grace-filled days
the past week was a stretch for me in a lot of ways.
first of all, i had to start with not having a day off on monday. i had to travel to manila three times. i did not have the luxury to prepare for sunday's sermon on saturday morning or afternoon because of a seminar that i attended.
in a span of one week, i dedicated to vehicles: one big isuzu suv and a scooter/motorcycle. gave two birthday messages. gave one message on prayer. gave a joint-talk with lea on being in a romantic relationship that is on course for marriage. and of course, gave a sunday sermon on loving God.
what really stressed me out just thinking about the week that i had was the fact that i had to travel three times a week to manila or q.c. and that i had to do so on a tight budget.
last night, as i was busy cramming and asking God to finally give me a finished sermon, it all came together around 12:08 am. as i wrote down one major point of the sermon, i thanked God for giving me the grace to finish another sermon.
sometimes, i would wish that sermons were just talks that i prepared for the sake of information. but what i am realizing is that every time i have to step in front of that pulpit to speak, it usually is the culmination of at least a week of listening, studying, and wrestling with the text. and then finally, giving up and saying this is all that i can give at this time. it's now all up to God.
but as i look back at the week that has passed, even as i sniff my way to writing this entry, i know that i would not even have survived monday, if God did not give me the grace to carry on.
in the midst of service, in the midst of giving myself and focusing on the task at hand, His grace was always there to carry me through. and as i end another week of mine, i can only thank God once again for grace-filled days like the ones i had.
first of all, i had to start with not having a day off on monday. i had to travel to manila three times. i did not have the luxury to prepare for sunday's sermon on saturday morning or afternoon because of a seminar that i attended.
in a span of one week, i dedicated to vehicles: one big isuzu suv and a scooter/motorcycle. gave two birthday messages. gave one message on prayer. gave a joint-talk with lea on being in a romantic relationship that is on course for marriage. and of course, gave a sunday sermon on loving God.
what really stressed me out just thinking about the week that i had was the fact that i had to travel three times a week to manila or q.c. and that i had to do so on a tight budget.
last night, as i was busy cramming and asking God to finally give me a finished sermon, it all came together around 12:08 am. as i wrote down one major point of the sermon, i thanked God for giving me the grace to finish another sermon.
sometimes, i would wish that sermons were just talks that i prepared for the sake of information. but what i am realizing is that every time i have to step in front of that pulpit to speak, it usually is the culmination of at least a week of listening, studying, and wrestling with the text. and then finally, giving up and saying this is all that i can give at this time. it's now all up to God.
but as i look back at the week that has passed, even as i sniff my way to writing this entry, i know that i would not even have survived monday, if God did not give me the grace to carry on.
in the midst of service, in the midst of giving myself and focusing on the task at hand, His grace was always there to carry me through. and as i end another week of mine, i can only thank God once again for grace-filled days like the ones i had.
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