Every month, I’m taking a look back at the things I learned, loved, and lived through. I’m also looking forward to the next month. Here’s my look back at April and how God surprised and shocked me.
Affiliate links are included below. I may make a commission from purchases made through these links, but there is no further cost to you.
LEARNED
I learned:
- there’s a Carnegie library in my city
- zucchini nut muffins are tastier than they sound
- what a philologist is thanks to C.S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet and this YouTube video with an accent expert’s thoughts on 6 fictional languages in TV and film
- 5 beeps every minute (more like every 30 seconds) from our carbon monoxide alarm meant the device was at the end of its life and it was time to buy a new alarm, which I did but not before panicking in a paranoid manner
LOVED
The Power Rangers movie. Maybe it’s part nostalgia, but I thought it was great. Elizabeth Banks as Rita Repulsa was amazing. The yellow ranger was a bit overdramatic, but otherwise, the movie was awesome.
I’ve been going to a small farmer’s market. I mostly just walked around. One pretty day, I hit up the library across from the plaza where the market was held, then bought flowers and honey from local vendors.
The kiddos performed on Easter and this 2-year-old boy danced his heart out. Nevermind his moves weren’t what everyone else was doing, it was adorable. I wish I could show you, but I’m with all the other leaders: on our knees, in front of the kids, doing the actions so they don’t get lost.
LIVED THROUGH
At church, a young man testified about how God changed his life recently. He stood in the row in front of me during worship, and I noticed something different about him. He’s come to church on and off before, but this time, something was different. When he stood in front of everyone and opened his mouth, it’s insane. I was shocked and amazed at God.
See, this young man was a little boy who just didn’t listen in Sunday school (in the few Sundays he came). He was a trouble-maker that tested everyone’s patience and resolve. No one could have predicted he would stand there, boldly talking about God.
Not to anybody’s credit, but to God’s. I do know that God used my team to water what spiritual seeds were in his life – even if all we could really do was pray – just as God used different people to speak into his life and bring him into His plans.
We finished “The Big God Story” curriculum and started a series called “David.” While the first taught me to look at the broader picture of God’s plan and His invitation for us to take part in it, the second is teaching me that God isn’t far from the details of our lives.
And if we stick with God in the details of our lives, someday we can look at the broader picture of our lives and see how God brought it all together. That, I hope for this young man.
Books I read: Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton, and The Martyr’s Song by Ted Dekker.
Books I’m currently reading: A.D. 33 by Ted Dekker and The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis.
Book I sort-of abandoned: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, audiobook performed by Scarlett Johansson. I plan on reading along with an eBook. Usually, I listen to audiobooks while doing chores and even in the shower, but this one is hard to follow along to.
LOOKING FORWARD
In May, I’m looking forward to:
- Flowers
- Gardening. I say that knowing that I might not actually do it. I really ought to plant as soon as possible. Do you know what, in my mini potted garden, survived the winter cold and all the storms? Kale. Kale survived. I hate kale.
- Reading the next two books in C.S. Lewis’ space trilogy.
