The picture from yesterday was Geni, enjoying the queen sized bed and down comforter at the hotel in Galveston after putting up with a single size bed on board the ship for 4 nights. This is the companion picture where Travis is about to get Geni up!

Happy Thursday!

School starts in 72 hours. My room is almost ready. Travis is going to TCC tomorrow to find the lay of the land for his classes, Geni is doing a final summer visit to her friends in Nac and Bruce is helping me tomorrow. Life is pretty busy right now.

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Don’t you know that you are god’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”

God’s Holy Spirit lives in each of us. But have we given that Spirit our whole heart? Are there still things that we hold on to on this side of heaven? Sometimes stress gets in the way and the Spirit gets shoved over even for just a few moments. Today stress got the better of me. I have set up a cozy reading nook outside my classroom door. It consists of a TCU papa san style chair, a turned over blue crate with a basket of books sitting on top, a poster of a teddy bear just above the chair and the caption stating “”Cozy up to reading.” When I arrived at my classroom door I discovered that my crate and books were being rolled down the hall and heading for the trash dumpster. I ranted (I never rant!) to my principal down the hall that my books were missing. She said, no, they are not, they are right here. I must have been quite a sight because everyone in the hall stopped and stared. I don’t remember exactly what I said, except that someone was going to lose their life if my things were not recovered and quickly. My words were less than kind and were not very quiet. All is well, the books, crate and basket were recovered in the nick of time and I apologized to my principal. But the bottom line is that I did not stop and take a breath.

I did not breathe in the power of the Holy Spirit and receive the peace that only that practice can achieve. Instead, I was upset and a bit disrespectful to someone whom I respect greatly. She was very forgiving and I am sure attributed it to stress. After the situation quiet down I prayed for forgiveness from God and began to breathe in the Holy Spirit once again.

The reference to the word temple is used not by accident. For the Hebrew nation, the temple was the place where God was present. Jesus was also the temple of God as the power of the Holy Spirit, the essence of God, was present in the body of Jesus. When we come into relationship with Jesus we become that temple because that same Holy Spirit is given to us and placed into our hearts.

We have a holy lineage to follow. Let us remember that we are the temple in which the Holy Spirit resides. And then, when the stress happens, stop, take a breath and breathe in the Holy Spirit before reacting in anger. If we do not react in anger then perhaps we will act in love.

Take joy in the journey and take a breath! Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.