good sickness

I was hit with a cold bug this week. I started feeling not so great on Monday, stayed home from school on Tuesday, attempted to do something yesterday, but had no energy. Today I'm just starting to feel strong enough to actually get some reading done for my mid-term coming up on Monday. I even got a subbing call this morning, but was afraid to take it lest I make myself worse or infect my students.

Getting sick used to be fun as a kid. I could stay home from school, sleep in, receive extra attention from Mom, and watch movies. As an adult, it tears me away from my established routine and makes me think about life in a way I don't want to. That, and I'm responsible for the stuff I miss (like the Greek vocab quiz I missed on Tuesday).

Though my heart was inclined to spend time with the Lord, to seek him as my strength in the midst of my weakness of body, I found that all I wanted to do was sleep and amuse myself in my waking hours. Being groggy from medicine, I found that I didn't want to pay attention to any book, and only DVDs or computer games could keep me entertained and make me feel better. So most of the past two days have been filled with sleeping, movie watching, or resurrecting an old WWII computer game from my teenage years (except for a nice two hours Tuesday evening when Jessica came to visit me - she's a great girlfriend).

This morning I read a part of a paper on sickness by J.C. Ryle. One of his main points is that sickness is a gift from God, God's reminder to his mortal, fallen creation that life is short and to be lived for that which is of eternal consequence, namely, Christ and his Kingdom. I certainly wish I would have read this article before my sickness, but I am grateful nonetheless for the reminder that my body is fragile and temporal, and it won't last forever, even though I'm feeling better today. One day my life will end by means of sickness or age or violence, and my soul will face its Creator and have to give an account for the life He gave it.

May we take care of those eternal things now, and live as if we might die tomorrow, valuing only those things of ultimate importance.

getting back in the habit

It's the middle of October, and much has transpired since the second week of July. Apologies to my faithful readers out there who have been wondering where the heck I've been. The fact is, life just gets busy. Here's what that busyness has looked like lately:

First of all, there is a significant other in my life. Jessica and I have been dating for a month and a half now - not much time, but it's been delightful. We met about two years ago while I was in Kenosha for the summer after graduating from JBU, but weren't really on each other's radar screen until we participated in a mission trip to a Mexican orphanage in April. I was smitten by her godly demeanor, intelligence, and self-sacrificing passion for the children we were serving. So, I pursued. And miraculously enough, she responded! Thanks to God, we both live at home, are a part of the same local church, and have excellent parents and mentors to help guide us through the adventure of dating.

Also, I'm a full-time seminary student. Church History, Theology, and Greek are flowing through my veins. It thrills me to learn these things, and I am enjoying it greatly. No doubt it will get tedious and difficult after a while, but for the moment, I am content to buckle down and study hard.

On the side, I'm now officially licensed to substitute teach in the state of Wisconsin, so I'm learning how to wait for those 6 am calls from Salem Grade School to urge me out of bed and to the rescue of some poor, stranded learners. :)