“So, what’s new?”
A frequently asked question. My response?
“Not much.”
Looking Back…
The wet sand swallowed my feet as I stood looking out over the ocean. The sun hung in its mid-morning setting just over the horizon. Billowy white clouds drifted in the distance where the water met the sky. Curiosity mixed with the ocean breeze overwhelmed all emotion as I stood alone on the shore with only the gulls and the lapping waves echoing in my ears. As far as I could see, whitecaps upon whitecaps rolled in, briefly greeting the land before dissolving into sea foam.
At once, I realized, “How like my maidenhood! Oh, I’ve had adventures, but the present reality is so mundane, so…predictable. Like waves, the days roll in and roll out, roll in and roll out…”
Time captured me in a moment of longing for excitement, and I felt distant from the beauty surrounding me. A narrow perception of life limited my vision, until…
…off in the distance, my eyes caught sight of little sea creatures playing Hopscotch in the water. Then a new frame of mind began forming. Like the waves, one thought after another rolling in, reinforcing the power of the current. There’s so much life and activity beneath the surface of the water that seemingly stretches into eternity. There is so much taking place, even now. How my life is like the ocean! There’s much I don’t see!
Today…
I feel stuck in the “box of predictability” some days. With great effort to control what I see, feel, and experience, I build the box so I can hide from the adventures I once desired. But isn’t the ocean scene still before me? Is God not bigger than the ocean? Am I putting my faith in only what I choose to see? Is my self-created box of routine and predictability, honestly, so safe? So fulfilling?
Truth: everyday holds its own challenges. Marriage. Children. Autism. Neurological “conditions” (not autism). Pain. The ocean of struggles life presents daily is not to be shied away from, but embraced. Struggles are an opportunities to exchange my plans, my desires, even my dreams, for God’s.
And what an adventure!
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases. His mercies never end; they are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness, oh, LORD!”
~Lamentations 3:22, 23
Next time, when someone asks me, “What’s new with you today?”
I’ll respond,
“Everything!”
Mosaic Life 