Journal

Since I won't be at group tonight (2nd part of Varsity District Meet--will let y'all know about Regionals!), I figured I would post a little something on here to share with y'all. I left my journal at home and I'm writing at school (I know, not supposed to use time on the job for personal business, but who really follows that rule?).

When reading Jonah this week, I honestly only got through the first chapter or so until this morning while my cross country kiddos were running around the school, so I don't have a ton of interesting reflections, but a few things did cross my mind.

I am so much like Jonah, it scares/frustrates/embarrasses me."But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish." This sounds strikingly similar to the phrase in our corporate confessional of "We are running from Creation and our Creator." I know we should always have in mind what "big" thing God is calling us to do, but I think it's equally important to acknowledge daily (for me, many times during the day) when we don't obey God and what he calls us to do.

The funny thing is that, like Jonah, once I recognize my mistake and actually feel bad about not obeying God, I get down on myself and talk to God a bit like Jonah talked to the sailors on the boat. “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

One really important part of the book, in my opinion, is the difference in the time it takes for Jonah to respond and obey God's direction versus the people of Nineveh. It seems when reading the story that as soon as Jonah deliveredthe message from God, "The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth."^{6 It says, "}When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust." Jonah literally had to have a team of others to force him to face what God was asking of him after literally running away from Him.

The application part of this book for me is to not just to hear God and acknowledge what he calls me to do and how he calls me to live, but also that I must not delay. Rather, I need to immediately turn from things that do not glorify Him and live how he is calling me to live.

~Sam