader.  The good news for the curious is that Jesus promised if we seek Him with our whole heart, He will be found.
• The Committed:  Finally in the crowd, were those who were committed to Jesus.  You had those who had been with Jesus from the early days of His ministry.  You had others who had stayed with Him even as the crowds fell away when the teaching became difficult to handle.  On that day, many of the committed had not yet learned fully what the cost of commitment would be, but they soon would.  Commitment is rarely known until it is put to the test, but it always begins with a deliberate desire to be committed.  There were those who followed Jesus that were critics and many who followed Him that were curious, but there was a sizable group that had a desire to be committed to Him and the things He was teaching.  It was that desire that carried them through even after deserting Him for a moment as the trial and crucifixion took place.  Commitment doesn’t mean that we never fail, it means that we keep hanging on and trusting that as we hold on He will never let us go.

After the worship gathering, I headed to lunch with my family before an afternoon trip to Sam’s Club to pick up some supplies for my mom.  Once the supplies were in hand, it was time for a trip to the farm to spend some time with my parents.  It was good to see them doing well as they were both out working, mom in the greenhouse and dad in the field, when we arrived.  After our visit, I headed to downtown Mishawaka to spend some time walking with my family along the St Joseph River.  There were many beautiful sights to enjoy and photograph, but the one that made today’s page is of a mother goose and her goslings.  I was surprised to see several sets of young goslings out with their parents as I thought it was a little early for them to be hatched out.  At this stage in the life of the young goslings, they are never far from the watchful eye of the mother goose.  It made me think of the words of Jesus as He wept over Jerusalem, longing to gather the people of the city to Himself as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.  

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Being ready for the return of Jesus changes the way a person looks at life.
• There is such a thing as “doing right” and God wants His children to do it.
• Clinging to what is good is just as important as rejecting what is evil.
• We are all part of the crowd in this life we live.  What part we are is our choice.
• Pride and self-reliance will often led us to being critics when it comes to both the person and teaching of Jesus.  The cure is surrender.
• Curiosity often fills us with a lot of information but rarely results in necessary change.  The cure is surrender.
• Commitment begins with a desire to be committed and leads us to hang on to Jesus even when we know we fail.  Yes, committed people do fail but the cure for that failure is surrender.
• We need to live under the protective care of our Savior.  Doing so is our choice.

Page 98 ended up being a restful day with nothing on the schedule that needed done.  After a few days roaming the countryside of West Virginia and a return to work yesterday, a day at home sounded like the perfect plan.  After some extra sleep brought a later than usual start to the day, it was time to start going through the photos from our West Virginia trip.  It was a big project and about midway through, I stopped to cook some hamburgers on the pellet grill.  The sun was shining brightly and made it look deceptively nice outside as the air temperature was colder than it looked like it should be.  The brisk temperature made me decide to continue working on the photos after lunch instead of going out walking.

As I went through each day’s photos, I contemplated what to do with them beyond keeping them stored on my computer.  I will share some of them on social media but flooding my social media accounts with 900 photos would not be a very sociable move.  I suspect that I will eventually upload them to my online smugmug account where they can be sorted into galleries and viewed by those interested.  In the meantime, after processing all the photos, I put together a blog post about one day of our trip so others could get a glimpse of not only the beauty that we saw, but could have some direction in how to experience it for themselves.  You can read that at Southern West Virginia Waterfalls & Scenic Views Roadtrip: Day 2.

Today’s photo is one from a stop on the final day of our trip as we made our way toward home.  It was a rainy day so we stopped at a park to photograph some waterfalls.  Even on a cool, rainy day there was much beauty to be seen.  Surrounded by the beauty of the park, Susan’s happiness could not be hidden.  Her love for life, her love for us as her parents, her love for her panda bear, her love for people, and most of all her love for God brings her great joy that shines wherever she goes.  Yes, there are times when we probably push her patience to the limit, but as long as we keep her warm, fed, and comfortable without having to walk too much, she shares our adventures with great excitement.  There is so much I can learn from her contentment as she reminds me of the teaching of Jesus about learning contentment in what God provides.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Vacations are good for the family but they can be tiring.  Planning to rest after an active vacation is a good thing.
• Some days look nicer than what they are and some days are nicer than what they look.  You won’t really know until you experience what the day actually is.
• Sharing is good, but sometimes sharing too much is overwhelming to others.
• What we learn from our experiences ought to be shared with others who are willing to learn.
• Sometimes our greatest lessons are taught by the person most people would least expect a lesson to come from.
• True happiness is more closely tied to genuine contentment than most people realize.
• We ought to find great joy in being with those we love, and with those who love us.  That statement ought to describe our relationship with God as well as with people.

