glimpses of beauty!

i'm not quite sure how all of these things fit together .. except that they are all things i want to remember and which brought a smile to my face recently.

- drinking starbucks coffee! (there are 3 starbucks in bucharest, so the only time i get to drink their coffee is when i'm there or traveling elsewhere in the world .. which doesn't happen all that often..)

- sitting with some dear friends at a mall in front of a fountain. it was built in a circle with water spouts on the edge (10 or 12?), and a circle of spouts in the middle. and the water danced! leaping from the edge in thin clear lines toward the middle only to reappear on the edge moments later. some wonderful synchronization and patterns. we could have sat there for hours, but after 10 or 15 minutes decided to do a bit of window shopping.

- the fact that 5 of us were together to see one of us off on a long journey. the saying 'goodbye' part is never my favorite .. but the fact that all of us were together and were willing to get up early in the morning to go to the airport together .. that is pretty amazing. (and when i say early, i mean leaving the hotel at 3.30 early! and i'm very grateful that we could return to our beds at the hotel for a few more hours of sleep.)

- knowing that said friend who is flying far away is in the hands of a very capable, loving Father.

- discovering that two of these friends (they happen to be teammates, as well :) enjoy playing cribbage. it can require a bit of thinking, so not everyone enjoys it .. but they both do. hurrah!

- in conversation with these same two friends, being able to switch between romanian and english at will. not that my romanian is perfect yet .. but we can communicate well in either language. this is something i've always wanted to do .. and it's happening!

- finally being able to read 'godric' by frederick buechner. i've heard good things about it, and now that i'm halfway through it .. i'm beginning to understand. buechner's writing has a depth and wisdom about it, and being able to read that in story form is good for the soul.

reflection of the Father

people who spend their lives seeking God and seeking His Kingdom are pretty amazing.

getting to spend time with them .. also amazing. you might not be able to pick them out of a crowd (although CS Lewis writes about a recognition of God's children between one another..). you might not be impressed by their appearance. you might not choose to sit next to them at the airport.

but if you get a chance to sit down and hear a story, you would be surprised at the depth you hear. you might hear questions that grasp more than you'd expect. you might hear stories of great pain told without bitterness or anger. you might find your soul suddenly finding room to breathe. you might wish you could spend a few months living and learning from them (or a lifetime!). you would be able to say like the religious rulers of the day "they knew they had been with Jesus." only by His grace is that possible .. may you continue to evidence yourself in your beloved children, Father.

certainty

i've felt the call in a number of areas in my life to know myself. to know who i am made to be, to know want i want, what i am called to. at this point many of my answers are 'i don't know' or 'i'm not sure yet' or 'maybe..' .. in some ways i think that's okay. God is the one who knows and it's okay for me to just be His child. but there are conversations coming my way (i can think of 4 off the top of my head that will probably happen in the next two weeks) where it would be really good if i knew at least something.

so what do i know? God is good. God is love. God calls each of us to become more like Him. God has created all of His children to reflect Him a way that is uniquely beautiful. God delights when we choose to obey. God cannot love me more .. even if i'm really good today. God cannot love me less .. even if i do horrible things today.

that seems like a pretty good place to start :)