Follow the Instructions

I took on the project of revamping my webpage this week. Now I realize to some of you this would not be a huge task, but for me, well, let’s just say there was a huge learning curve, especially since I had to change my hosting company. Thankfully for me, I have a wonderful friend, Gretchen, to help me know what to do. (By the way, you should check out her blog.)

She seems to be a strong believer of the teaching philosophy “Learn by doing.” I am too, but only when I’m the teacher. However, she sent me a list of nine things I had to do to get this project done. I skimmed the list confidently, but my heart fell further and further with each step.

Her list was filled with all these things I had no idea what they were or what they did. For example, she told me to wait while the nameservers propagated. So just what are nameservers, how do they propagate, and why do they do that??? Then she told me to install WordPress via Fantastico. Now doesn’t Fantastico sound like something from Disney and not some web hosting company? To top it off, she kept sending me these cheery little notes, “Don’t forgot to set up a redirect” or “Be sure to change your permalink style.”

There was only way I could make it through this. I started at the beginning of the list and began to follow her instructions step by step. When I got stuck, I researched it and then I’d ask her. And, bit by bit, you can see the almost-finished result.

I wanted to ask why a million times. I still don’t know what a lot of that stuff was that I did. But, I have refined from bombarding her with all my questions because I probably couldn’t understand the answers at this point of my learning, and I don’t really need to know. I trust her and know that she will lead me the right way and not waste my time.

The process made my head hurt, especially after I pounded it on the desk in frustration. It was humbling when I got stuck and had to ask for help. And yet I found myself cheering when I finally got the shopping cart on my new webpage to work ALL BY MYSELF! As I am coming to the end of this project, I am extremely thrilled about the new webpage and am so glad that I took the time to change it.

It made me think about God and His instructions for us. We have been given a list of instructions in the Bible. Some times God explains them for us, but some things He just asks us to do it. Maybe we can’t understand it with our limited comprehension. Maybe it doesn’t really matter if we understand it or not. The point is this: We need to follow God’s list, no matter how hard or confusing it is. We may not  know why we are doing what He has asked us, we may not find good answers. We will be confused, frustrated, humbled, and want to give up. But if we persist, there are great things in store for us. As Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7,8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to be, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.”

As for the web page, it is not quite done. I’m going to adding new pages and features to it as time goes by, so be sure to check back often! Of course, I will be releasing Rancid soon, and you don’t want to miss it.

One page that I’m going to add is going to be reviews for Toxic. I would love to have some of you who have read the book to write two or three sentences about it in the comments here. You could write about your favorite book, what surprised you, or what you enjoyed. I just might put yours on my Review page. I would be so grateful if you did!

I truly hope you like the webpage, and I hope you keep following God’s list, no matter where life takes you.

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