Satan

When I wake up in the morning I sometimes have a very pessimistic view of how my day is going to go. This last Sunday proved true but it was because I was focused on the negative and not the positive. The verse "find joy in all circumstances" has been a struggle for me lately. However, when I think about that verse it always gives me a reason to be thankful for the day.

Sunday, January 8th, 2017. 19 days until the wedding.

5:30am Our youth pastor gets a text from our lead pastor that he is sick and that he won't be able to preach today. Our youth pastor had just over an hour to prepare a sermon, get all of his notes into computers at two different campuses, and then prepare to preach at 8:45, 9:30, 10:15, and 11:00. Satan tried hard to ruin this Sunday but nothing was going to stop us. Our youth pastor nailed the sermon and was on time to all 4 services!

6:00am My close friend was on her way to work and she decided to stop for coffee. As she pulled onto the highway, her window wouldn't shut. She either had to drive 45 minutes in -7 degrees or go home and risk being late for work. She opted to go home and was 1 minute late for work. Once again Satan tried, but she made it to work safe and warm.

8:00am Eggs are not my favorite food. They tend to make my stomach all wonky and they just don't sit well with me. Well, for breakfast I made an egg and I like it scrambled, no runny yolk. I made my bagel with mustard and sausage and finished it with my egg. My first bite, yolk went everywhere... now there is yolk running down my arm and into my lap. However, I had a meal in front of me and I left the house with a full belly. I have nothing to complain about.

9:30am Ben and I decided to attend first service at the new campus so that we could serve second service. We sat down and began to worship. Between the first and second song our worship leader talked about how Satan has no hold on us. He started the second song and bam, one of his guitar strings broke. He managed to play the whole music set (4 songs) without a string and not even show a single sign of panic. Satan tried but we didn't let him in. We were there to worship God and we did. That room was so filled with the Spirit, nothing stopped us.

11:00am Ben and I served second service in the children's area. We started with 1 girl who was quiet but slowly opened up and was a blast by the end of the hour. By the time service started we had 4 girls, Ben was very out numbered. There was one young girl that started to drive me a little crazy. She wouldn't let go of her stuffed animal. It wasn't a big deal until we started coloring with markers and it was everywhere. I wasn't sure how to go about telling her to put her animal away because I understood that at her age it was probably a security blanket. However, this little animal was driving me nuts. It was being thrown around the room, being chewed on, and was a huge distraction to the rest of the class. After taking a deep breath and preparing for the next activity, I asked her to put the animal in the her box so that it doesn't get ruined and she can use both hands for the activity. Without hesitating, she flung it into her box and we went about our morning.

Something as small as a stuffed animal or guitar string could have ruined a moment or situation. But there was someone on our side all morning, God. Satan is real. He is out to seek and destroy, but with God all things are possible. In the end, the morning was beautiful and Satan didn't win. God did.