we are on retreat this weekend. we were very excited to welcome our friends from the states to dodoma yesterday, and while all the full time staff of lahash are together (erin and cristine, you are greatly missed), we are taking some time to rest, sit in solitude, and charge for the busy two weeks ahead.
i have taken a hot shower, sat on a very comfortable couch on the porch, and enjoyed the breeze outside our guesthouse. and in this time, my thoughts have drifted to delight. for those that know me, i think one of my greatest creature comforts, and something i take great delight in back home, are my showers. hot ones. that are lengthy. and, today as i showered i noticed i did not need a lengthy shower, nor did the water need to be near scalding temperatures for me to delight in a shower. as i sat on the porch, i did not need my own porch or even my own home to delight in a place of rest and quiet. as i enjoyed the breeze, i delighted in the way it cooled me, the way it swayed the trees and the refreshment it brought.
these simple things have caused me to reflect on what i have delighted in the past three weeks. if i have allowed myself the space and the perspective to delight in simple things. and, if i am honest, my thoughts have been more of plodding through, trying to have patience when weary from lack of sleep and sick kids, trying to achieve some sort of normal when it seems all is definitely not so. delight, perhaps, in the beautiful bougainvillea that surrounds three full sides of our compound at "home," or in asher's excitement in greeting and delivering chai to our night watchman during the evening, or in the way we have mastered, and can even enjoy, our walks to and from the church in the mornings. i have had much to delight in the past three weeks and just failed to take time to notice.
i think my failure to delight in the simple things keeps me from enjoying the delight my savior sings over me, and i, in receiving that, can sing back. all of these simple things are merely an expression of Christ's delight for me. i need only to stop, open my arms, and receive.
so, i receive. yes lord, i receive and sing back.
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Oh Abbe, thanks so much for sharing your heart! I have noticed lately that I have let what I *have* to do cloud the simple pleasures that Christ sets before me everyday. Thanks so much for this reminder to take heart and listen to the delights Christ gives me everyday. Even those "have to's" can be delights!
Love from Texas to you friend!
~Erin
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