Adventure... At Home
I happily traipsed out of our small-town library and thought of how much I love this place called home. Looking over the short buildings, I noticed the dark blue reaching down to welcome the kind lights from many homes.
I think back to the times I would sit and dream about a bigger world. I dreamed about it while I studied at school and while I visited with family. I dreamed about it as I listened to stories, and as I saw pictures of faces around the world.
Adventure
Independence
Relationships
A classroom of shining eyes as they learned something new. A roomful of little girls laughing and playing while they are in a safe place. A pencil and a paper. India.
Simple dreams. Non-concrete dreams. Beautiful dreams.
The dreams slowly turned into reality, bending and moving. Coming alive with the Master's touch. Oh the excitement that I felt! My prayers being answered in ways I never would have imagined.
Now I see it: shining eyes, as I tell a story, echoes of laughter and song coming from energetic girls, long days of being alone-independent, beautiful relationships with beautiful people around me, opportunities to read about, hear about, and see India...
But adventure?
Oh yes.
Sometimes I forget how richly God has blessed me. That He answered my prayers by keeping me in this sleepy little town. I look around at the things that would not have happened if I were anywhere else. God placed people in my path that I was able to get to know. A community that has helped me grow in so many ways.
Why do I forget sometimes? It's not how I pictured it to be. It is so much more alive with color, emotions, and real life. While I imagined myself being the wonderful school teacher by day and the quiet home-body by night, God had different plans. He had plans of me facing challenges that could never be overcome alone. He let loneliness creep into my life so that I would have to cry out to Him. Those beautiful relationships are dynamic and breathing, full of life and chaos.
Like I was telling a friend the other day, the way we dream life to be is not the way life actually is. It is not glamorous or easy, and it is definitely not perfect. But it is amazing, difficult, and challenging.
It wasn't until I started seeing God's hand in all of this, that I started feeling fulfilled and content. It wasn't until then that I knew that God is in full control and I don't need to sit around wondering what He has up His sleeve. Sometimes I just need to sit still and remember that God's got this.
I think back to the times I would sit and dream about a bigger world. I dreamed about it while I studied at school and while I visited with family. I dreamed about it as I listened to stories, and as I saw pictures of faces around the world.
Adventure
Independence
Relationships
A classroom of shining eyes as they learned something new. A roomful of little girls laughing and playing while they are in a safe place. A pencil and a paper. India.
Simple dreams. Non-concrete dreams. Beautiful dreams.
The dreams slowly turned into reality, bending and moving. Coming alive with the Master's touch. Oh the excitement that I felt! My prayers being answered in ways I never would have imagined.
Now I see it: shining eyes, as I tell a story, echoes of laughter and song coming from energetic girls, long days of being alone-independent, beautiful relationships with beautiful people around me, opportunities to read about, hear about, and see India...
But adventure?
Oh yes.
Sometimes I forget how richly God has blessed me. That He answered my prayers by keeping me in this sleepy little town. I look around at the things that would not have happened if I were anywhere else. God placed people in my path that I was able to get to know. A community that has helped me grow in so many ways.
Why do I forget sometimes? It's not how I pictured it to be. It is so much more alive with color, emotions, and real life. While I imagined myself being the wonderful school teacher by day and the quiet home-body by night, God had different plans. He had plans of me facing challenges that could never be overcome alone. He let loneliness creep into my life so that I would have to cry out to Him. Those beautiful relationships are dynamic and breathing, full of life and chaos.
Like I was telling a friend the other day, the way we dream life to be is not the way life actually is. It is not glamorous or easy, and it is definitely not perfect. But it is amazing, difficult, and challenging.
It wasn't until I started seeing God's hand in all of this, that I started feeling fulfilled and content. It wasn't until then that I knew that God is in full control and I don't need to sit around wondering what He has up His sleeve. Sometimes I just need to sit still and remember that God's got this.
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