The Practicality of Life~~The L.O.L.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.  II Tim. 2:15 (NIV)

Just wanted to touch base with everyone, since....yes, I'm still "out here."  LOL    The Lord helped me to survive my first "anatomy" lecture test and lab "practical."  Not only did I "survive," I passed--with A's!  Hold on while I pinch myself.  OUCH!   That hurt!   Ha!  I don't need to pinch myself to "believe it," because I feel the exhaustion from all the studying just about every moment of the day. . . that's "all the reminder" I need.  HA

Anyway....of course, I do a lot of thinking on my way "to and fro" school.   Wondering about this "phase" of life that I'm in..  Almost 40 well, um, "much older than your average college student" and in school again?  Really?  Well, it's more about "what's the deeper purpose in all of this, Lord?"  (because I know that there's SOMETHING ELSE He's wanting to teach me~~in addition to "Anatomy and the other classes," of course.) 

Guess what happens "in between school" ???  Give up?  Life!  That happens.  Duties of "being me."  Duty Calls.  Not sure about you, but sometimes I feel like taking this old flesh of mine and throwing it away. 

Allow me to explain:  (HA  that sounds so fancy!)  LOL

In Anatomy we not only have Lecture, but we also have a nearly three hour Lab class each week.  The tests in Lab are called "Practicals."  That's basically where we "see who really knows (*and can apply) what they've learned from the text book."  Some of us students prefer the lecture, whereas others like the "hands-on" approach of Lab.  Isn't it ironic that the Lab tests are actually called PRACTICALS??  

Do you have a "Hands-On Approach" to learning??

That's what LIFE IS for us, y'all.  We go to church, we listen to messages, take notes, do devotions, write journals, study the Word, dig deeper, and then guess what happens...we put the Bible down, close the devotions, strap on our "boots" and head out the door---into the big test of life~~ THE Practical!   It's early morning, and "unbeknownst" to me, I'm at the "first station in the Practical of Life,"  where I find--the car in the garage...I've got my keys in hand...and yet, where are the two children I am "to transfer from home to school?  Why are they not yet in the car??  Were they not just behind me?? Where art they!??   Hmmm.  What to do--What to do?!  Well, do I "APPLY my knowledge" from my earlier "moms-need-more-patience, and-here's-how-to-get-it" devotional???  ~~OR~~ do I flunk this first "station" in the Practical of Life and just completely blow my cool....Honking the horn, flashing the lights, etc?  "Okay, gather your cool, here come the two children...Lord, forgive me....okay...Let's shake this off and go to school."

Time flies whether we're
"having fun" or NOT! 

Head out the driveway, down the street and on towards Lab Practical Station #2 the main road..."Who let the floodgates open??   Where is all this traffic coming from? We'll never make it to school if I can't get out of this neighborhood~~What am I saying?  I have to get MYSELF to class!!"  What's that~~Could that be my blood pressure rising??   I look back to find the kids are biting their nails, tightly grasping their backpacks!  Wait...their backpacks are STILL ON THEIR BACKS, yes, while they're strapped in by their seat belts~~they must've been rushed to get in the car and "strapped in!"  ("Oh man, that's gotta be uncomfortable!")    Meanwhile---Time's tickin' away. (did I mention Lab practicals are TIMED!??)

"Barely scraping through that station," we get to school, they hop out of the car...."have a nice day y'all....I've got to run..I leave for classes in an hour!!"    Whew!   Arriving home, grabbing my backpack and a snack for later, what do I see on the dining room table?   My daughter's homework--the one she worked tirelessly on til "way past her bedtime" the night before!  OH NO!  Without realizing it, I've just proceeded to Lab Practical "Station #3!"    Now, the correct answer to this "problem" is to "not panic" and take the assignment to school (which happens to be a few minutes away..."No biggie," I thought.)   Well, I enter the garage~~keys, backpack AND daughter's assignment in hand (forget the snack-who has time to eat??)...I open the garage door, only to find...IT'S POURING DOWN RAIN!  . . . "Where's my umbrella?!"   (in the house!)   Entering Station #4.   (or could it be I never REALLY left "Station 1"  ????)  LOL 



(...."Ah...there they are, again!")

Y'all get the idea don't you!?    Life is just one big "Lab Practical" after another.  How well are we doing?  We may have the BOOK knowledge....but how well are we applying what we've learned "in the real world."  ?   ?   ?   (okay..where's my steel toes from last time?  HA)



Of course, some of these above-mentioned situations "may or may NOT" have been "added to for fictional purposes," but I have been thinking about this aspect of life. . . Surely we're fearfully and wonderfully made--as I've been  learning about all the microscopic details that we humans are composed of. . . but I'm also learning that whenever my feet hit the floor in the morning, I've just entered the "L.O.L."  Lab of Life.  And sometimes it "aint so funny!"  (Can I get a witness!?)   :o)  And the difference between the LOL (Lab of Life) and Lab in Anatomy is----in Anatomy, I'M the one who's looking into the microscope, deciding what specific tissue or cell I'm looking at. HOWEVER--in the "L.O.L." it's not MY eyes that are looking through the microscope..it's the LORD'S eyes. . . thing is----what's He seeing?    Am I squirming and/or complaining on the "microscopic stage" of life??   How do OTHERS see me?  How am I "Handling the Word?"   Life is hard, and sometimes it's literally hard to breathe under the weight of these burdens... sometimes "trying to live the life" becomes a burden in itself---which is DEAD WRONG!  Our Heavenly Father KNOWS we can not do this!!  He wants us to depend totally on HIM to live HIS LIFE through us...all He wants is for us to be a CHANNEL for HIS STRENGTH and power to flow, and therefore "pass with flying colors" in the "Lab of Life."

Happy news is.....when we're His children we're covered in His Son's righteousness.  So, when He sees us, He's seeing perfection~~POSITIONALLY, not practically, of course.  Does this mean I am to continue on in my sinful, fleshly ways?  Nope.  I'm to stay under His wing, dependant totally ON HIS STRENGTH and fully obedient TO HIS WORD to get me through these "not-so-practical" times in life.  And that's a lot to LOL about!    Rejoice in the Lord!!

Okay..that's it from me until next time.    In an email, I teased a fellow blogging sister, Karen at Hallelujah Anyhow--who's taking a short BB (Bloggin' Break)...I mentioned how I'd missed her...anyway, when I signed off, I said, "H.U.N.T.  Hugs Until Next Time. . .no, we're not sending out a search party to hunt for you!"  LOL    So...y'all don't have to send out a search party for me. . I'm here. . . .But here you go:  Happy HUNTing--Hugs Until Next Time.  :)  Oh, and BTW, Kay (at Nana's Nuggets) I nearly "cracked up" LOL'ing when I got your latest comment!  Thanks for checking in!  (And whew, you didn't have to send out a "search party" for me...not yet anyhow!)   :)  HUGS!

Like a crane [or] a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail [with looking] upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.  Isaiah 38:14 (KJV)

Thank You, Father, for Your never-ending patience, and for being the most tolerant, loving, generous, helpful, patient Instructor I've ever known!  Help me, please..help us ALL as we enter the LOL---and make sure that we are filled with YOUR JOY, so that instead of feeling "under the microscope," we can really do some LOL'ing---rejoicing in Your presence!  In Jesus' Name...Amen.