People.

This past Wednesday was one of my favorites.

It was the first official weigh in of 2015, I was down 7 pounds! But before we all get too excited let's not forget that those were 7 pounds I had already lost previously, several times actually, most recently about 6 weeks ago. Right now I sit at about the weight I thought I was the absolute heaviest I could possibly be after I had Devin. So yea, I've been losing these same pounds and then some, for 15 years or so. This time is different though, really, it is.

Another perk of Wednesday? I teach on Wednesday's. (Which I love.) Currently I travel nearly an hour, one way, to where I teach and have a rather lengthy break in the middle of the day, so all of that driving and waiting is a lot of time to just be silent. It's amazing the things one can hear when one chooses to be silent. I'll admit I haven't been real good at purposely getting silent lately to hear what God has to say. But Wednesday I was and God wasn't. (And as a side note, all of my classes were so well behaved after our two week break, yay!) I pray before I enter each classroom that even though I'm not there to share the gospel that somehow I manage to be that light for even one student. I'll never know if I was, but that won't stop me from praying about it.

Also on Wednesdays is our small group. We are currently studying Restless by Jennie Allen. Our lesson this week was about people. We talked about people who need us, people we need, people we meet everyday and all the opportunities to share the gospel with people. We take turns leading the study and the woman who led Wednesday challenged us to have an intentional conversation before we meet again. This conversation with someone, anyone, should be about God. I'm not good with random conversations about anything, let alone, God, with strangers... Wait, I'm not good with random conversations about anything, especially God, with most people. It's true. But I really, look forward to this challenge and I'll try to remember to report back how that went. I mean I did say this year was about overcoming, right?

In the Restless study we are studying the story of Joseph. This week in particular we were discussing the part of the story where Joseph's brothers come to him, unknowingly, to get some grain because of the famine. After the big reveal to his brothers of who he is, Joseph makes a statement about how his brothers shouldn't be frightened by him. How God sent him on ahead to be able to help them during this time. Do you know what all Joseph went through? A couple of decades of slavery, imprisonment, false accusations, etc... Not good times, and it started when these same brothers who now need grain, got jealous and sold Joseph into slavery. One woman in our small group mentioned how incredible it was to her that Joseph could have this attitude of grace, forgiveness and understanding of needing to be sent ahead to help his family, and entire land. How God chose to use all of those horrible things in his life to bring him to this point where he could save people, including his family, from famine.

Wow. If that doesn't get you thinking.

It did get me thinking. There are things about me that I keep buried. Things that have happened that I'm either not proud of or that I've decided hurt too much. While God didn't place me in any of those situations, he did allow them all to happen. And somewhere down the line there is a reason, a purpose for every single event that happened in my life, for every single person I have met along the way. And the same holds true for you. From people who changed the entire course of our lives, to the clerk who rang us up today. Nothing accidental.

So, 2015 is about overcoming? Well then I think it's time to begin praying about letting buried things rise. Whatever that might mean.  No part of our lives is meant to be buried like it's useless. God uses all of the parts to make a whole when we let him.