Words of Wisdom

I am sick. Pretty sure it's either the worst cold I've ever had or the flu, not the swine flu per se, but the good old, regular, seasonal flu. Remember that one? Seems like we all, or at least I, have forgotten there was a regular flu you could get. Well I've got it. Started with a snotty nose and sore throat yesterday and progressed to fever, chills, and body aches today. Good times. Thanks to my wonderful husband and NyQuil I was able to go to bed at 8:00 p.m. last night but I still struggled today. It is safe to say that I was NOT looking forward to going to church tonight. I am leading a small group based on a sermon series our minister is doing right now called "standing up lying down." The series is based on characters in the Bible who demonstrated great acts of faith, but did so at great cost to themselves. We talked about Peter last week and how he had to lay down his pride in order to walk with Jesus and our subject this week was Esther. I had never read the book of Esther and in fact couldn't even find it at first (it is very small and right before Job in the Old Testament in case you're wondering). Esther is a great read and I highly recommend it and basically our discussion tonight was to be about risk. I felt miserable about an hour before church, had a definite fever, was hacking up a storm, and just really, really, really didn't want to go to church. My sense of duty won out though as this group is open to anyone in the church to attend so I would have felt horrible had I bailed and someone had shown up to participate. So I went. And wouldn't you know it, I felt fine throughout the entire "class." I forgot all about my aches and pains and just enjoyed the fellowship and conversation with the people who attended. My fever broke at some point as my cheeks were bright red and I was soaking wet with sweat when I left, but I felt fine. I just think it's funny how God brought me to that place tonight for a reason and I was rewarded with good health (even if only for an hour and a half) for my efforts in attending!! But the real reward I received by attending came from a friend. My friend Amy shared a quote with us that I loved and is the real purpose of this blog entry. I told it to Ben tonight while he was taking a shower and he said "hmmm. I like it." I agree. "You have to pray like it is all up to God and act like it is all up to you." Though my aches and pains are slowly returning, the boys are quiet in their beds, and I am planning to retire now too with those words in my heart. PRAY like it's all up to God, but ACT like it's all up to me. I like it.