Remember the sparrow...

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." - Matthew 10:19-31

Sometimes I forget that this verse is talking about me. Sometimes I forget how very important I am to my heavenly Father. Sometimes I forget that He cares about every tiny detail of my life - all the way down to the number of hairs on my head. Sometimes I forget.

But, sometimes, crazy little things happen - out of the ordinary things - things out of my control - and I remember. I remember that God is in charge and He knows what's best for me even when I don't know it myself.

Like one night this week - I got home after a long day at work and I was staring at a to-do list a mile long. There were things that needed to be done for my family, last minute preparation that needed to be done for a big customer meeting the next morning, and course notes that needed to be prepared for the college class that I was teaching the next evening. All of these things were important, and I had people depending on me to get them done. I was overwhelmed and wanted to cry. I kept thinking that there was no way that I could get everything done if I actually took the time to go to sleep that night. So, of course, I procrastinated and pulled up Jen Hatmaker's blog (my new favorite author).

Her post that day was entitled "On Empty" and here's some of what she said:

"If you are on empty today, having expended all you have to give and sitting stranded on the side of the highway, may I suggest that perhaps this is not the very worst place to be, that sometimes the car running out of gas is a gift, because otherwise you'd never stop?

The night is upon us; our hands are spent from work. The only sane thing to do is rest. God sometimes does His best work while we entrust ourselves to his overnight keeping. Our responsibility is laying down the tasks, setting aside the duties, which is much harder than it sounds. There is never an end to the work; just an end to the day. Sometimes the very hardest obedience involves stopping for the night."

After reading those words of wisdom, the thought crossed my mind (although only briefly) that I should probably consider just doing what I could until my usual bed time and then hitting the sack and trusting God. However, deep down inside, I don't think that I had any real intentions of doing that.

Fast forward a few minutes to 9:00pm. I was planning to put the kids to bed right on time because they had to get up extra early the next morning and I wanted to be sure that they got enough sleep (ironic isn't it!). But, the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance had them begging to stay up for a few more minutes. Since these things usually blow through pretty quickly, I decided to let them stay up in hopes that the storm would pass by before they went to bed. However, by 10:00 (my usual bed time) the storm was in full swing with booming thunder and flashing lightning. I finally decided that the only way to get them to sleep was to just go to bed with them (all of us piled into my bedroom together).

As I laid down to rest, it occurred to me that the One who calms the storm also controls the storm and its timing. And, that still small voice whispered to me, "I knew that you wouldn't stop and sleep on your own, so I wanted to make sure that you did. Now, lay down and rest. Don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself. You'll see. Just trust me."

What a sweet reminder that my heavenly Father loves me and takes care of me even when I don't take care of myself. Even when I feel insignificant and unprepared and overwhelmed. I never would have gone to bed if that storm had not been raging at 10:00...

Just to finish the story - I woke up the next day and was able to finish up my customer presentation just in time. My kids were up and out the door on time, my guests were taken care of, my family was fed... And, I was even able to squeeze in some time here and there throughout the day to get the notes prepared for my class that evening. Tomorrow took care of itself, just like He promised it would...