-the VALUE in a number -

I got some numbers today.

Numbers seem to measure stuff.

• The number or measurement of 80% effaced and 8 cm dilated means a WHOLE lot to a nurse and an expectant mom.  
• When you join Weight Watchers, you get a number that gives you a starting point and each Tuesday or whatever day you go to weigh in - you get a new number. 
• There is a number on the scale within my bedroom.  It is  important.  Or maybe it is not that important but I make it to be.  
• Head to a doctor's office and numbers sometimes PUT you in the hospital.  
• As a teacher, I get test scores and numbers when I get a student - to help me evaluate what the best placement if for that child.  
• There are numbers as we figure out our budget and when we plan a party or go out to eat. 
• Numbers constantly remind us of appointments and a specific number can either keep the cop sitting on the side of the road or it will prompt the cop to come and follow me! 
• As a child...I just wanted to be older...now, I would love to repeat a few ages.  
• And there are even numbers that we think and ponder about - like when a new woman we meet says she has been married 3x or married for 25 years.  There is a conclusion made.  Sometimes there is action taken because of those numbers.  
• And I will be silly - since my Father-n-law was in the hospital 2 weeks ago, we have continued to tease him about his 'numbers'...the number of times he had a BM....it is needed...and when we see each other I will say, "Dad, I am at 2 today" and wait for his response - LOL. 
•  Finally, I have sat in the 'administration' part of an office where numbers decided a person's future as an employee.  
• Numbers -- they are needed but....

Today I got numbers.  FCAT numbers.  Praise GOD those numbers DO NOT define who I am.

Praise God I am NOT defined by a test score or a report from Tallahassee.  Now, I do admit - when those numbers are high - I smile - even though I realize that was not ALL my doing.....  If those numbers are low - I have to FORCE myself and remind myself that those numbers are just that...numbers.....it does NOT define me. And those numbers DO NOT define my students - God does.

 This year, those numbers were right on - what I expected, but still they were crunched and looked at and I still had to remind myself...THOSE numbers DO not define me...nor do they define those students that sat in my room for 180 days.....  God defines me.


This is WHO I am...

Psalm 139

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

¹ O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.
² You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
³ You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
⁴ You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord.
⁵ You go before me and follow me.
    You place your hand of blessing on my head.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too great for me to understand!

       ***

^7 .

¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me,^[b] O God.
    They cannot be numbered!
¹⁸ I can’t even count them;
    they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
    you are still with me!

           ***

¹

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

I am - God's...

This is HIS word.  

Romans 4.5 speaks about how people are counted as righteous, not because of their works but because of their faith -- in God who forgives sinners.  God forgives.  God heals. God restores.    There must be godly repentance first -- but the bottom line is  -- it really is between me and God.  I can watch my children and my friends and believe that they have a personal connection and relationship with Christ...and I can see fruit...I can see their actions -- but still - it is really just between them and  God.  God knows WHO I am.  I know WHO I am through God.  I know whom I need to forgive...and I know when I need to move away and start anew.  I know -- cause I am living by that faith....as I do understand HOW much God has forgiven me of.    
I am blessed, chosen, accepted, adopted, forgiven and redeemed.
 
I am righteous -- ONLY through Christ.  

I am the RIGHT teacher for the students HE placed into my path. 

I am fearfully and wonderfully made... and I am NOT defined by a number.  

However..God DOES know EXACTLY how many gray and blonde hairs are on this head....this head that is heading to bed.   

Thank you Lord - for many answers to questions and prayers  -- 

Thank you Lord, for reminding me -- it really is not a matter of being on 'this person's side' or 'that person's side' of a conflict or problem -- it is a matter of being on TEAM JESUS...

Thank you Lord, for the better test scores this year - as I know a few of my students did pray to you and ask for help.  

Thank you Lord, for going to that cross -- to take the sin of the world and my sin.  

Thank you Lord, for being the ONE person that will never lie to me.  

Thank you Lord, for - being the one that defines me.  

Lord, someone else needed this reminder this eve -- and Lord, someone reading this DOES NOT have that relationship with Christ - with YOU as they need ...and they know it...

God I pray that he or she will just ask YOU into their heart this moment.  

And Lord, I know that someone reading this ....is seeking forgiveness...from you...and they have to forgive themselves as well...Lord, I pray courage over that one...may it happen right now.  I do not need confirmation or a text...I know that THIS is Your blog - a tool YOU use to reach -- God I thank you - amen.