Up at 3:30....

I woke up at 3:30 this morning....have been up ever since. My cat, Lizzie, didn't come in last night, and I started worrying that maybe, just maybe, she pulled one of her tricks and climbed in the car with my hubby and youngest as they were packing to go on a canoe trip. My mind started working, you know, and I pictured her riding out to the Brazos...the guys are clueless, of course....and she escapes into the wilderness to become coyote breakfast when they open the back to unpack...never to be seen again.

Well...she was just outside all night, and as I was throwing the ball for Gracie, she came toodling around the corner.

I grabbed some coffee and started thinking about what God might want me to say about women next....and although there are so many OT women to discuss, I think I'm going to talk about Deborah and Jael. This is a story that I had never heard as I was growing up...my little children's Bible, for some reason, with all of its condensed stories, didn't have this tale in it. I wonder why. It has most of the other stories in it....all illustrated nicely with blonde white people. ;-)

Then, as I was praying, this thought popped into my mind....someone out there is going to think, as I write these essays, that I hate men.

Nothing could be further than the truth. I am surrounded by men. My hubby (my biggest supporter) is one! :-) My sons are fine young men. I have several surrogate sons, one who will make me a "Nana" in a couple of months. Interestingly, most of my friends are men. When I was ministering to a congregation, it was mostly men who ministered to ME, and supported me as an elder. Mostly, though, I now have an array of strong, Spirit-led men AND women who are awesome in their gifts, and who are good and dear brothers and sisters.

SO, in Deborah and Jael, which I think is really a very weird story, I'll look at how we can choose to do as the Lord leads us....or not. I was thinking about my own situation...not any where near what these gals dealt with. But, in my life, I deal with my health issues, and the issues of my brother, my step-mom, my mother-in-law. I did some soul-searching a while back, and realized that I not only wanted to add substitute teaching to my work life to add cash flow....I also wanted to get the heck out of the house and away from dealing with some of these things for a few hours. When I admitted this to my friend Connie, she said, "Well...yeah! Of course you want to do that! When you work at home, you're still at everyone's beck and call...they have no boundaries, and think you're not doing anything. When you're at school...no one can contact you except in an emergency." She was right. It was supposed to be pretty much 7-8 hours of not dealing with my own reality.....
supposed to be.
You see...you can't, if you're really listening, get away from what HE wants you to do. The only substitute jobs I've gotten are the ones as a Special Services Aide. So, ironically, I spend my non-art job days (my supposed 'escape days' ) around special needs kids....physically, emotionally, behaviorally, or mentally challenged kids. And I really like it. It wears me out, but I really like it.

So, I'll talk about Deborah and Jael next.... two women who did what they were supposed to do, as God called them, just as men in the Bible did; without concern about what others might say or think of them. And that's what it's all about.