16 September 2009

Divine


We all have long days and lonely moments and scary dreams and busy lives and self-absorbed episodes and exhausting schedules, right?

And we sometimes feel as if we give and give and give and these people (in my case, very short people) to whom we are giving and giving and giving just never seem to notice anything except their desire to take more.

But then sometimes we get to experience these little moments where we are lifted from our circumstances. We are pulled up, supported, loved in some unexpected, extraordinary in its simplicity kind of moment.

God uses people to meet these unspoken needs so often. And I just love that people say "yes" to His every day ideas. I just love the people that He uses.

Being the sole everything at this house while Kevin is in Israel is hard. It is. Not impossible - but not my favorite either.

Oh, I am learning plenty. About waiting on God. About being still. About not being afraid. About God and the manner in which He is choosing to craft my story. About relying on one God for my comfort and not one Man.

But the days have grown long. I know my voice has grown sharp and my responses have grown snappy. I stay up too late at night rearranging the living room furniture into eight varying options and pushing all together too heavy bookshelves across our bedroom.

So when our friend Nate called me one day and told me to clear my schedule (ha!) for the next night, I was certainly intrigued. He instructed me not to plan anything, not even to prepare a meal for the kids. At this point, I didn't care what the plans were - no meal planning or preparation is a gift all in itself.

The next day Jane and Walter and Nate appeared at the house with a meal in hand for the kids. Babysitting had been arranged with sweet Riley and I was whisked away in Walter's black chariot.

The evening was lovely. And totally unexpected. And completely taken care of. In every way. Jane did all the thinking so I didn't have to. The dinner was delicious. After the meal we walked around downtown Greenville and searched for the hidden mice on Main Street. (I found a few without help, okay.) Then we had dessert at Coffee Underground. Adult conversation abounded. (I might have been out of my element after so much alone time with the kids, but I think my sentences mostly made sense.)

I am pretty sure that those three Saints in Civilian Clothing had no idea how important, and actually divine, that evening was for me. And I don't mean "divine" as in how you describe a piece of your grandma's pecan pie. I mean "divine" as in ordained by God. If that sounds too heavy for a Tuesday night out then you haven't been where I have been this week.

Honestly, it was so humbling to think that my friends chose to think about me, to plan an evening for me when they could have been doing anything else in their lives. That's amazing.

God is so good to provide laughter when nothing seems funny and joy when we want to mourn and friends when we feel alone. I think the problem is we forget to look for these things in the people around us. We forget to trust that God knows our hearts. And He loves us. More and better than anyone else.

2 comments:

  1. That's pretty amazing! God does take the ordinary and make it extraordinary! So glad that you have those special people in your life so close to you that will bring you out of your rut!

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  2. Seriously, those are awesome friends. As the one left at home far too often I completely understand the exhaustion, the need for adult conversation, the need for a break. Treasure them!!

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