Encouragement for a Monday morning

Ephesians 1:18 – I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he has called – his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

This was my verse for today and it really encouraged me.

With the end of Judgement House this year, I’m expecting a bit of gloom to settle over everything. It always does. So I was super excited to pick up my e-mail this morning and see this verse smiling at me.

What a difference a single little modifier makes! The word confident shouted out from the page at me this morning. Paul didn’t pray just for us to remember the hope we have in Christ . . . but that we would remember the confident hope we have. Confidence makes all the difference in the world.

You can hope for something without really believing it will come true. I do it all the time, I hate to admit. I’m an unpublished writer. =) Hope is my bread and butter. But confident hope? That’s something different.

We can hope confidently in the promises God has made to us because He is trustworthy. We can trust Him–and be confident in Him–because He is who He is.

My pants smell like coffee . . .

. . . and that’s why I’m in jeans at work today, hiding in the corner and hoping that nobody notices. Well . . . actually . . . noticing would be fine . . . because then I could explain how it happened.

Since I stay at Jugement House so late, I’ve been spending the night with my folks. That’s great, but I have to think and plan my wardrobe ahead a couple of days. I brought my jeans and one pair of pants with me, so when I got coffee spilled all down my pants last night at Judgement House and didn’t have time to do laundry when I got to my parents’ house, I just decided to wear jeans to work.

Judgement House has been great this year but very different from other years . . . . The whole thing feels different. I’m not sure how to explain it. And last night was odd. It just felt weird–slow or sluggish or just draggy . . . . I don’t think I have words for it. It was still awesome, but it was like trying to run in mud.

It was comforting to know, though, that everyone else felt the same way. I mean, I know what my issues are and what crap Satan is throwing at me to get me discouraged (it’s not working, by the way) but it was good to know that all the other tour guides felt it too.

Isn’t it amazing how well Satan knows us? How he knows exactly what it will take to hurt us and get us to stop focusing on what matters? He is such a student of our weaknesses . . . . which is nice, in a way, becuase the attacks are easy to recognize . . . . especially when they won’t stop coming. I just started laughing this morning when I woke up. My sciatic nerve hasn’t bothered me for two years and I woke up this morning and could barely walk . . . . and I didn’t do anything to even irritate it. Things like that make me laugh. What else can you do?

I’m excited about getting back to Judgement House tonight. I think it’ll be awesome!

A decision to move forward

Well, the decision has been made.  Lord willing, I’ll be directing a dinner theatre/melodrama at the beginning of May.  The script is one of mine, called A Wild Goose Chase and it’s specifically intended to allow families with disabled children to come adn participate.  All along we’ve been hoping to perform as a fund raiser for Families Together, a not-for-profit that provides resources and education for families with disabled children.

I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with my schedule, but it looks like it will work out.

Auditions are tentatively scheduled for March 10, but there’s a freakin’ load of work that needs to be done before we get there.  In one month, I’ve got to:

1. Find a venue to perform (whether it’s off campus or at the church) – this is the most important right now
2. Set a performance date
3. Designate a rehearsal schedule
4. Pick an assistant director, a stage manager, a costume manager, a prop manager, a publicity manager, a ticket manager, a food manager, a fund manager (or a producer), and a few others who are very important

Only after those things are finished can we hold the auditions, cast characters, and begin rehearsals.

I think this is going to be a lot of fun, and I’m really praying that it can help a lot of people.