I am speaking in church tomorrow on

"Enduring Our Trials Well".

(I got asked to speak back in January, so I have had lots of time to think about it.)

I wanted to share one of my favorite thoughts on trials:

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently, He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is the He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of--throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You though you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace."

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity"

I just love this imagery...

I Am Running...

It is that time....I am running all day trying to prepare for that wonderful time of year.

The time we celebrate the most important birth ever.

It is strange to me that I am finding little time to sleep, or eat right, or relax.

Most of my time has been spent shopping, budgeting, shopping, making Christmas cards, shopping, cleaning and trying to prepare to go out of town for 2.5 weeks.

Is this really the best way to spend my time I wonder?

I spend my time this way every year. Even when I tell myself I will run out of time and be stressed, I still plan in more projects--or volunteer for more things.

Maybe I need a special watch that could remind me how best to spend my time.

But as it stands now...the time is running out.