After a day filled with chain saw, fire, and tractor, we had dinner group. It's been a glorious day, sunshine and mild, with no breeze, perfect for pulling more sumac and briars, cleaning up the dead beech I cut down yesterday, and playing with little Gemma who came to visit after writer's group this morning. I like having her around. At three years of age, she sees the world with a wonder that has long been abandoned by most people my age. The physical/kinetic joy of being pushed on the swing or jumping on the trampoline, and her eagerness to help pick up pine cones for a penny apiece give me the opportunity of seeing this wonderful world God has given us through her eyes. We are blessed to be living where we live, without fear of violence, of kidnapping by radical Muslims, or stray gunfire from rival gangs shooting at one another. We aren't without problems; drugs and alcohol do their destructive work here, as elsewhere. We live in a poverty-stricken area, but by and large, it is peaceful and we get along with one another. The world is, and has always been a dangerous place, but here we are isolated from most of the evil that is everyday life for so many.
At dinner group tonight, we sat around our dining room table, with more than enough to eat, and enjoyed not just conversation, but the sharing of hearts and lives with people we have truly grown to love. Life isn't perfect, and as we share with one another some of the things we are going through, we have the opportunity to pray for, and encourage each other. What one couple is experiencing that seems to have no discernible solution, another has already been through, and is able through their experience assure the other that God will work things out. We can't fix it, but we can pray and love, which is what we usually need to keep putting one foot ahead of the other.
It's been a day of contrasts; the innocence of a three-year old, healthy, hard, physical labor, and friends sharing the joys and sorrows and mysteries of life. I am grateful to be able to look back on it without regret, and to look forward to tomorrow with anticipation. As we often say, "God is good, all the time."
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