This week is going to be about as busy also, since I am booked to teach grade six Tuesday-Friday. Which means if I'm going to blog, today is probably going to be the day to get it done.
I found that last week I was having trouble thinking about what to write. I could comment on some of my experiences teaching (a full day of senior kindergarten... elementary teachers, especially primary ones, hold my highest level of respect), or about finishing the book Unbroken (fantastic read, just putting it out there... I finished it in three days... would have been sooner but I was called in to work), or about the adventures of working out to my Jillian Michaels DVDs in the living room (me kickboxing... scary thought indeed).
The problem is that I was having trouble trying to think of something a little deeper I could put in there. So rather than write a too-fluffy post, I decided to wait and think on it some more.
This weekend Jordan and I decided it was time to organize our spare room. It has been the bastion of unpacked boxes, seasonal decorations, items to go to Good Will, and our cat. We hate showing off the bedrooms of our house because of this room. So on Saturday, after going out for brunch at a lovely deli that is only a two minute walk from our house, we went shopping for shelving and spent the rest of the day assembling shelves and unpacking boxes (with an occasional break for some macaroni and cheese, beans, and wieners and an episode of Suits).
Sunday marked our six month anniversary. I realize it may sound silly, but this was still an exciting milestone for us.
We started off our Sunday morning with breakfast and reading together from our Tim Keller marriage book (this is our weekend breakfast ritual). Our readings that morning had to do with friendship and its character. Keller quotes CS Lewis (shocking, I know), saying the following:
Friendship arises... when two or more... discover that they have in common some insight or interest... Friendship must be about something, even if it were only an enthusiasm for dominoes or white mice. Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow-travelers.
Keller then builds on this by looking at Christian friendship. He says that:
...any two Christians, with nothing else but a common faith in Christ, can have a robust friendship, helping each other on their journey toward the new creation, as well as doing ministry together in the world.
I have mentioned a few times how I would love to develop some close friendships here in Ontario. But please don't think this means I do not value my friends who are scattered all over the country (and the continent, for that matter). As we were reading through this part of the book, I began to think of the common insights or interests the drew me to the friends I have. With some it was a love of Jane Austen and BBC period dramas, with others it was TV shows, Barbies, and video games. Still others it was a true appreciation for classic movies (an appreciation that may have lead to choreographed dance routines involving umbrellas), or an enjoyment of being outdoors, or a weak spot for hot beverages. Sometimes a love of reading and writing led to two girls creating their own world and writing letters back and forth, imagining themselves the heroines in the epic story they were creating. I remember connecting with one friend over the common interest in Reformed theology and a common disinterest in Canadian Literature.
At times a person can grow frustrated with their friends. Sometimes we love someone so much that we see them hurting ourselves and no matter how we try to help, we discover we are helpless to stop them. All we can do is love them and pray that God will help them get through what they are going through.
Sometimes we can just feel far away from our friends. As I write this, I'm sitting down with some tea and orange slices.
I wish very much so that I could have a friend here to share this with me. What Jordan and I read gave me a very new appreciation for the infinite ways God has blessed me.
Now I don't want you to think that I'm feeling all lonely and sad, because the story doesn't end there. We went to church. It was a baptism and a communion service. We witnessed the baptism, listened to the sermon, and had just been served the bread. As I waited for the rest of the congregation to be served, I listened to the song the pianist was playing. It was "Power of Your Love."
I have not heard that song in years. All of I sudden I was thrown back into the Pentecostal church we attended when I was eleven and twelve, and we would sing this song semi-regularly. Might I add that I had one epic interpretive dance sequence figured out to the chorus. I began to hum along to the piano, and in my mind I started to sing the words.
Lord I come to know,
The weaknesses I see in me,
Will be swept away,
By the power of Your love.
Hold me close,
Let Your love surround me.
Bring me near,
Draw me to Your side,
And as I wait,
I will rise up like the eagles,
And I will soar with You,
Your Spirit leads me on,
In the power of Your love.
As I sat in the pew, my piece of bread resting on my palm, I began to feel overwhelmed with love. Despite my weaknesses and shortcomings, I became ever so aware of the love my God has for me.
With this in mind, I ate the bread, and then waited as the juice was passed around. The pianist began to play another song.
It was "Jesus Loves Me."
I have to be honest, I almost lost it. Despite images of me in Sunday School doing the actions to this song (or of me doing the actions with a group of kindergarten kids earlier that week), I was overcome. That song had never affected me that way before, but all I could do was agree that "Yes, Jesus loves me."
As we left church, I felt so blessed, so loved, and so cherished.
We went and had lunch with my Mom and Dad in-law and brother-in-law, and the went to the movies in honour of our anniversary (saw Selma and we really enjoyed it). Then it was a quiet night in.
And all through the rest of the day I was reminded of the presence of the God I love and serve. The One who can speak to me through church flashbacks, and who uses our six month anniversary as a means of reminding me of all the ways He has blessed me.
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