Fall Break!

We have Fall Break this weekend which basically means that everyone at school leaves and gets to be with their family from thursday till tuesday; EXCEPT the swim team. :( SO, in order to rid ourselves of boredom, we always plan lots of fun things to do over this weekend. Friday night was a good night because I got to just kind of recoup from the week and let my brain be still for a while. :) Saturday, or last night was so much fun. We had a three hour practice in the morning and then straight after that, I was doing hair and makeup for five people all day! The team has a yearly event that takes place at this Cour d'alene resort where we all dress up and go to this fancy restaurant and eat GIGANTIC bowls of ice cream! It's amazing...I might have pictures up so you can see the incredible sizes of these things. Then, this morning I went to church and we talked about worship as a form of obedience to God. It was good. The pastor shared a story with us about a man who had been discussing with his friends at a bible study about whether or not God still spoke to people...after that meeting the man ended up asking God in the privacy of his car to tell him something if he still speaks to people...the man felt this sudden urge to go by a gallon of milk...which was a weird thing, but he was like, "well if this isn't something from God, I may as well get some for myself." Then after he got the milk, he kept driving, then he felt an urge to keep driving in circles around this one block that was kind of like a city/suburb area. He finally stopped somewhere and started walking around. He noticed a small apartment building shoved in between two stores, and felt a certain nudge to go and give the milk to whoever was in there..so he argued with God for a little while and finally ended with a bargain that if nobody came to the door after his first knock then he would leave and go home...so he went up and knocked, a man who sounded annoyed yelled, "who is it, what do you want?" But before the man could leave the door step the man on the other side opened the door. He did not look very happy, and it was morning and it looked like he had just woken up. So the man who had been carrying the milk without a word just stretched out his hands with the milk, and without saying a word the other man grabbed it from his hands and rushed back into the house yelling in spanish and crying. There was a woman's voice and a baby crying. The man in the house gave the milk to his wife who fed the baby with it. They told the man who had bought the milk that they had run out of money to pay for milk for their baby and that just before that, they had been praying for God to provide an angel to bring their baby milk. This man was their angel. ....This story really hit me hard, I have had numerous experiences like this where I have seen a need and not responded, or tried to convince myself out of doing something that I could tell was what God wanted me to do...It's so frusterating to me when I make poor decisions like that because I do know what it's like to also be on the receiving end of mercy. To be blessed by someone in action and in love. I remember how thankful and grateful I am towards those people for what they decided to take action on. I just hope that the next time I am pulled to do something, even though I may look rediculous doing it, like the man in the story carrying a gallon of milk everywhere, that I would do it and obey. Love is not all about feelings, but is DEFINITELY A LOT about action and how you behave. So often I base my actions off of how I "feel" and for the past couple of years I have really concentrated on this subject and trying to find a balance. The result that I have come up with so far is that if I love God, then I will obey and do the will of the Father. I thought about this verse in Mark (3:35),where Jesus asks the people around him who his brothers, and sisters and mother are, and he responds saying, "Whoever does God's will is my brothers and sister and mother." To me, it sounds like one major way of doing God's will is by obeying those nudges that God gives you. But anyway, that story led to those thoughts in my head and it really convicted me so I thought I'd share it with you too and see what y'all thought. :)
Late today I'm gonna do our first swim team bible study...I'm pretty nervous as there is no real set schedule and some of the people coming don't really know a whole lot about the bible. I'm planning on not scaring any of them off by doing anything super theological or anything, but rather having them ask questions, get a feel for where everyone is at, and see if they might be interested in learning more about this "Jesus" person that is so radical and different. :) Prayer for these girls and for our time together would be greatly appreciated since I know that nothing I say or anyone else says at this meeting will impact anyone else unless God wills it to and the girls hearts are opened to it.
So yeah, I've got that later today and then a Luau/bbq thing at Quinton's house later today for the team....then HW GALORE!!! It's a really busy weekend and I still have LOTS to do, so organizing my time and possibly sacrificing what I want to do for what needs to be done with be crucial decisions throughout this week. I hope everyone's week is thoughtful and restful and that you all can get lots done. That's my prayer for you guys. :) Have a good day. :)