it's official. i survived my few days back at work after vacation. i'm even willing to go as far to say that i succeeded in maintaining a positive attitude during those days too. God is good. it is also worth noting that my homework for the week has been completed as well. (assignments are given every wednesday and must be completed by the following wednesday.) God is so good.

i won't bore you with the details of my class currently, but i will say that i have, to some degree, missed being in school. of course, doing schooling online is completely new to me. but my thoughts are being challenged, and i am actually finding the reading interesting. it feels good to be learning in this manner again.

moving on...i had an interesting conversation with one of my clients this week. as we were sitting and talking she began to in a way question me about heaven and hell. she told me she believed in God but she didn't believe in heaven and hell. however, as she continued talking she said that if there was a heaven and hell she would go to heaven because she was "good". i told her i had to disagree with her statement. she looked at me puzzled and simply asked if i believed in heaven and hell. i answered with one word, "absolutely." of course, she didn't just stop there...she asked where i would go since i so firmly believed. i told her that i would be going to heaven. as our conversation ensued, i simply told her what i believed--you don't go to heaven without asking Christ into your life and having a personal relationship with him. you don't go to heaven just because you are "good", and you don't go to hell just because you are "bad". you ask God to forgive your sins, and He does.

and that's when she said, so you're a God freak.

hm. not what i was expecting from this person. at first, i wasn't sure how to respond. i wasn't sure if i was going to be angry or if i was going to laugh. i chose not to be angry and i didn't laugh. i simply looked back at her, straight faced and told her that some people probably considered me a God freak because i believed differently than them. and i was ok with that. i told her she could consider me a God freak if she wanted.

she didn't know how to respond. and then i told her that i didn't consider her a freak for not thinking like i do or making choices that i would never make in my life. i told her honestly that i did not agree with them, but that i was not in charge of her life. and then i looked her in the eyes and told her, though, that no matter what, i would still care for her just the same.

it's conversations like that that keep me going. the work that i do is not about me; it never has been. it never will be. but no matter where i find myself, my hope and prayer is that i will always point people back to the One i know who has called me His own.