This week has been…stressful…to say the least. Lots of decisions to be made, which are contingent upon other factors, which are contingent upon further decisions. Yeah, I guess it could be summarized as “life”, but this week has been painfully condensed. Anyhow, I had my notebook out yesterday morning, attempting to do some Bible-journaling, and all I managed to jot down was the date. Then it was time for work, and my open notebook was left on the couch.
I had about a half hour between commitments this evening, so knowing this I brought the notebook along. (And my Bible.) I found a rather remote picnic table and took out my pen, and quickly noted that below yesterday’s date were words written in a familiar font which was not my own.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
– Philippians 4:6-7
They were not my words on that page, but I needed them. Sometimes it pays to have your family find things you leave around the house.
But speaking of not being anxious and desiring peace…as soon as I finished typing the Philippians reference, a small, moving object caught my eye. I wish I could’ve seen how fast I jumped up from my crouched position on the floor, because I suddenly happened to notice a spider about nine inches away from my face, scurrying away from my direction.
I hate spiders. I HATE them. I can do snakes, pill bugs, toads…whatever. But spiders freak me out. So anyway, I jumped up to grab my glue trap which is in the other corner of my room, and in the ten feet it took me to retrieve it, the spider vanished. (Most of you have heard tales of my bedroom-less nights resulting from these creepers, and needless to say, I did not want tonight to be one of them.) The spider had moved about three feet (directionally-speaking) before I found it, and being the intellectual and stupid creature it was, immediately raced into it’s sticky version of Death Row when I placed the trap down beside it.
So I returned to my computer, and a few minutes later realized the spider managed to get unstuck! I found it again, and wouldn’t you know, it scurried right back to it’s pending doom. The trap is currently down the hall and in another room…that bug will die before I bring the little white box back in here.
All this to say…
The peace that passes understanding is, well, hard to understand. But I had resolved that I would sleep in my own bed tonight, even if there was an eight-legged prowler somewhere under my desk. And for me to be able to resolve that, is no small feat.
jess leigh hanna 