So, today, I needed to write this for myself. To remind myself, and maybe to give you an idea of prayer requests.
I have two guys working with me. Bouki and Andersen. They are nice guys, and they work hard. They work with me so they can learn, and they are learning bit by bit.
But, today I was reminded how much I NEED Christ daily.
I woke up to them knocking on the gate. I gave them keys to the container and told them what tools to get out, then I went to rush through breakfast.
Biggest mistake was that I never took time for God.
I was stressed from the start, and it was compounded by the language barriers and the fact that I was teaching them new skills.
So, we got some pieces cut to make a table. First was the chop saw, and that went smoothly.
But then we were working on the table saw. They’ve used it before, so it’s not a new concept to them.
However, when they used it previously, we were building shelves for in the workshop and I cared about function, but not so much about form. This time, since it will be a table in someone’s house, I wanted things to look pretty, so we are making multiple passes on the table saw to get all the sides of the rough cut lumber cleaned up.
We got a few pieces run over, and then I looked closely at them. Somehow, my legs, which have had all 4 sides trimmed on the table saw, are not square. I don’t know the culprit. Sometimes it’s that the sawblade gets out of alignment, or the guide is crooked, or when they are pulling it and don’t hold it flush. I don’t know the reason, I just know it was wrong. So, I threw the piece of wood on the ground.
I felt like such a failure. Partially because I can’t explain what’s wrong in Kreyol, but mostly because I lost my cool. As I talked with them, Andersen asked, “what’s wrong, you’re not normal this morning?”
He’s right. Normal is when I give God control. Today I wasn’t normal. I was myself. And myself includes a short temper, lots of frustration, and lots of stress. Thankfully, they are easy-going guys.
I stopped, went to the house to pray, and came back and apologized.
Let me not forget that I am THAT guy, and I need Christ to keep that guy from getting in the way of His plans.
I won’t bring people to Christ, only Christ in me can do that.
