A Lesson in Trust

I'm all about silly illustrations. I love when pastors use metaphors or real life stories to engage an audience and then prove a biblical point.

I remember learning in Sunday school about trust. You may find yourself nodding your head with this one as you recall the simple lesson about putting faith in God.

The teacher would call an unsuspecting student up to the front of the classroom and then ask them to sit in a chair. As they started to bend their knees to sit down, the teacher would stop them.

"Wait, wait, wait... how do you know that the chair will hold you up?! Do you know who made the chair? What if it's missing a screw? Is the plastic sturdy enough? How do you know it won't fall apart and you'll go crashing to the floor?"

The classroom would be filled with giggles as the unsuspecting child at the front of the room turned red in embarrassment. But the teacher would quietly shush them, comfort the child, and smile as she continued with the lesson in faith.

Many people think that because they cannot SEE God, He doesn't exist. But we put our faith in worldly things every single day, not second guessing their existence, qualifications or history.

Take for example my silly [emphasis on the silly] illustration. Yesterday I needed to get my eyebrows waxed. I pulled in to the parking lot of my favorite little nail salon and didn't once question the certification of the technicians inside. As the hot wax was applied above my eyes, I thought to myself, "how do I know she won't wax my whole eyebrow off?" I'm trusting her with my FACE here, people. If she messes up, I'll be self-conscious about my appearance for the next two to three weeks.

You may recall an earlier post about a phone interview I had. Well, God is faithful and on Wednesday I went to Austin for a second interview with the company. It was a wonderful experience and I'd love to be offered the position. And you know what? As I wait, I'm TRUSTING in my Abba Father. I won't know anything about the job until sometime next week, but I'm putting my faith in God, knowing that everything will work out if this is the job for me. And if it isn't meant to be, I know that He has something greater in store for me.

I go to the same nail salon because I've been so many times and I trust them to do a good job. In the same way, I go to my God because I trust him. Time and time again, He has proven Himself faithful. He knows what is best for me. He provides. He sustains. He gives me courage and confidence in the face of uncertainty. And though I can't see Him, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is at work in my life.

The Unemployed Life

I've come to realize that "free time" is only truly enjoyable when you don't have it very often. Don't get me wrong. I have LOVED having time to sleep in, relax, watch TV and movies, blog, and make progress on my summer reading list. But it becomes a little monotonous after a few weeks. Dare I say, even boring. *gasp*

In order to keep myself sane, I've made daily to-do lists, regardless of how tiny the task. Laugh all you want, but I'm driven by accomplishment. At the end of the day, even if I haven't left the house, I feel like I've at least accomplished something! It may be running an errand for one of my roommates, unloading the dishwasher, sending out emails to wedding vendors, or searching for jobs. When Thomas, Alex and Allison come home from school in the evening and ask me "so, what did you do today," I can look to my list for the answer.

Speaking of the job hunt...

I'm reading through Psalm this summer and laughed out loud when I read the following verse:

"My soul is in deep aguish. How long, O Lord, how long?"

Psalm 6:3

I wouldn't describe my frustration as anguish in any way, but sometimes I think, "okay God, is a job ever going to come along?" I've had two or three "almost opportunities" and after weeks of waiting was told that another candidate was chosen. But another verse this morning reminded me that "He never forsakes those who seek him" (Psalm 9:10), so I'm trusting the One that knows it all!

I've sent out 10+ applications/resumes in the last three days, and GOOD NEWS - I had a phone interview yesterday. The position is a Marketing Coordinator job in Austin that would allow me to dabble in both marketing and PR, plus social media! Prayers are appreciated as I wait "a few weeks" for the possibility of a second interview at their office!

The other day, I accompanied Thomas and Alex to campus since they both needed to print things off for their lesson plans and schoolwork. This gave me the opportunity to visualize where they are and what they're doing during the day.

I helped Thomas with those pig vocabulary cards for his clients, and he found the sentence poster when we went shopping in Austin.

Thomas' therapy room! He has class in the afternoon, but in the morning, he has two "Camp Success" clients who are there for help with language and literacy.

Another one of my unemployment hobbies is cooking. I was so giddy after my phone interview yesterday that I decided to whip up a meal from scratch. Here are some snapshots of my creation - turkey lasagna roll-ups! [Recipe compliments of a fellow Pinterest user]

I used lean turkey instead of ground beef, and then mixed it with parmesan and ricotta cheese.

I covered the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with roasted garlic marinara.

Cooked lasagna with turkey filling; after this, I rolled the noodle (see below).

The finished product! I covered the noodles with the remaining sauce and baked it at 375 for 30 minutes.

I made a fruit pizza for dessert! Simple simple. Just buy pre-made sugar cookie dough (or make your own), bake the dough and allow it to chill, cover the cookie with frosting (1 package cream cheese blended with 1 cup sugar and 2 tsp of vanilla extract), and then top with your favorite fruit. I used strawberries, grapes and peaches.

Before going to babysit my precious cousins tonight, I think I'll spend the afternoon with my nose in a book. I've got to enjoy unemployment while I still can!