Give and Take Away
The last month of my life has been perhaps the most eventful one, for I have moved from Texas to California with my parents and then moved into Hotchkiss Hall at The Master's College. (And by the way, Disneyland lied. Hotchkiss is the happiest place on earth.)
My stay here at TMC has been started by WOW (Week Of Welcome.) WOW is an eventful week of orientation for new students that is full of things from trips to the beach to class-like lectures to luaus to crazy dorm competitions to concerts. Over the past week I have started to settle in at TMC and made many new friends. I have certainly been blessed.
Today I experienced another blessing as I went home to celebrate my birthday with my parents, my brother and his wife, Ty "the Guy" Sager, and my uncle Ernie. We had a great time together, and I also was blessed with gifts like a digital camera, a Brita water filter, a sweet cork-board/whiteboard, and a live performance by Godsong. After the party was over I was able to relax around the house and watch a Braves game.
However, in the midst of such awesomeness, I have also experienced some difficulties. The main difficulty is that over the past few days I have developed a very annoying cold. On Thursday I had a sore throat, on Friday a severely stuffed-up nose, and today a cough that makes me sound like I've smoked for 50 years. Along with all this I have felt very achy and tired. This situation has in some ways cut-back on my ability to enjoy some of the blessings of this week.
As I have thought about this situation, I keep remembering the lyrics to Matt Redman's song, "Blessed be Your Name." Many of the lyrics for this song come from Job, and it speaks of praising God all the time, whether the "world is all that it should be" or our road is marked with suffering. The Lord has certainly blessed me in so many ways this week, and he has also sovereignly chosen to give me a trial with my health. So whether I am relaxing with family or the guys on the wing or coughing up a storm, what can I say but "Blessed be the name of the Lord."
The last month of my life has been perhaps the most eventful one, for I have moved from Texas to California with my parents and then moved into Hotchkiss Hall at The Master's College. (And by the way, Disneyland lied. Hotchkiss is the happiest place on earth.)
My stay here at TMC has been started by WOW (Week Of Welcome.) WOW is an eventful week of orientation for new students that is full of things from trips to the beach to class-like lectures to luaus to crazy dorm competitions to concerts. Over the past week I have started to settle in at TMC and made many new friends. I have certainly been blessed.
Today I experienced another blessing as I went home to celebrate my birthday with my parents, my brother and his wife, Ty "the Guy" Sager, and my uncle Ernie. We had a great time together, and I also was blessed with gifts like a digital camera, a Brita water filter, a sweet cork-board/whiteboard, and a live performance by Godsong. After the party was over I was able to relax around the house and watch a Braves game.
However, in the midst of such awesomeness, I have also experienced some difficulties. The main difficulty is that over the past few days I have developed a very annoying cold. On Thursday I had a sore throat, on Friday a severely stuffed-up nose, and today a cough that makes me sound like I've smoked for 50 years. Along with all this I have felt very achy and tired. This situation has in some ways cut-back on my ability to enjoy some of the blessings of this week.
As I have thought about this situation, I keep remembering the lyrics to Matt Redman's song, "Blessed be Your Name." Many of the lyrics for this song come from Job, and it speaks of praising God all the time, whether the "world is all that it should be" or our road is marked with suffering. The Lord has certainly blessed me in so many ways this week, and he has also sovereignly chosen to give me a trial with my health. So whether I am relaxing with family or the guys on the wing or coughing up a storm, what can I say but "Blessed be the name of the Lord."
posted by Ben Blakey at 9:44 PM
5 Comments:
Ben~
Fantastic post! It's encouraging to hear that God is teaching you to be able to bless His name through sickness and change in your life. He's so good!
Keep Pressing on!
~Kelsey
Ben,
Good to hear that you are seeing that the "goodness" of God does not always mean the "easiness" of life. Just remember- His grace is sufficient!
-W'cheese
Ben -
It is good to hear that you are enjoying God as you start out at Masters. Thanks for the phone call and I'll be praying that your sickness.
In Christ,
T
oops, I meant to say, I'll be praying that your sickness ceases!
Glad to see your having a great time. Happy Birthday! hey leave me an e-mail sometime.
l.carroll@ttu.edu
-rich
Post a Comment
<< Home