What's on my mind?

There are lots of things I'm thinking about just now. I don't want to write much on any of them, but here they are:

• It's been a good Spring Break. Camping, of course, was the highlight. It's been unusually grey and cold, though, and I'm longing for the warmer weather, but things are looking up in the week to come.
• Sakura are blooming. It is, as always, a beautiful sight.
• It's my birthday tomorrow. I've got a couple of low-key things planned. Hopefully it will be a pleasant day.
• One teenager has been particularly self-centered in recent weeks. I've felt quite picked-on and frustrated. I've even slammed a door or two. I'll be happy for him to go back to school tomorrow.
• Our beloved field director has been battling cancer for about a year now. After things were looking up in the last month or so, his condition has taken a turn for the worse. It's impossible to understand and hard to accept.
• His wife is our "line manager", so though she doesn't closely supervise us, it impacts us more than it might otherwise. Not to mention that they are friends and they are also a "boy" family (with four, not three). Our hearts are sad.
• Life grinds unceasingly forward. From here till mid-June life will be busy and potentially a little out of control. At the end of that we will, Lord willing, have a high school graduate in our house (and a middle school graduate too, might I add).
• My parents will visit during graduation season. Something I'm looking forward to, yet at the same time it will add to the craziness.
• On that same note, it feels like we're headed for a closed door, or a turn in the road. It will be a change, a big change, and we're not sure what lies after that point.

I was challenged by our sermon this morning about continuing to choose to live in a way that is controlled by the Holy Spirit. That means a willingness to accept where God takes us, where he asks us to go, and what situations he gives us. Even a desire to kick and scream about our friends with cancer or our difficult-to-like teenager aren't totally pleasing to God. He's big enough to deal with our screaming, but he also wants us to follow him no matter what.

"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Galatians 5:24-25