Quilt by Diane Bannister
More and more we are seeing beauty in the complexity of life.
Unlike the ordered squares of fabric that make up a quilt, much of life is messy and not easily separated into clearly defined areas. When it comes to our life and ministry in Africa, it is difficult to try and draw clear boundaries between work and personal space. Of course this blurring of the lines is not unique to our situation, most people find it a challenge to draw lines of separation between the different areas of life -- work and play; spiritual and secular; social and personal....
Today was such a day with people in and out of our home, dropping Ava off to pre-school; meetings at a coffee shop, dealing with an issue with our van, meeting Ava after school, entertaining tonight in our home, following up on ministry reporting and tasks for our head office, preparing for short term volunteers who are arriving next week from Canada -- so many little pieces that form our day.
It is easy to get caught up in the busyness of everything and miss the big picture.
I think prayer is a gift from God that gives us the space to take all "the stuff of life" and lift it up to God and in the experience of that God can give us a glimpse of a heavenly perspective. That even the mundane little conversations over the hood of a car, at the counter of a shop, or driving to the next appointment with your daughter chatting from the back seat, all of these moments are beautiful little pieces of the great fabric of life.
Where ever you are today, whomever you are with, may you have a glimpse of the beautiful thing that you are a part of! May little whispers of prayer pass over your lips thanking God for the little moments that we so often miss.
Sincere thanks for this beautiful meditation!
ReplyDeleteThank you Romona!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, thank you so much for the books you sent our children. I'm especially thrilled to see Tristan reading Gordon Korman. After "Swindled", he went to the school library and has read his Island Series. Someday I hope to find "No Coins, Please!". If you ever come across it in a school library rummage sale let us know.
Hope that you are having a great start to the summer!
Blessings,
Aaron
You are most welcome! So pleased to hear that you now have a second-generation Gordon Korman thing going on there too! That Island series is good, I thought. Hmmm, "No Coins, Please"? I'll most definitely keep an eye out for it.
ReplyDeleteWe have 4 more days left of school, and then yippee yahoo! Hope your family has a fabulous summer!
Blessings from Toronto,
Ramona
P.S. - By the way, here's something your kids might find interesting since they're such readers. I looked exactly like Ramona in the Beverly Cleary Ramona books when I was that age - except my hair was even messier and spikier than hers. I was only slightly better behaved!
Between my sister and me, my mom found it necessary to sit in the back pew at church, especially when we were really small and my dad was in pastoral ministry. . . who knows what was going to go on!