Sunday is coming

I hesitated to post a Good Friday update after I had already posted three days in a row, then this morning I realized I'm not forcing anyone to read this, and there are people who would want to celebrate the encouragement I received yesterday on the greatest of Fridays.

I know a lot of people don't like Good Friday and think it should be called "Bad Friday" or "Sad Friday" or something like that, but I'd just like to put my two cents in that the work of Friday is so good because it is what makes Sunday possible. Of course Sunday is the greatest, the day we celebrate death's defeat, but without Friday's death, there would be no resurrection. I think Good Friday is a great opportunity to take in the gravity of what a serious sacrifice Jesus made that makes his resurrection all the more amazing and worth celebrating. 

I got to take a moment to pause and praise the Lord for what he did with several special people this Good Friday. I only had a half day of scheduled therapy, but I still got a chance to stand up and stretch my calves for a little bit next to the nurses' station. Sandra and her parents came to join me as I stood at the window. Once I finally sat down, I enjoyed a great conversation with this couple who came across the world to visit their own kid but chose to spend a chunk of their time blessing me. Before they left, we spent some time reading John's account of Good Friday and praising our great God who came to redeem us.

Not too long after that visit, a couple TeachBeyond friends came to visit as well bringing one of my incredible students. It was a wonderful gift to get to spend time alone with my precious Alyssa and to hear how the Lord is working in her heart right now. I'm blessed to be a part of her story, or as one of my best friends puts it, I'm blessed that my subplot in God's story overlaps with her subplot in God's story. Students like Alyssa are the reason I came to Germany. She wants to serve Jesus with her whole life, and she's not going to wait until later to do it.

Talking with Alyssa reminds me about how much each of us can do right now in whatever position God puts us in. God has put me through a lot of crazy things, and each one has prepared me for the next placement, but that never discounts the place I was before. I'm here in REHAB now, but I'm grateful I never chose to waste a day I had as Alyssa's teacher. I need to listen carefully to my own advice to her and remember that my days here in REHAB count for God's kingdom and simultaneously prepare me for whatever might come next.

Mordecai's warning to Esther that she was equipped and placed "for such a time as this" rings through my head often. I was equipped and placed for whatever this time is. There's purpose in my condition, and I'll standing strong in that truth figuratively and literally as I go stretch my calves.