Wow! It's already Thursday! Yikes!
Lots of storms blowing through SD these days, but they're nothing like Illinois storms....just tons of wind and a little rain. Seriously guys, a storm is not a storm without a decent lightening and thunder show to go with it. :) Last night the gusts were up to 60 mph and I'm on the end of my apartment building, so my night was pretty much all noise and no sleep.
I mention smoke because all the blueprints I'm working with at the Hatchery are the special project that they are because they were exposed to an extreme amount of smoke and heat during a Hatchery fire. Each one is very soot and smoke-stained so it needs special attention for cataloguing and rehousing. Hence, my job. :)
And sweet tooth, well I finished up my first week here, so I'm ending the day with Oreo's, peanut butter, and a Monster! Man, I feel good! Tonight I plan on packing for my flight home tomorrow and cleaning out my fridge of highly-perishable foods so they don't green up my kitchen while I'm gone.
Sorry, you're not gonna get a short post tonight. Hahahaha. Thought you could get away with a short read...come on guys, this is MY blog you're reading. *wink!*
I've been thinking a lot about the implications of this mentorship and a lot of the people I've met here (and talked to back home) are asking...What do I plan to do with the information I learn here? What's the next step after South Dakota museums?
And the big answer is: I don't know yet.
Hey, you asked, so I'm being honest.
The big tie-up is in a strange mix of hobbies....no, passions. That's a better word. I've heard several wise people say "Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Ok...so....I ask myself....how does locking myself in a basement glorify God? Still trying to figure that out...but I want to share a bit of my thoughts here..
Mamma lent me this amazing book by Max Lucado called "You Can Be Anything God Wants You To Be". Great read! And short. I highly recommend it whether you like reading or not, or even whether you like God or not. Anywho, after reading that book, I’m getting used to the idea that God made me the way I am on purpose. That even though I don’t know why I feel the way I do or why I enjoy the things I enjoy, He does. And He made me feel them and enjoy them for a reason. I step back from this mentorship experience and I'm reminded of the $50 question when I started: “Ok God, I’m currently torn between entering the ministry and working in a museum. Now what?"
Being here in South Dakota has opened my eyes to some kind of strange inner fascination I have with historic items and documents and the inner workings of the Department of the Interior.
Question No. 1: Where did that COME from?
Question No. 2: What in the WORLD am I supposed to do with it?
Seriously, how many people in the world are torn between these two kinds of careers? I’ve got this aching, longing, almost crawling, desperate need to read the Word of God and understand it. It’s somewhere so deep inside me that even though it’s a loud, blaring, symphonic orchestra in my soul, my head can only hear a faint, whispering melody. And then when I open my heart to God’s Word and the message it has to share and the ridiculous love He has for me, I want more! Kind of like that song, Your Love is My Drug. Only literally. I can’t shake it. I need to be in the Word.
And then there’s this crazy obsession with white cotton gloves, dark basements full of very old things that nobody wants anymore, and mountains of paperwork that some guy behind a desk in D.C. wants me to fill out.
Again, where did these fascinations come from and what do I do with them?
I think I’ve found the answer to the first question...and it’s God.
Do I get it? Not even close. I stopped trying to understand His deep, dark complexities somewhere in the middle of Christian Thought with Dr. Wright. But I think even more important than understanding that they came from God, is accepting that He had a reason for giving them to me.
I haven’t the faintest idea what’s going to happen or where my life is going to lead me that my love for God’s Word and museum work happen to collide, but I know that eventually they will, because God wouldn’t put these feelings inside me if they weren’t going to help me glorify Him...somehow. God gave me these passions, which means eventually they’re going to come in handy.
And that, folks, is my justification for being here. Sitting in the basement of the Hatchery, I’m starting to consider where I want to go next. The Smithsonian or the British museum sounds AMAZING! I think I want to give that a try.
But I also wanted to go to seminary in Australia my senior year. So which do I go for?
At this point, both. And maybe somewhere between here and Australia, God will show me how I’m supposed to combine His Word and museum work. And if He doesn’t...well...then...I just keep doing what I love...because if I didn’t do what I love...I wouldn’t be accepting the passions God gave me...and I wouldn’t be glorifying His awesome power and control in my life.
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