Fresh Perspective

I didn’t want to risk catching whatever could be caught.  Oh, I had my list of excuses.  We were travelling. I had just seen her.  Surely, she was still, ok? But then I received the text that let me know everything was not alright. That the sickness was getting more serious. A cry for help. I passed it off to the pastor, again not wanting to take the risk. He reported back to me his assessment and it eased my mind of some of the guilt or that persistent nudging that has become very familiar these days. Yes, that nudging. A quiet, still, voice in my heart that will not be silenced. It persists. It prods my stubborn mind with thoughts of needs, of specific food items, of random things like Christmas lights, warm socks, and sometimes little gifts of money. I cannot explain it, but I like to think of it as the Holy Spirit assessing other peoples needs and then telling me.  Sometimes the voice is not quiet or still at all.  It is urgent and loud, even roaring....

The last three-and-a-half years I have experienced an anchor that has given me much focus, purpose, and satisfaction. It has helped to hold me through some radical transitions, including moving as US citizens from Indonesia to the Middle East and four boys leaping out of our nest. It also held fast as the disastrous flood ripped through our tropical aviation base in Papua and as we navigate the annual leaves where we experience the high of seeing family and friends and the low of leaving them again. This was not the first anchor of my choice; it did not capture my heart like some other anchors that were on display.  But I have always said, “I think God knows the desires of my heart better than I do.” It turns out that this is true.   This semester has been a culmination of the anchors effect as I taught Human Clinical 1 at MEU (I had an awesome mentor, Dr. Amy) and presented a capstone educational offering about forgiveness in the Middle East. I find the classroom inv...