Two Lessons God Taught Me This Year...

This past summer/winter, God has been teaching me about patience and His sovereignty.

It began this summer when I didn't get scheduled to work the first week of Camp Agape (day camp where I work in the summers).  When I looked at the schedule, I was really surprised and really disappointed.  I felt that if I didn't get to work right at the beginning of the summer, I wouldn't get to know the kids well, and I would not build the same kind of relationships with them that I was sure the other counselors would have.

After I got over my initial disappointment, I began looking around to see what I could get done in my week off.  That week, I was able to finish some overdue schoolwork, and I also learned that sometimes God's timing isn't the same as mine.  I was able to build really great relationships with the kids and staff during the weeks that I worked, and overall, I felt like God had taught me a lot through the many experiences I had while working at that camp.

Well, that was one of the lessons from the summer...

Some of you know that I play the violin quite seriously.  In November of last year, I had been practicing about 2 hours a day, and I was progressing quickly on my instrument and really enjoying it.  I had auditioned into the highest ensemble at my youth orchestra program, and I was having the time of my life with my music and all of the new things that I was learning.

Performing with an orchestra in early November

Until...

A few days after Thanksgiving, I suddenly had a sharp pain in my hand/wrist while I was playing.  I stopped practicing for that day, and came back to it the next day.  The pain continued--in fact, it got worse.  Almost my whole lower arm (elbow to hand) hurt when I played.  It was at that point that I realized that I probably had tendonitis.  (Tendonitis is when the tendons in your arm become inflamed.  It is usually caused by tension.  In my case, the tension is in my violin playing.)  The next day, we contacted my violin teacher to tell her what was going on and that I wouldn't be able to come to my lesson the next day.  To make a long story short...  It has been about two and a half months since I got tendonitis, and I still have it.  It is really frustrating for me, especially when I realize how much it is holding me back in my violin playing.

You are probably wondering why I wrote this long story about how I got tendonitis when this post is supposed to be about the lessons that God has been teaching me this year.  Well, here is how it relates.

I still haven't figured out why God would let this happen to me, and I am not sure I ever will, but
I am learning to be content with that fact.  Ultimately, I am learning about God's sovereignty.  At my church the last several weeks, our pastor has been speaking a lot about God's sovereignty.  That really spoke to me.  Even thought I struggle with the "why," I know that He is always in control, and that His plan is what is best for me.  Now, I am learning to lean on Him when it gets hard to keep going.

I hope that you have been encouraged by the things that I have learned this past year, and I would love to hear how God has been working in your life!  God bless you!