Page 97 was back-to-work day after the family getaway that we were able to take.  With the long day yesterday, and no electricity when we got home, today began with the writing of page 96.  Now that I’m home, I’ll try to go back to writing each day’s page at the end of the day rather than the next morning.  Once yesterday’s page was written, I headed into work and began the workday catching up on messages and accumulated mail.  Eventually I made it through the office tasks and then took care of some maintenance issues before starting to get the building cleaned and ready for Sunday.  

I’ve not found anything glamorous about cleaning bathrooms, floors, glass doors, or any other part of the building but they are necessary tasks that are not only a part of my job, they are also a part of serving my church family.  Most of us have responsibilities of some type that are necessary but not all that exciting.  Our attitude in doing them can make the difference between experiencing contentment or discouragement.  I know there are times when the cleaning that needs done is beyond the level that occurs with normal activity.  Often my first internal response is frustration that someone would be so inconsiderate to leave a space in the condition I find it.  The ironic part is that I think the frustration rises so quickly in my mind because most of the time people really do a good job of cleaning up after themselves at the building.  I get complacent and begin to expect everything to be easy.  But that’s not life — at least not the life I experience.  When I learn to take captive every thought, I submit my frustration to God and He reminds me that the work I do, I am doing for Him.  He also reminds me that there are times when I don’t measure up to the expectations of others and their work is increased because of something I’ve done or haven’t done.  When we follow God’s instruction to serve one another, we begin to find joy in serving because we recognize that Christ is honored when we do so.

As I took the trash out this afternoon, I startled two different birds that were perched in the trees near the dumpster.  One was a flicker that I often see from my office window and the other was a hawk that I’ve seen numerous times hovering over the property.  While I didn’t have my camera outside with me, today’s photo is of a similar looking hawk that I photographed at Hawk’s Nest State Park in West Virginia earlier this week.  The various birds of prey are fascinating to watch as they soar through the air on the rising thermals or wind currents.  The appearance given is of effortless flight.  God says that part of the result of waiting on the Lord, or resting in Him, is that we would rise up on wings like eagles.  As we learn to trust God and rest in Him as we allow His timing to come about, we find that we can soar through life with much less effort then when we attempt to do life on our own.

After my work was done, I came home and began to work my way through the 900+ photos that I took over during our trip to West Virginia.  It seems that when I go through the photos I take, there are always a few that I delete right away because they are blurry, I missed the shot, or they simply didn’t turn out.  But most of them are saved on my computer and I try to find the highlights out of the number to share on social media.  I know that there is an element in the sharing that wants to be seen, but usually more than that is an element that wants to share the beauty and creativity of God with people who may otherwise never be able to see the things I photograph.  

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Routine can be useful if it helps us to accomplish the good God has created for us to do.
• Routine is good but it should never replace listening to and following God.
• Routine can also be destructive if it keeps us from doing the good God wants us to do.
• Flexibility in knowing when to adjust our routines and when to hold fast to them is something we should seek from God.
• Serving others won’t always be exactly what we expect but it will always be what God expects.
• Giving others more opportunity to serve is no excuse for being inconsiderate.
• Sometimes what we view as being inconsiderate is simply someone giving more importance to what they’re considering than what we are considering.
• There may be an occasion when people deliberately make your job more difficult, more often we make it more difficult ourselves with a poor attitude.
• It is far easier to become weary than it is to be renewed when we rely on our own strength.
• Waiting on the Lord and resting in Him can be very difficult but it also can be the only way we can find renewed strength.