"There’s only one address anyone lives at and it’s always a duplex: Joy and pain always co-habit every season of life. Accept them both and keep company with the joy while the pain does its necessary renovations." Ann Voskamp (A Holy Experience)
Today as I looked around in the midst of cleaning, teaching, packing and MESS I was tempted to lose my perspective and my calm. Honestly the last thing on my mind was going on a hunt to look for and count things to give thanks for, to find joy in. But then the dog had to go out and for that brief break in the backyard as I saw the wind whip across our yard crunching leaves and sweeping them up into an elaborate dance, I captured it in my mind, stored it in my heart. Absolute joy. The freshness of the wind, the innocence of the moment, the beauty of the sound. Tucking that away I ventured back inside to complete what we had to get done for the day and as I waited for one task to be finished my mind began to wonder. It hopped around from subject to subject until one captured it with an intensity of focus that made me sit up a little straighter and think a little harder. Do you know that there are 147 million orphans in our world right now? That there are that many children hungry and alone? The same God who gave me eyes to see and and an ability to delight in the leaves and wind, ears to hear and ability to delight in the sound of the crunch and sway of them, also gave me a responsibility to do something to ease the plight of others. I am not sure about other people, but for me it is easy to get caught up in my day to day life and forget that there is an entire world of both joy and pain surrounding me. I get so caught up in my life that I forget to look for the opportunity to serve others living theirs. I am pitifully selfish and fear I have wasted SO many opportunities to both keep company with the joy and seek to serve others.
No comments:
Post a Comment