Psalm 62:5

I find great peace in the Book of Psalms most of the time.  There seems to always be a nugget for me to take to heart every single day and today was no different. School has just begun and it is craziness personified here where I am right now.  I am so tired when I get home in the afternoons....and then I found it.  My verse.  My verse today comes from Psalm 62:5:  Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from Him.   I found myself drawing back to the last week in July when Frank and I went to Panama City.  It was our last escape before the school year began and I had big images of laying on the beach or at least by the hotel pool.....and neither happened....so I felt myself growing restless.  I had a wonderful time with my husband.....but it just was not enough.  I needed sand between my toes.  Yet, as we enjoyed our few days there I could feel my soul begin to settle and my spirit grow quiet. It was a welcome feeling ... one that was a long time coming.  What I really needed was a little time to just be still. To prepare for the busy schedule I would be jumping into the very next week. I needed to reset my heart and mind on the students who would be in my charge for the 2015/16 school year.  Frank and I travel a good bit and sometimes we have some of the greatest conversations, other times we sing....and sometimes we just drive in comfortable silence, occasionally commenting on the beauty of our surroundings. Sweet memories make us laugh as we spot places we have visited before.  We go to the beach and the mountains each year....at least once.   I am always the one with my camera on ready looking for something unusual.  I also love riding with the windows down so I can smell the world.  I love the smell of fields being turned, fresh rain, honeysuckle, flowers....and the ocean.  I am the one who finds shapes in clouds.....and in the Kudzu growing voraciously on the side of the road. 

I have a love-hate relationship with Kudzu.  I love the shapes I find in it....but I hate that it takes over the side of the road.  Kudzu is nasty and nothing more than a deadly weed. The plant climbs over trees or shrubs and grows so fast that it kills them … basically by suffocating them.”  Kudzu is a menace. According to Wikipedia, Kudzu is a serious invasive plant in the United States. It has been spreading in the southern U.S. at the rate of 150,000 acres annually. Its introduction has produced devastating environmental consequences and has earned the nickname, "The vine that ate the South."  I have to ask,"How could something so beautiful and entertaining be so deadly?" The Holy Spirit whispered to my weary soul, “Oh, you know how.”  And I do....  I mean....I had just spent nine months pouring my heart and soul into the lives of impressionable minds I call students and feeding my flock at the church where I pastor.....AND being a friend, family member.... completing two online classes for CEU's so I would be the very best teacher.....and pastor's wife at my husband's church....by the end of June I had discovered that my schedule had become deadly. I was so tired....no...that is an understatement.  I was exhausted.  I found myself....a 61 year old.... overweight, over worked, underexercising, diabetic, with high blood pressure.....and so very tired.  Each one of these things were screaming at me...."SLOW DOWN!" I found that I needed some time to sit at His feet this year. I found myself diving into his word, following through on creative things that make me happy.  I find myself happy simply staying home.  I am experiencing date night with my husband.  I guess in a sense I am cutting away at the Kudzu.  But the most important thing I am doing...is letting go....and letting God be in control.  I am stopping to breathe deeply and trust Him for the plan He has in my life.  I have always loved the 23rd Psalm....but for the past month...it has become my mantra as I turn it all over to Him.  He has this.....and I can rest assured....He has my back, my front, my sides.