Skip to main content

Good Weeks

It's Sunday morning, and I'm sitting in the sound booth during morning worship, looking back at the last week while my pastor expounds on the good news of great joy for all people.
Yes, we're in Luke 2 (one of my favorite parts of the Christmas story), but I'm already getting off track.
I guess it's been that kind of week.

My pastor came in to the classroom where I teach the teenagers in high school before Sunday School this morning, sat down across from me with a smile on his face and asked me that simple and frustrating question.
"How was your week?"

"Good," is what I told him, a little bit awkwardly because this wasn't normal.
Normal was him asking in the sanctuary between Sunday School and morning worship, or the hallway with people milling around.
Normal was not him coming in and taking a seat like he intended to make himself comfortable and stay for awhile.
He did not get much more of an answer than that because I had no idea of what else to say, and it was almost time for me to start teaching.

So, now I'm going back through this week as he digs deeper into Luke 2, and I'm wondering...
I'm wondering if the answer I gave him, the same answer I've given everyone else who's asked today, was a lie.
Inadvertent lie, not blatant, before we get confused.
I'm wondering if I inadvertently lied to everyone I've talked to this morning.

I'm wondering because it's been a heavy week.
Blinders have come off, things I hadn't been aware have been brought to light.
There have been days this past week where I've come home with heavy thoughts and a hurting heart (temporarily eased by cuddles with my nephews).
Most people would not call it a good week at all.
Hard, long, awful.
Not good.

But as the good news coming from the front of the sanctuary enters into my soul once again and breathing new life into dead bones, I see this last week for what it has been.
It's been good in that hard and painful and necessary things that need to happen do happen way.
That way that clears out junk and allows room for restored vision and renewed life.

So, as my pastor wraps up with a monologue on loving unconditionally, I am coming around to the idea that this has been a good week.
And that there are even better weeks ahead.

Until next time,
Cat

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Metaphors: Candles

I've recently fallen in love with candles. Since coming home from the World Race , I've bought at least one a month. My favorite candles are the ones that come in glass jars - because when they burn out, I can clean the remaining wax out and put the jars to other uses. Right now,  that means they get cleaned out and packed away in anticipation of my move to Flagstaff. But as I was lighting one tonight (vanilla spice... Thanksgiving smells? Yes, please!), I saw a metaphor for writing flickering away in the flame licking at the wick and melting the wax. I suppose it could be a metaphor for life in general, but since the theme of this blog is writing... Well, you do the math.

[Five Minute Friday] Purpose

Fiber bars, strewn along the side of the road. There had to be at least a dozen of them, still in their wrappers and completely unopened. No box in sight. Really? That's about the reaction my younger sister and I had when we stumbled on them on our early morning run. Really? along with disgusted sighs about the wastefulness of it. These were the expensive ones, not a generic store brand that kind of tastes and kind of looks the same sometimes. So, when we weren't keeping an eye out for their box, we speculated about what had happened. And wondered how many more we were going to see before the end of our run. "Maybe they took one bite and thought they were gross," my sister said. "So they threw them out because they didn't want them anymore." I let out one of those disgusted sighs and nodded along with her theory. "Yeah, or they got in a huge fight, and threw them out in a fit of rage." "That's a possibility." And...

How to Make Sure Your Book Review Request Does NOT Get Deleted

I've been hesitant to write this post. That is due, in large part, to how angry I get some days after reading book review requests. I curse, I rant, I snark. My cat will tell you it's not a pretty sight. But I also feel like this is a good opportunity to talk about what it is that makes me feel those feelings AND how to not stir them up. I'm not the only reviewer that gets frustrated when I see certain things in my emails from authors looking for a review. And I know I'm not the only one who gets triggered enough to ignore or delete those messages. I never feel good about doing it. It's just that I'm hitting the proverbial wall here and I want to hit it a little less often. So if you're an author looking for loving advice on how to approach reviewers (especially this one), read on. Review Requests I Always  Delete Before I get into what to do, I wanted to take a minute to look at what not to do (and how I handle it). Want to know what immedi...