I was writing a letter to Token just a few minutes ago and I was talking about my job. In the letter I wrote "...It's a nice job, but I miss kids and being busy all the time." As I wrote that God reminded me of a prayer I prayed sometime back when I was really stressed from teaching. I don't exactly know when it was, but I remember praying. I just want to relax, I don't want to be busy all the time. I don't want to feel like I'm always on the go. (I really want to think it was during my second year of teaching when I was just miserable.) I remember during that time feeling like I never had time to spend with anyone and I was always up, most of the time going to work on only 3 or 4 hours of sleep. I needed relief and God heard my prayer! Last December I was already feeling like my world was turned upside down because I had just finished teaching for my last day, I felt relieved, but at the same time sad and worried because I didn't know where that left me. The next day, December 22, I was rushing around trying to get that last Christmas presents and get home before my grandparents got there before I knew it the traffic was backed onto the highway and I couldn't stop and I hit the back of another car. I totaled my little Echo and did very minimal damage to the Isuzu Trooper that I hit. I knew there was a lesson in this for me, but I was so upset at the time that I just couldn't think about it all. Right after my wreck I knew part of it was that I was becoming too careless in my driving. I had felt it before when I was rushing around, but I just ignored those feelings. I know that somewhere inside I also knew that I needed to slow down, but old habits are hard to break.
Jesus had set up everything in my life for me to be able to slow down yet I just couldn't. He had already given me a job that was less stressful. (Yes working with 2 year olds is less stressful than working with 2nd graders.) There was much less for me to do and I had a 2 hour lunch to plan my next week's activities. When I left work at 5 I was finished with my day there was no outside paperwork. Yet I somehow still found "'other things" to fill my time. Not only did I have all that I also had my regular "Christmas Break" during which I had to rely on my parents to take me where I needed to go so I couldn't be just running around hanging out with my friends. It was good I finally got to see my parents more, but it still seemed like I was always running around. (It's like I said "some habits are just hard to break.") Now here I am almost a year later all the way in Savannah and I am learning how to slow down. This job is not fast paced at all. I have a lot of "free time" which I can spend doing whatever I want to do reading, writing letters, working on this site, helping with www.pastorjohnshouse.com by editing the web letters. Then when I get back to the apartment I can work on dinner and do things around there and not feel rushed like I just have to get somewhere. It is something that I want to take back home with me when I leave Savannah. Everything is so fast paced these days and just to be able to slow down, that's exactly what I need and I want to learn and remember this lesson so that God doesn't have to put me through another wreck or anything else.
I'm adding this picture because this is what God did to get my attention last December. 
