Dear Friend,
As Christmas is so very soon (15 days!! ) the anticipation
builds until I nearly feel like I am going to burst. It truly is my favorite
time of the year and I start as early as August collecting things for others
and getting all things planned so that it is a lovely and not so stressful for
the season. This year, however, there was an unexpected stress- life. Alberta has seen an economic slump, as they
do, and that meant that Adam’s job was called to a halt until this slump (we,
the Albertans are still in it) is over. Needless to say once I heard the news,
the word “lovely” wasn’t what I was thinking. I mean, I know that being called
to Him means nothing ever is supposed to be easy, but we were getting
comfortable in our routine and such, and does this need to happen at Christmas time?
On one of the days that I was praying, “Lord, now what?” I was babysitting
a few children. One boy found a box and began to play with it. It was an old
mandarin orange box with nothing special but the imagination that the child put
into it. As I watched him giggle and find different ways to play with the box,
I got uncomfortable. “Lord, what should
we do? What am I to do as a wife to encourage Adam? Do I talk to others about
it? How will we pay the bills?” I was inwardly allowing myself to freak out as
I watched. “I don’t want to fail, Lord.
I don’t want to be needy with other people.. I don’t want Adam to look a
certain way to others…etc etc.”
A few days later, after I had determined that, no, one
cannot live on beans and kraft dinner
for the next five years (I told you that I am dramatic) and calmed my heart and
talked to Adam – the image of the child in the mandarin box kept nagging at me. And finally,
when I was seriously getting annoyed, I asked God, “What do you want me to get
from this?”, a one word answer is what I got.
Perspective.
This child was wise
enough to see that though,to me,this box had no other uses than to hold things,
he saw that there could be more to the box. I now, I must be losing you by
this point, but it made sense to me… let me explain. Adam and I could take this
job situation as a bad thing and freak out. Well, too late for the freak out on
my part, but we could both stop and have perspective on what this could
mean. It’s healthy to take time to
re-evaluate what it is that you are doing in your life. Sometimes we are to
stop and then push on knowing that where we are and what we are doing is what
we are called to do with a new zeal, and other times we are told to stop and
see that there are things that need changing or meditation. Sometimes we get so
caught up in the planning (ahem, I’ll just shove my Christmas planner 2015
under my couch now..) that we forget the here and now. God has provided work for Adam and for me for the time being so
that I need not worry about it. The future is uncertain but bright, as there are many ways you can look at a box.;)
Your over-sharing friend,
Summer
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
-Isaiah 43:19
