Last Day of 2017.
Incredible how quickly time flies. This time last year I was a giddy grad student getting ready to fly back to Boston to take a winter course called Topics in Ed Psychology. I loved the course, the classmates, and the way the instructor directed the class. I was mesmerized by the content as much as the way he had organized the course for us--content was great, but his teaching style was definitely something else. It was my happy place indeed. I miss those carefree walks to class and leisurely stopping by cafes along the way.
This year, I'm going back to Boston more confused than ever. Winter break unraveled a lot of hurt that I had not noticed and also unveiled incredibly deep joys that I came to so appreciate. When the Church hurts, the rest of the body does too. I learned this so tangibly over the break. Our words have consequences, many of them unseen. I had flashbacks of my church split when I was in middle school--the hurt, the bitterness, the confusion that it brought.
Through all this, I keep thinking of the children. The two toddlers who wrapped their little arms around their daddy's legs as the congregation surrounded their dad to pray for him. The young freshman in college who silently wept before me, crying for her parents who chose a life that she did not have a say in.
I think of the sacrifices of our ministry leaders and realize that they can only make these hard decisions here on earth because they truly see this life as temporal and await a life that is eternal. Once again the verse that spoke to me at the beginning of 2017 continues to resound ever so loudly at its end--it's as if it's getting louder and louder.
Reminder: remember the children always--they see us and understand more than we think.
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."-Matt. 6:19-21
