Today is Ash Wednesday, and once again I worked on a Lenten Photo Challenge for our church as we work on a book study reading “Love Is the Way” by Bishop Michael Curry. Each week features different chapters and the words for our Photo Challenge come from those targeted readings.

Today, I had an extreme chaos moment when I was teaching to my 3rd hour math class. I tried a new platform to make the slides interactive for my students. I could not load the presentation onto my ipad or successfully project it and share it with my in-school kids and my at-home kids. Gotta love technology and hybrid. We just switched over to the hybrid model this week for grades 7 and 8, and it’s all coming back to me how hard it is to do this.

So, I took this photo tonight as I was packing up my desk to leave school. As more than once today, this plethora of technology has left me feeling lost and stuck in chaos.

Fast forward to tonight, I go to post my picture on my blog and I realize that none of my photos or my design have been upgraded since we had family pictures taken. Again, my head swirls around in chaos.

I too often put way tooo much pressure on myself. This is not news to me or anyone who knows me, but today as I dealt with some icky self-imposed feelings, I thought again of the word chaos. I often throw myself into chaos with unneeded, highly unnecessary pressures that I put onto myself. It’s not fun, and I don’t like the feeling it brings, so what can I do?

There comes in the scripture for today’s word. Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Now if only this can start sticking in my mind before those ugly thoughts and pressures get thrown onto me (by myself!).

Food for thought! Peace to all of you! I hope you can join in our Lenten Photo Challenge! Check us out on Facebook at Champlin United Methodist Church in Champlin, MN!

Melissa