whew

We made it through the first weekend of "A Christmas Carol"! At some point, when I have a little free time (hah!) I'll do a big update on that, but for now I want to leave you with something small and encouraging.

Hebrews 11:1 gives us a pretty good definition of faith, and it's very simple (which is great)- we should have confidence in our hope and assurance in the unseen. The first part seems easy, because if we can believe in the vast greatness of God and in the truth of His word, then there's absolutely no room to doubt where we will eventually end up, no matter what happens in this life. It's the second part that gets a little crazy (at least for me. . . probably the Type-A part of me). Assurance in the unseen? How can I be sure of something that when I don't know that it's going on? I have a hard enough time believing the things I see! OK, not really, but I have to say that God's unseen hand movements have blown my mind (when seen in retrospect). I moved out to Florida about 16 months ago, and. . . just wow. How perfectly He had been setting up this area for me (yes, even my job. . . if you keep up with my facebook, then you know some of what has been going on)(I mean, I'm a teacher, I clearly do not have a facebook. . . .). The thing that has hit me the most is in the people that He brought into my life within the first month of the move. I will never forget the first time I walked into my Sunday School class. Although at the time I wasn't quite able to put it into these words, God had prepared all of them for me, and I for them. It just felt so. . . right. And now, a year and a half later, these are still the closest friends I have down here. I've met a ton more people of course, and found a lot of friends and colleagues, and I still know a lot of people up north and/or spread across the nation as music educators, but I am still in awe of the people in that class. And even thinking about where I was in those first couple months to where I am now, I never would have guessed at the way things have turned out (all great). I've gotten hooked into the local music community, and people that I don't even know are starting to recognize me because of it. I love my church choir family (and have missed them! I haven't been in a month :( but we have rehearsal Tuesday!), and have gotten plugged into a lot of cool thing via my church.
OK. . . I feel like I'm just rambling, so my point is this: if you are in a place where it seems like nothing is going right, where you can't seem to see how anything good will ever come of your situation, have faith. God works in all things for the good of those who love Him. Even if your love starts out small, He will fill you in ways you have never imagined. Will life be perfect? Not until you're really living in Heaven. But even in those tough times, realize that you have a hope for a better future (an AMAZING future) and that you can be sure God is working for you AND through you. Don't tire of doing good works, and God will reward your faithfulness.

And if you don't have that hope. . . if you don't have that faith. . . will you open your ears and your heart to hear about it?