Stuck in the Wilderness

So, it is Tuesday afternoon and I am sitting in my car enjoying free wireless downtown AGAIN to post a little update. We are stuck in the wireless wilderness here. The company came yesterday (after our weeklong wait) to hook up cable, telephone and Internet. After a few minutes of poking around in the bushes, they informed me that we are too far back from the road for service and they need to send out a crew to survey and see what our options are--not to worry, they should be by within the next 7-10 days! I laughed out loud at the irony of it all.

I have mentioned here before that I am serving on the Pastor Search Committee for my church. We have been meeting (until 10 pm) for almost 10 months, praying earnestly, travelling, listening to half a dozen sermons a week and listening to suggestions from our congregation. Our current pastor will preach his final sermon and retire from his duties in May. People are getting just a wee bit anxious about the fact that we do not have a replacement all lined up on a neat little time table. I have been reminded of what a lesson this is in patience. We (Americans) are a wealthy, impatient people. We want something? We get it. Is it any wonder God has to pull the rug out from under us every now and then to get us to SLOW down and remember who is really calling the shots?

I do not think it is coincidence that the hiring of our first Young Life staff person after 4 years of prayers, fundraising and meetings happened last week, the restlessness of an impatient congregation (ME included) is beginning to come to light and I have been disconnected from the rest of the world. And have I mentioned how READY I am for sofas, chairs, rugs, etc???

Last night, my hubby was working and I laid in my bed (nowhere else to sit :-) )and read several chapters of Genesis in preparation for my small group discussion of Beth Moore's Patriarchs study today. It is embarassing to admit how long it has been since I just sat and read Scripture for that stretch of time. The lesson could not have been more timely, as it was about God's sovereignty in Joseph's life. I was so struck by his comment to his brothers as they apologized profusely for selling him into slavery years earlier...Genesis 45:8 "It was not you who sent me here but God."

Joseph got it. God is Sovereign. He knows what we need (or in my case lately, DON'T need). May we embrace the seasons God has us in...remembering it is not happenstance.

Back to the wilderness for me for a few days. I will be quite thankful to get re-connected...at least then I'll know how to dress my children in this crazy Spring weather!