What's the point?!
That one about teenagers, time away, and the meaning of life.
Well, hey there! My deepest apologies for being MIA.
You see, time away actually ended up being time away. 3 weeks in our home away from home, the place we all kind of really actually want to be and the place that has brought a lot of healing, hopes, and dreams to our family.
And even though the plan was for rest (we did get some of that) God still allowed the fullness of all that is life to penetrate our plans. Both for good and ill. And 3 weeks often felt like 3 months and I want to share some of what happened and what was revealed to me through all that happened. Because if there is one thing I am sure of it is something called the sacrament of the present moment. It is a phrase coined by Jean-Pierre de Caussade in one of my favorite books of all time, Abandonment to Divine Providence. And it means that in every physical moment God is working, communicating, something spiritual. For the physical is meant to be a channel of the spiritual and the spiritual grace is meant to be given through the physical. he explains it better than I do, but at the end of the day there is not a moment, an occurrence, a conversation void of God. And God works through all of it.
Teenagers, time away, and the meaning of life…
In this letter I want to talk about three themes that emerged from our time gone - themes that apply to all of us in all stages and walks of life. And those three things are…
Teenagers…and what having almost 6 teenagers at one time has taught me about God and His love. Raising a teen is one of the most heartbreaking and heart growing experiences, I am sure of it. No one prepares you for the beauty and the roller coaster that is this explosion in age and growth and the lessons I’ve learned have given me such a deep respect for God that I am humbled enough to know He is actually the only one who can be God…
Time Away…and how stepping back is one of the most valuable things we can do. Through so much loss, I know the value of every minute. I know the pain that is caused by “waiting to live with the ones you love” only to have the future taken from you. And the putting off for getting ahead becomes a source of grief, not fulfillment. I also received my recent breast cancer results while gone and our time away took on an even more special meaning. More on that in a sec.
The meaning of life…and how everything we do, all that we are and have and do and am boils down to this. Because what’s the point of living if we don’t know why we were created and what it’s all for?? (asked by a very wise teen of ours, making this whole letter come full circle.)
So, with that, let’s dive in…
