So...it has been a long time since I've posted anything and while that doesn't mean things haven't been happening, it just means I've been too busy to post. Below are the top 12 things that have happened in the last 6 months:
1. I finished out the school year working at CCA, subbing in Clubhouse, Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st Grade.
2. Found a new church to attend...still unsure if it's 'home', but I'm praying.
3. Celebrated my other grandmother's life and visited with family.
4. Celebrated birthdays: Steve, my Mama, my Dad, my Uncle Bob, Ed, my own, my best friend, Anna, my baby cousin, Jess, and Katie.
5. Worked the summer program at CCA in the Kindergarten-1st Grade class and had a blast!
6. Spent a week with a cute 5 year old, who could beat me at the New Super Mario Bros. and was super excited when I helped him pass a hard level...even though I played it when I was "not so old" (his words). I also found out that he asked his mom if they could keep me and he wore the necklace we made to his first day of Kindergarten. :)
7. I watched my baby cousin graduate and I still can't believe that he's really that old now.
8. I became more involved with our young adults group, The Well. Which is definitely stretching me.
9. Had a lovely visit with an extension of my family. Even though we're not related, we will always be close.
10. Took a mini vacation with the family. Who needs to go somewhere big when you can just go a couple hours away, spend time together and still get to sleep in your own bed at night. :)
11. I got a job at the CCC daycare, but don't start until Oct.
12. Went to some fundraisers to help support iMatter, had a table for The Well at iMatter and had our Well event...pretty much within 2 weeks of each other and then 3 days. It was a crazy time.
This brings us to now, this day and this hour...which is slowly creeping towards tomorrow.
Yesterday, Sunday, the 23rd. I had the opportunity to go to a local concert and set up a table for The Well. For those of you who don't know about The Well, you can find more info here: https://www.facebook.com/TheWell.YoungAdults. Anyway, it always seems to happen, that when I have something to go to, problems arise or something happens and I usually end up running behind...and as a Drake, lateness tends to run in our veins. :(
I had everything ready to go and things were on time, but then I couldn't find my jeans, I was getting constant texts from someone and then I had to load some things back into my Mom's car, since mine is dying. That took time and on top of that I was late to pick up a friend. Long story shorter, we made it to the venue a little late, but still had plenty of time to unpack and set up and such.
While we were setting up, the headliner came up and asked where his stuff was supposed to go, we told him and then things went badly. It was hot, I was already stressed a bit and then he made some comments about how he usually did things and how many tables he usually has and such. He came off as rude and arrogant and I definitely judged him as such. We ended up moving things around, which was not an easy task and thus I became more and more frustrated. Now, being at a Christian event and being a Christian, I did not want to be negative towards other people, but sometimes I can't hide my annoyance, I try, but I'm not perfect. We finally got set up and things started to feel much cooler than before (thanks to air conditioning!). I decided that I was going to suck it up, support the people I knew, be there to give out The Well info and that was it.
My attitude was not the greatest as the concert began and I was annoyed with little things like people not participating or coming across as arrogant. It wasn't until I stopped and thought about it as the night went on that things began to change. I didn't want to be the person that was judging how people worshipped...I heard that at my old church and that's not me, or at least the me that I'm striving to be. What we see as arrogant, could also be extreme confidence, for myself, I've never known extreme confidence, so I perceive that as arrogant. (Don't get me wrong, there are some just plain arrogant people, but let's not be too quick to judge).
We got through two bands and OAV was up next. I'm not saying that it was the band, the music or the words that hit me hard, but I got hit in my heart and I allowed my God to tear down my anger and frustration and give me peace and a calmness. I was able to worship God wholly and not just outwardly, but everything in me. I stopped trying to hold on to the words of a flawed creation and listen to the words of a perfect Creator. I was then able to worship with the same man that offended me before and even though I thought it was extremely loud and he was different from what I had pictured, his heart showed through and it was one of pure love for God.
The night ended and I felt refreshed, but I was dreading the moment that he came back to get his merch...I had a small part of me that was ready for him to still be cranky pants. I didn't need to worry about that though, he was like a different person and for that I was thankful. He even got a picture with my friend, whom he had been rude to before. I wonder if that's how God sees us sometimes...one minute, we neglect Him or use His name in vain and the next we're praising Him and singing His praises. Is that how we should be? Don't we want to be better?
After that we left the venue and headed to Applebee's for some food with friends. It was there that I became fully aware of how different all our personalities are...quiet, outgoing, loud, crazy...not one is better than the other or worse either, they're just different and that's ok. I'm glad I have friends who aren't afraid to pick their seat based on where they can watch football or who choose to go to a different restaurant because one of their bosses is being ridiculous at another restaurant. I'm glad we were there when we were, because we met a great server who just might come and see Mattie this weekend, because another friend did something she's never done before and invited her to come.
All in all the entire day was great and even as I thought about it today, I would have probably acted the same way if I had been traveling a long time or was used to things being a certain way. We are creatures of habit, we just have to try to not hold so tightly to those habits that we miss out on something else that God has for us.
Well, there's my update, my rant...whatever you'd like to call it. I didn't think that I'd be writing about what happened yesterday, but clearly I needed to. It's funny how God works things out like that. Now if I could just learn to trust Him more. :)
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