God and I Laughed
A little break from my current blog topic, since I'm out of town...
written the week of April 19th, just prior to HCC's "Praise 'n' Providence" event:
Due to unforeseen circumstances surrounding PnP, I found myself abnormally stressed this week. This is nobody's fault but mine, but I had to try and get things straight in my mind, getting better focused and seeking clarity. Before I had a chance to do that, a prayer need came across my desktop. Prayer seemed to be the likely next step in that process, I thought.
The result? I laughed WITH God...for the first time in my life. Oh sure, there have been times when my prayers may have been somehow enveloped with laughter in the moment, but I never really felt God "laughing with me" at those moments. No, this time...I think He was ACTUALLY laughing WITH me, and it was a beautiful thing.
I take myself way too seriously most of the time, and this morning, while frantically trying to accomplish 30 more tasks than the day could hold, I tried to slam the brakes on. I tried to treat a prayer request I received in an email just like another one of the tasks in my list.
As I was placing cell phone calls and firing off email responses, one per every 2 minutes, I quickly dialed God up and expected his answering machine, but didn't wait for it. I began my message, in the most formal, business-like tone I could muster, and began addressing the perfect God of the universe in this manner: "Good morning, this is Jeff Fessler. I just received an email from one of your associates and a friend of mine, and he was asking me to contact you. If you are available to assist us with this concern, could you please return my call at xxx-xxxx or you can also reach me by my email address, jeff@ ... WAIT A MINUTE!!!"
At that moment, I began to laugh out loud, and I promise you, I heard God laugh with me. Not AT me. No, only my closest friends reserve that right(as do most of the residents of the 48 contiguous states). No, God was distinctly laughing WITH me...I knew immediately that he FELT me and He knew exactly where I was at. He understood that I am a flawed being whose brain frequently inhales more than it actually processes. And most of all, I think God wanted me to take a break from the chaos and just laugh...so he laughed with me...and for that I was grateful.
Yes, folks, believe it...things are actually THAT CRAZY right now. So, if I've said or done something in the last few weeks (or if I DO something in the coming weeks), please assume the best in me, but don't hold it in: let me know what I did (after May 2nd...hehe) and I will gladly set things straight.
I love you all, and I look forward to laughing with each of you, soon,
Grace and peace,
-jeff
written the week of April 19th, just prior to HCC's "Praise 'n' Providence" event:
Due to unforeseen circumstances surrounding PnP, I found myself abnormally stressed this week. This is nobody's fault but mine, but I had to try and get things straight in my mind, getting better focused and seeking clarity. Before I had a chance to do that, a prayer need came across my desktop. Prayer seemed to be the likely next step in that process, I thought.
The result? I laughed WITH God...for the first time in my life. Oh sure, there have been times when my prayers may have been somehow enveloped with laughter in the moment, but I never really felt God "laughing with me" at those moments. No, this time...I think He was ACTUALLY laughing WITH me, and it was a beautiful thing.
I take myself way too seriously most of the time, and this morning, while frantically trying to accomplish 30 more tasks than the day could hold, I tried to slam the brakes on. I tried to treat a prayer request I received in an email just like another one of the tasks in my list.
As I was placing cell phone calls and firing off email responses, one per every 2 minutes, I quickly dialed God up and expected his answering machine, but didn't wait for it. I began my message, in the most formal, business-like tone I could muster, and began addressing the perfect God of the universe in this manner: "Good morning, this is Jeff Fessler. I just received an email from one of your associates and a friend of mine, and he was asking me to contact you. If you are available to assist us with this concern, could you please return my call at xxx-xxxx or you can also reach me by my email address, jeff@ ... WAIT A MINUTE!!!"
At that moment, I began to laugh out loud, and I promise you, I heard God laugh with me. Not AT me. No, only my closest friends reserve that right(as do most of the residents of the 48 contiguous states). No, God was distinctly laughing WITH me...I knew immediately that he FELT me and He knew exactly where I was at. He understood that I am a flawed being whose brain frequently inhales more than it actually processes. And most of all, I think God wanted me to take a break from the chaos and just laugh...so he laughed with me...and for that I was grateful.
Yes, folks, believe it...things are actually THAT CRAZY right now. So, if I've said or done something in the last few weeks (or if I DO something in the coming weeks), please assume the best in me, but don't hold it in: let me know what I did (after May 2nd...hehe) and I will gladly set things straight.
I love you all, and I look forward to laughing with each of you, soon,
Grace and peace,
-jeff
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