February 11, 2005 - 2:02 p.m. I did it. For the first time in a long time I got the teeniest chance to preach. And it felt so good. I wasn't planning on this, but I gave the devotional for our PLS meeting today. I thought another girl was doing it, but she and I miscommunicated and I got stuck with it. And I'm so glad. I told my story about being certain that I was Called. I explained that I wrote my college essay on how it's not just one Call, it's phone tag; I mentioned that my majors were my preparation for a life full of unexpectedness. Then I talked about my discouragement. About how not one of my close friends here can truly encourage me in my response. How whenever I mention it, my words kinda fall to the floor and shatter in respectful silence and perhaps tacit disapproval. Then I read them that verse, Mom, the one from Galatians that I'd read so many times but had never really noticed. The order is significant, as only an English or other literature major would understand. Paul is underscoring. No longer Jew nor Greek because it doesn't matter who your parents are or what happened in the past. Slave nor free; your socio-economic status or your decisions in this life are no hindrance. Male nor female for the things that we are, the things we cannot change are not that important. We are all one in the body of Christ. This means no excuses. This means that it's about what God says not what people say. But yeah. I'm hoping that the others received some benefit from my experience as I applied it to them as well. I don't know. But I do know that God has made me for this. ...I cannot shirk my responsibility. It's like a weight has been lifted. It is so easy to do what God has made us to do. ...before & after...