...it's been a while

today and tomorrow, I'm "filling in" for Squarepeg...
who has had [today] another knee surgery...
so I'm "manning" the phones & "holding down the fort"...
in the church office until she's back on Wednesday...

the main purpose for my being here is the St John's Chamber Music Festival...

this year's concerts are on January 21, 23, 28 & 30...
and someone needs to be here to sell tickets...
I've been here since 9 AM[it's now 1:15...], & I'll leave at 2 PM...

so far, there was one phone call about tickets...
but she wasn't sure about something...
concerning which dates she wanted tickets for...
so she'll check on it and, "call back later..."

other than that, I've stamped & mailed a bunch of envelopes...
numbered the remaining tickets...
answered one phone question,["Psalm 23...]...
referred one phone call & one walk-in to Sp's return on Wednesday...
and had the phone ring with nobody there...

the "counters" have been & gone...
so has Fr. Toolbelt, whom I didn't expect to see today...

I brought freshly ground "Major Dickenson's" blend coffee...
to brew, since I enjoy a full-bodied coffee...
and am now having a caffeine headache...
because I've not been drinking a lot of coffee lately...

I always drank it when I was teaching...
I'd brew a thermal carafe every morning...
[set-up on a timer the night before...]
and drink 2 or 3 mugs during the morning...

since I've always taken it "black"...
I had no problem with drinking it in my classroom...

so since this was the first time I was "going to work" in a while...
I decided I needed some coffee...

when I was teaching, I arrived at school by 7AM every day...
the years I taught music, I rarely left before 3:30 or 4...
often staying MUCH later, if I was counting money or preparing music...
the last few years, [English],I graded papers, did lesson plans, etc...
though I did sometimes leave at 2 PM...

as I've looked for work the last few years...
there have been several jobs that I thought that I could do well...
but it's never worked out, so I can only assume...
[yeah,yeah... I know, "when you assume..."]
that God has ,"other plans" for me...

there are a lot of things I could be doing around my home...
yard work, de-cluttering, minor maintenance...
probably a lot could just involve, "elbow grease"...
[though there are some more major repairs/maint. that would "cost"...]

I just have to get past the physical limitations...
and NOT overdo it, causing further physical problems...
but all journeys begin with a single step...
so I need to take that first step...
then then next and so on...

I've always tended to do things in intense groupings...
often leaving my body sore, stiff and in need of rest...
I just can't do that anymore...
or I end up in bed for a few days...

I have to admit that when I quit working for the district...
I was thoroughly exhausted and needed to do, "nothing" for a while...

I stopped wearing a watch, got up when I felt like it...
and threw myself into some home renovations...
that were really needed, but exhausted me yet again...

then there was the stress of the financial tailspin...
the fruitless, but taxing, job search...

at this point, much is still, "unsure"...
but I'm in a better place, spiritually, emotionally & mentally...
than I've been for a long time...

so maybe this has been God's point all along...

that if I stop filling my life with busyness & stress...
He will fill it with peace and the time to...
take care of all the things that need doing...

to exist more simply and begin to live completely dependent on Him...

sounds like a plan to me...