Brag Board and John 11

"This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's son may be glorified through it." John 11:4

I believe God will not allow my current situation to end in failure (death). No, it is for God's glory so that Jesus may be glorified through it. Is this hopeful thinking from a man who needs some hope or is it a word form God telling me to look at things differently? I believe it is the latter. How can I glorify God in my current situation or better yet, not how will I glorify God but how can He glorify himself through me. Without Him, I can do nothing.
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Now, for my bragging. Susie and I went to our parent teacher conferences today. Both boys made honor roll. Josiah made high honor roll with all "A's". Noah got A's and B's and best of all he got high marks in conduct. He is actually quiet in class, that explains why he is non-stop at home.

The Talk

I had the talk with my oldest. Yea, the talk. I figured I should be the first to tell him and when he asked a question about DNA and genes I was able to approach the subject. I asked him if he wanted to know more. He said, "Go on." So I told him. After I was done and some questions were asked and answered he said, "Awkward..." and was really quiet. After a minute or two I said it is very quiet in here (we were in the car driving to house church) and he said "too quiet, could you turn on the radio?" And that was that. I am sure we will have more conversation in the future. Now, he does not have to hear it from a school "friend".

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the
mountains fall into the sea, though the waters roar and the
mountains quake with their surging.

Trust God. That is all I keep hearing and that is what I am trying to do. I also heard that God puts people through suffering in order to be glorified. Well, I have not been glorifying my God. I have been praising my own merits. You seem to do that when you write a resume. My God wants to be glorified, and I want to glorify Him. I am beginning to understand Paul more and more. When he says I do the things I do not want to do and the things I want to do, I do not do. Well, I, at 40 , am still in the learning process. It is kind of cool to constantly learn how Gods world is an opposite world. I am to the point now to think of what I am suppossed to do according to the world and then do the opposite. Ok, this is a rambling blog, I am trying to work on that. I feel this is not as much as my blog but an online journal to throw my thoughts into and hope something comes out of it.

I guess I am done, I can only ask for your prayers. Pray that God gets glorified through my crap. Pray that my relationship with Him is strengthened.

STRIKE

The day has come, we are on strike and it does not look good. I have a feeling this is going to be a long one. I think the company wanted us to do it and we fell for the trap but we really had no choice. I have decided that it is time to look for another job. it would have been great to get another 16 months so I could complete my degree.

Today I walked the picket line for the first time in my life. Boy, it was cold. I know it is only going to get colder and I will have to dress appropriatly. It was nice getting aknowledged by people with the honks of their horns. It is such a small jesture but means a lot to the ones who are walking, so when you see someone walking give a little toot on your horn to let them know you at least see them. My shift is from 6am to 10am so I get to watch my former supervisors drive into work to perform my job. Most do not even look at us. This week I kind of feel sorry for the good ones, they have to make a living.

I love the teamsters. The union drivers will not cross lines. One trucker dropped his trailer in the entry of our plant and left. He said he would not have taken it that far if he would have known we were on strike. An independant trucker came in today. He was very polite and apologized for driving in but did not know about the strike and he needed to drop off the load. We told him to come on in, he has to make a living too.

I trust him, but.....

I know God is great and I know he will has more in store for me than I can imagine, but what do I do about it? Here's the deal. I am laid off, for only thre weeks, this time. The lay off is not the problem. I am currently working for Navistar. Been there 13 years. It is a UAW shop. Our contract is also up and a lot of changes are going to take place. None of that bothers me either, most of the changes need to happen. The problem with the changes is the atmosphere in the plant is going to be terible. I will have to live with constant complaining and people trying to mess over the new system. That is if a contract is signed and we still have a job.
My dilemma is my trust in God. I know he is in control and i place my trust in Him, but what do I do in the mean time? Do i search for another job? Do I stay put and look at the next year as a mission field within my current place of work. Should I stay or should I go? (I love the Clash). OK, that was stupid. Seriously, when putting your trust in God, how much do you do to prepare for the answer? How much self do you add to the equation?
I don't know, at this point I am really unsure how to feel and how to act. I have never been through this before. Thank God Susie is working, that help tremendously. Maybe this is good for me, since everything has been laid out before me for years. A lot of things happen and then I get perspective. I have not been able to sympathize with others going through a lay off or job uncertainty. now I can. Who knows!! Pray for me. not that my job works out, pray that I develop an understanding of Gods will for my life, Gods will for those around me and that I know how much self to throw into this situation.
Thanks