Expiration Dates Approaching....Approached?

Shew! This pudding's got a funky whang to it. Yeah it smells.  Down the garbage disposal it goes.

As I threw out the last few spoonfuls of butterscotch pudding earlier this week, I thought to go look at the milk, too. That explained it. The milk that I had used to make the pudding had expired, too. Already?  I had just looked and it said April 22nd...oh my gosh it's already April 24th!?  Oh crap, the Tribune dinner is already next Thursday! The conference meet is next Saturday?! That's only a week away!  Only three full class periods until the AP History Test!  And the Chemistry EOC is that same day..how is that supposed to work? AP English test the next week! Only one more assignment to turn into my online class...at least that's one relief..

AAAHHHHH!!!!

Where has the year gone?

Things are winding down, but it does not exactly feel like it.  We have almost reached the climax of junior year.  Things are all exploding at once.  But then it will be all downhill!  My brain daily feels like exploding, but I gotta mellow out.  I can't do it all, and that's just something that I have to accept.  As the Newsboys's song says, "There's gotta be so much more to life than this, a higher calling that I've missed.  I want my life to count, every breath!  I wanna live with abandon, give You all that I am!  Every part of my life, Jesus, I place in Your hands."

As all these things have been coming and going faster than I've been able to fathom, I tried to snap some picture and take notes on things to be able to remember things along the way.  My mind is full of aspirations and projects to do sometime or another, but I am trying now more than ever to not try so much.  Sounds contradictory?  James 4:13-15 makes it make more sense.  "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow...Instead you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that,'..."  Two verses from Proverbs convey the same message:  we try to plan, but God will always win. (19:21 and 16:9) Life is totally out of our control--but that's okay.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)  We are not wise people.  "God alone is good." (Mark 10:18)  Something that stuck with me from last Sunday's lesson on the above James passage was what our desire to plan and be in control really is--self-centeredness.  By being glued to our own plans, we can overlook what God has placed right in our path!  Some "inconvieniet mishap" could be one of the best opportunites to share the gospel.  If it's God's will, you can be positive that what you do is the best.  That is not so with our own plans.  They can be easily shaken.  We can rest assured that when we open up our future to the will of God, that we will be satisfied, protected, and above all, accepted as a child of God in heaven in the end. 
Peace comes with giving up control.

There are so many things we can spend our time on, and I am guilty of not doing so well with time management!  It is a daily battle that I am working to improve on.  Like right now.  I was going to study.  For some reason, though, I felt like I should share this.  Sometimes our minds need a break.  Taking time to sit back can benefit you more than frantically pressing on and on sometimes.  God even tells us in Psalm 46:10 to "Be still and know that I am God."

Take a deep breath.  (I'm talking to myself, too.)  Stop and think about what you're doing.  Maybe there is something else you could be doing.

#FoodForThought