Well, well, well. Somehow time manages to fly by and days turn into weeks which turn into months. Nevertheless, I'm back at the kitchen table dreaming of spring while a blizzard threatens to rage outside. Dinner is simmering on the stove, and I'm feeling delightfully reflective which is usually what happens when I want to avoid finishing homework. This Christmas was so far beyond the most wonderful thing I could imagine. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the picture I'm posting perfectly describes Christmas this year: rest, joy, beauty, plus 997 other positive adjectives. Over break I was a tourist in Chicago, a dear friend in Nebraska, a really really welcomed family member in Kansas City, an heiress cruising to Europe, a timid bride from India contemplating marriage, a prairie girl trying to make it through blizzards, a motherly babooshka looking after her small flock, a rich young lady refurbishing a farmhouse in Vermont, an aspiring opera singer, and so so so very much more! With my sisters, our imaginations ran wild and we went everywhere, where everything, and loved every moment of it.
Coming back from break I get to experience a whole new world: new classes, new relationships, new job, new thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams. Some of which are unexpected, and some of which I've anticipated for as long as I can remember. The overarching thought though, is one of sheer joy. I have marveled these past weeks of change that God can grant me so much joy in the midst of such upheaval in my life. Being the self-proclaimed person of comfort and normalcy, it's hard to believe that I live the life which I do. But there is something greater than me at work these days. Someone tells me each morning that He's got me, that I can just jump out of bed and run knowing that He is waiting for me as I take each new step, walking next to me through it all.
This afternoon I read the words:
"Shout it aloud, do not hold back!
...if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you always;
He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."
What a reminder to press forward without fear. This is not all there is, we are running a race whose end we can see - - a race where we are the victors and nothing can stand in our way. We are not the master of our fate, nor are we responsible for our circumstances. Our responsibility is, rather, to live in consciousness of the world around us, to pour ourselves out for our brother, our sister, our neighbor, to let our gentleness (and love) be evident to all. Then, we don't have to fear the change, the poor circumstances, the loss of what we hold familiar or dear because we are preciously aware that this is not the sum-total of who we are. These things are gifts, which bless us abundantly, but which don't ultimately define us.
