The post-flu exhaustion had hit our family and we're holed up in the house this morning, unable to go to church because of the lingering effects of the many sicknesses we've picked up. It's good to say that the flu itself is not raging in us, but the final strains of the weeks-long ailment are trying to hang on: headaches, fatigue, sore throats, and watery eyes.
Wow, new weeks and months coming and it's time to prepare for them, now that our strength is retuning. Nicholas and Alexis will be married on May 9th here in Knoxville, and Jill and I are doing our homework on the rehearsal dinner and stuff. My writing assignments have ben coming in from all over the country, from a web corporation in California to a Toronto electronic firm to - believe it or not - a martial arts publication firm in North Carolina. Plus, I have signed on in writing articles for a new webzine out of the Midwest and am waiting back to hear from a book publisher and a television company needing content writers.
So much more to tell you, and here's the balance I must strike ...the need to be a responsible go-getter and bring in the necessary income to take care of the bills, along with the reliance on God to help us see Him work. Faith and works go hand in hand in real life... this is not a course in semantics. I trust in God and yet I don't sit back and expect Him to bring Publishers' Clearinghouse to my doorstep.
One answer I get is from the book of Galatians in the fifth chapter... "the fruit of the Spirit is self-control..." The other fruits I can understand: kindness, goodness, peace... I can understand how I'm supposed to act, and not smash someone in the mouth for taking my parking spot or threatening my kids. Okay, I see those. But self-control goes much deeper, especially in the context of my life right now. In the Greek it is the word enkrates and it comes into play very clearly here. The word literally means to have dominion over oneself, or "to hold oneself in." (I kind of picture someone who holds his breath.)
As I take steps to see the Lord's working in this coming year - and it seems very clearly that He is moving in ways I can see - that I "hold myself in" and take care to get a deep breath and step back whenever I want to run ahead and do things my way. I want to tithe on every assignment payment that comes in. I will reject any job offer that would compromise my testimony for Jesus Christ. I want to be fair and not overcharge and yet be realistic and not undercharge, either.. hey, we've got bills to pay. You see the balance that the Christian needs?
Jesus has been kindly leading us, and man, does that take so much stress off of me. I want to be sensible and remain open to His authority as he takes us down a new and exciting career path.
