the last lesson...

i just taught my last lesson...
ouch. my heart hurt just typing that.
this is my last week of student teaching.
ouch.

today i talked about jeremiah...
talk about overwhelming. so much good stuff. one day? how?

we all have plans, we have an idea of what our life will look like...

for example; in the next six months i would like to be done with grad school, i would love to have a job, a place to live, etc...

in the next four or five years; i would love to be overseas somewhere. africa maybe. or china. maybe even indonesia. ive thought about all three, that's for sure. i want to be teaching, i want to have a good chunk of my loans paid off, maybe even married...

we make plans, we have goals. imagine one day God calls you up and says... "hey, i know you have these plans and stuff... but i have other ideas for you. actually, i'd like you to have no money, be alone and lonely, and preach some things that sound really crazy to people who wont really listen to you anyways..."

i'm not saying that Jeremiah's plans were anything like yours or mine. and i can't even say necessarily that he had any plans at all, but it is hard for me to imagine otherwise... we all make them, even if we dont realize it... and Jeremiah's call and his response to it makes me think this...

when the Lord tells him what he has for him Jeremiah responds with what we would all respond with... "BUT!!!"

but... i am young!
but... i am nothing!
but... what will i say!
but... but... but...

we all have a million "buts..."

later in Jeremiah 11 God tells him exactly what his message is to be. When the Israelites left Egypt the Lord gave them commands (the ten commandments, to get specific) and he made a covenant with them. "Keep these. Don't kill, don't lie, don't covet... I promise you a land flowing with milk and honey, i promise you prosperity, i promise you LIFE, in me."

obviously at this point, the Israelites have done a piss poor job of keeping these commandments, of loving the Lord and following the law... that's why theyre in the place that they are... they've ignored the Lord, they've ignored the law, and they are ruining the covenant that the Lord has given them. but Jeremiah has seen the Lords GRACE. he has seen the Lords MERCY. he as seen his GOODNESS. He saw Josiah's reign, he saw Manasseh's repentance, he's seen the Lord deliver his people, and he is calling out to them, reminding them of the Lords promises and commands... most people see Jeremiah as a prophet who's message is doom and gloom. but i think Jeremiah saw a lot of HOPE.

in the beginning Jeremiah starts with "BUT!!!"

and then....

then!

Jeremiah 20:9
"If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot."

he is so overwhelmed by his message. he is so moved by what the Lord has given him to say, that he might EXPLODE if he doesnt share it.
do i wake up at 530 every morning exlpoding to get to school in order to share what the Lord has given me to teach my students... not every day. which makes me so very sad...
do i grow weary with NOT being able to share Him?
do you? do you seize every opportunity to spread His name?