A Week of Training and Trusting

Written Friday, April 3, 2009

Greetings from Skiatook, OK! I want to thank everyone for your prayers and update you on how relaxing and rejuvenating this first week has been training and getting to know the team that I will be teaching with until mid-May.

Last Saturday 16 of us loaded up and headed to Eagle Springs – a beautiful lodge on 700 acres – to join the 5 other members who had come early to get the place ready and cook dinner.

But dinner did not get cooked. One thing I have learned about OK is that the weather is totally unreliable! A snowstorm hit, leaving 8 inches of snow and causing a power outage! So we began our retreat with sandwiches and chips by candlelight. 🙂 We were all very grateful that it was back on by morning.

The next couple days were spent searching the Word and spending time with God. One thing that I don’t want to forget is that there is a vital step between seeking God and teaching His ways to others. That step is obeying and carrying it out ourselves. the command God has been prompting me to obey is to trust Him instead of worry.

He’s given me a few time to practice this already. Once, my power point was lost before my class so I had to adapt a similar one to use as a substitute. On April Fool’s day the shower head was missing which set my schedule back. 🙂 Another time I started worrying about having time to practice violin for an audition that was coming up. And then there was the time I was co-teaching another class and my teaching partner wasn’t able to plan until the last minute which is NOT my preference! These were all chances to pause, say “God, I trust you with this”, and continue working through it calmly knowing that God was in control. Replacing worry with trust  in God is done little by little, one decision at a time. I’m excited to refine this command in my life this session. I know I will have lots of opportunities!

Training will finish up tomorrow and we’ll head back into the business of life for a time to apply and refine what we have learned here. Your prayers for effectiveness as we teach would be much appreciated! Thank you!

5 Comments

  1. Hannah Burnett April 6, 2009 at 8:05 am #

    Thanks for sharing what God has been teaching you, Esther! It’s great to have you back in Oklahoma! You are right about the weather….there is a quote that says, “If you don’t like the weather in OK, just wait a minute.” 🙂

    Looking forward to the work God will do this semester! I am praying for the team.

  2. Michael April 6, 2009 at 6:45 pm #

    May God’s great love be with you – may you always know the most loving thing to do in every situation.

  3. Jennifer Wilkes April 7, 2009 at 4:46 pm #

    Wow it sounds like you had an exciting first week! God is so faithful to mold his chosen children. Thank you for this testimony of letting God work in and through you. You are in my prayers

  4. Donald April 9, 2009 at 2:40 am #

    What a story. I’m sure by the time you read this comment you’ll have had many opportunities to seek the Lord behind circumstances! It strikes me too how we can trust God just as much when we do have time to prepare etc. As the others have said, God is so ready to work through us when we let Him. His love is incredibly powerful, life-changing and real. “There is no fear (worry) in love; but perfect love casteth out fear …” (I John 4:18). I’m happy that you’re seeing that lesson as it applies to teaching. I see with the English Village students here, and other schools nearby, that students often perfectly reflect the attitudes of their teacher. How privileged we are to have the opportunities we have to flow into children’s lives with truth and lasting character.

  5. Dad and Mom April 9, 2009 at 6:02 pm #

    Faith – visualizing what God intends to do and acting in harmony with it. As Donald said, may the Lord open all our eyes to see Him behind our circumstances. Faith is the “evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1).

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