The Duh Moments of God

I know. Two blog posts in one week. I was thinking of waiting to post this until next week, but wanted to go ahead and share this.
Have you ever had one of those moments where you stop and look up to heaven and say, "Ok, I've got it now." I had one of those about a week ago. I called it my Duh moment of God.
For those that do not know, I am working on my Master's of Education degree, so that I can someday be a teacher preferably a special needs teacher. In order to do this, I also have to take a few Praxis tests. Six to be exact. I have taken 3, but I still have 3 to go. I had kind of been dragging my feet about taking the last 3 tests. I had all sorts of excuses from I don't graduate till December, so I have time; to the test is just too expensive.
Well, about a week ago, my boss came back to my office with a catalogue for resources for special needs individuals. I get random catalogues at work, but I thought that my boss may have received this; knows I want to work with special needs kids, and then gave it to me. I thanked her, and then I began to look at it. I flipped it over and saw that it was addressed to me at my work. Now, I have never made a search with myself related to my work and special needs individuals. To go one step further, when I worked with special needs kids in Mississippi, I never received any catalogues regarding special needs resources. I really feel that this was one of those moments that God brought me back to what I am working towards. You see, I was using all those excuses plus I have gotten very comfortable in my job. I like my job, and it is a good job to have for the moment. But, God has a bigger plan for me, and receiving that catalogue just further told me what His plan is.
Later that day I was telling my mom what happened, and she said that that morning on her way to work she prayed that God would grant me a teaching job if it was His will. She said that normally she prays that He gives me a teaching job, but that day she prayed differently. I do not think that that prayer was a coincidence.
Steven Curtis Chapman has a song called the "Miracle of the Moment”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rResKXjKqjQ The chorus says:
“So breathe it in and breathe it out
Listen to your heartbeat
There is a wonder in the here and now
It’s there in front of you
And I don’t want you to miss
The miracle of the moment”
So, I could have just passed this moment by, and not really thought anything about it, but thank God I didn’t because I would have missed the “Miracle of the Moment”

One Word

So, if you are like me, then you may not be into keeping New Year's Resolutions. I always say that I make internal suggestions to myself, but not really resolutions. About a week ago I was listening to K-Love, and they were talking about My One Word (www.myoneword.org). Instead of making a bunch of resolutions that you may or may not keep, you decide the type of person that you would like to be at the end of the year. You find characteristics of this person, and then you pick one word to describe this person that you want to be at the end of the year. You find books and scripture about this word to help you for the year.
I have chosen the word GENTLE. At times I tend snap at my husband or son for no reason. I may be thinking about something else or not feeling well, but it is my intent to be a gentler person at the end of the year.
Philippians 4:5 says, "Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." (NIV). The Message says is like this, "Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in Him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them to see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute."