... and that is exactly what He said... yesterday, that is. so friday was another "teaching moment" for me... and by that, i mean that God broke out the two-by-four and got my attention, again... so our cable/internet went out at about 2am friday morning while i was working on compiling my research for a paper due... 13 hours later (some of my 'old student man' had resurfaced). by 3am it was back on, but i was worthless, so i went to bed and got up 2 hours later to start fresh... or as fresh as i can be as a non-morning person at 5am after a 2 hour nap, anyway... i had to be at work at 8:45 and i only had my reference page and the intro paragraph done... but i had 3 1/2 hours to write 4 pages, so i was going to be fine, right? work was more challenging than usual (and that is being VERY generous)... i saw myself unrestrain myself, and yet i did not lose control... COMPLETELY God's grace (yes, Daddy... i am FULLY aware that was You and not me!). it looked like we were going to get out at 1pm (a half hour early)... but i forgot i had supervision... DANGIT!!! i fully invested in the meeting with my supervisor, and it was good, but instead of getting done 1/2 hour early, i was 1/2 hour late getting done. i don't mind the extra time, it's valuable, but yesterday wasn't the day, y'know? so, it's 2pm and i have 3 hours to finish my paper and e-mail it. things go well, i'm making progress on the library's computer and am on track to finish just enough before 5 to save and e-mail it... then i get a pop-up screen that informs me that the computer i am on is going to shut down and reboot in 180 seconds... the time? 4:42pm... so i am going to be 15 minutes short of finishing my paper. so i decide to wait for the computer to reboot and while i am waiting realize that ALL the computers in the library are displaying the new message that they are in "maintenance mode" and the keyboards and mice are disabled... SERIOUSLY??? i gather my research and other "stuff" and head quickly to the department to jump on a computer there to finish it up on time... maybe... at quarter to 5pm on a friday afternoon... during the summer... yeah, the office was locked and nobody was home... so now i am stressing as i recall an e-mail from the professor which indicated that any paper submitted after 5pm would be an "F"... yeah... NOT cool! i find myself driving home developing new and previously undiscovered expicitives while simultatneously calculating how well i will have to do on the final to keep a "C" (anything lower and i get kicked out of the program... and i only get ONE "C", at that)... i get home and limit myself to the same 15 minutes i would have had at the library... i finish my paper... not entirely satisfied (certainly not at peace) and e-mail it with an explanation of my day and a plea that i be assigned an "F" and not a "ZERO"... as soon as i mailed it, our internet hiccupped and i could not even verify that it was sent... i had to head up to the church to help jenn and kate get stuff ready for the yardsale today (remember... STILL operating on 2 hours of sleep, and both of them were in about the same boat), so i threw my hands up in defeat (not surrender or even resignation, but an all out, unstipulated 'i give up!' i change clothes and walk out to my truck and open the door... as i was getting in, God showed up... a dragonfly with colorless wings and a blue/purple tail had landed on the window ledge and was just hangin' out... i had to chuckle... you see, the dragonfly has always been my "rainbow"... the symbol of the covenant that God made with me that He would never leave me or forsake me... and that He was always in control... so i looked at the dragonfly... he (she?) looked back at me... keep in mind that i make children of ALL ages at cry and panic when i look at them, but this dragonfly stared back at me... and i heard God as He gently, yet with authority, said... "WOW... has it been a while, or what?" so i thanked Him for the circumstances of the day and that He had been with me through each of them and had no plans of leaving... and while He didn't have to ask... i wondered where i had been... i repented and as i drove to church, i actually sang and worshipped with my ipod rather than using it as a soundtrack to my insignificant "driving thoughts"... i was pretty worthless compared to the constant energy (while fully caffeine and adrenaline driven) displayed by jenn and kate... and i got home around midnight. i checked my e-mail and my professor had replied to let me know he had gotten it... and it was "on time" and not to worry. once again my dragonfly covenant was manifest bigger than i could have imagined... thank You Daddy... to You be ALL the glory... do You wanna hang out later today? (i really need to sleep right now) | 
