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I work in education and that means summers off! Mind, my salary covers employment for 190 days, so I'm not paid for the days off summers off, but at this point of my life I'm happier to have the time.
I had 9 weeks off, all in a row. Sixty-four days from May 27 to August 1, I've had a blissful time here in what I call The Hermitage. It's so dubbed because I like to spend copious amounts of time indoors in my small apartment. Alone. Never lonely.
Like everyone else, during the seasons when I'm working, there are always lots of other things I'd like to do, but the fact that I'm committed elsewhere for 9 hours a day (longer if I work AfterSchool Program) means I don't have time to do all that I want. I like to read, study, surf the web, watch movies, write, and do crafts. Erm, I can't squeeze all that into a day that is also dedicated to doing my best job at school. Add errands and cleaning to that, and like everyone else, time is short.
But the moment the teachers and parapros sing goodbye and wave off the last bus, and the principal dismisses the staff, to the moment the first pre-planning session, huge quantities of unbroken day upon day lay stretched out before me.
I always start off the summer with a schedule and a commitment to stick to it. First off, daily Bible reading, prayer, study, writing the blog and theological reading for several hours. After that, a bit of cooking and in the afternoon, doing something productive for the Kingdom. I have several projects going and some ladies I disciple. Then the evening, a movie or a TV show.
And that is what I do, for the first few weeks.
Inevitably, my guard relaxes and my schedule slides. I spend more time watching TV than in reading the Bible. That goes on for a little while then I pull myself up again and get back to it. Rinse. Repeat. I say "inevitably" because my sin nature wants what it wants and not what Jesus wants.
The sinful tendency to want to indulge the flesh and not the spirit remains a constant battle all summer. Yet unless one doesn't work at all, or perhaps freelances with time in between jobs, this job as an educator is one which affords an unusual amount of time. I love to use it for the Kingdom, it's what He gave me this life for, to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. As an unmarried woman with no children, what else would I be doing with the time? And still, I don't use every minute for Jesus and by the end of summer sometimes I don't use an entire day for Jesus.
And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. (1 Corinthians 7:34)
It got me thinking about the other place where there is long unbroken periods of time stretching out where one can work for the Kingdom. Heaven. What bliss it will be to be able to work for Jesus without a sin nature! I won't disappoint myself and even more important, I won't be disappointing Jesus. I won't have to spend mental and emotional time reining in my sin nature. I will be able to work for Him in joy and perfection, using every moment for Him, fully. My mind will have been expanded so that it can give its full attention to whatever task Jesus has set before me. Best of all, there will be "time" to do it all. No man-made, artificial constraints will compete with what we will joyfully set out to accomplish for our sovereign King.
There are so many joys to look forward to in heaven. This is one of them: eternal, perfect, joyful work for Jesus. Now, back to my schedule I'd planned for today.
Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. (Proverbs 6:6)
I had 9 weeks off, all in a row. Sixty-four days from May 27 to August 1, I've had a blissful time here in what I call The Hermitage. It's so dubbed because I like to spend copious amounts of time indoors in my small apartment. Alone. Never lonely.
Like everyone else, during the seasons when I'm working, there are always lots of other things I'd like to do, but the fact that I'm committed elsewhere for 9 hours a day (longer if I work AfterSchool Program) means I don't have time to do all that I want. I like to read, study, surf the web, watch movies, write, and do crafts. Erm, I can't squeeze all that into a day that is also dedicated to doing my best job at school. Add errands and cleaning to that, and like everyone else, time is short.
But the moment the teachers and parapros sing goodbye and wave off the last bus, and the principal dismisses the staff, to the moment the first pre-planning session, huge quantities of unbroken day upon day lay stretched out before me.
I always start off the summer with a schedule and a commitment to stick to it. First off, daily Bible reading, prayer, study, writing the blog and theological reading for several hours. After that, a bit of cooking and in the afternoon, doing something productive for the Kingdom. I have several projects going and some ladies I disciple. Then the evening, a movie or a TV show.
And that is what I do, for the first few weeks.
Inevitably, my guard relaxes and my schedule slides. I spend more time watching TV than in reading the Bible. That goes on for a little while then I pull myself up again and get back to it. Rinse. Repeat. I say "inevitably" because my sin nature wants what it wants and not what Jesus wants.
The sinful tendency to want to indulge the flesh and not the spirit remains a constant battle all summer. Yet unless one doesn't work at all, or perhaps freelances with time in between jobs, this job as an educator is one which affords an unusual amount of time. I love to use it for the Kingdom, it's what He gave me this life for, to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. As an unmarried woman with no children, what else would I be doing with the time? And still, I don't use every minute for Jesus and by the end of summer sometimes I don't use an entire day for Jesus.
And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. (1 Corinthians 7:34)
It got me thinking about the other place where there is long unbroken periods of time stretching out where one can work for the Kingdom. Heaven. What bliss it will be to be able to work for Jesus without a sin nature! I won't disappoint myself and even more important, I won't be disappointing Jesus. I won't have to spend mental and emotional time reining in my sin nature. I will be able to work for Him in joy and perfection, using every moment for Him, fully. My mind will have been expanded so that it can give its full attention to whatever task Jesus has set before me. Best of all, there will be "time" to do it all. No man-made, artificial constraints will compete with what we will joyfully set out to accomplish for our sovereign King.
There are so many joys to look forward to in heaven. This is one of them: eternal, perfect, joyful work for Jesus. Now, back to my schedule I'd planned for today.
Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. (Proverbs 6:6)
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