Solace

As we have been sorting out old papers and junk in an effort to clean out so many things we have carted from place to place for no apparent reason, we continue to find leftovers from other places we have lived and worked and that has brought back many memories.

After reading through various old calendar pages, lists of past social engagements, work requirements, financial statements and other bits of trivia, I have been thinking about the changes in our lives since we moved to the prairies.

I believe the main personal benefit we have received since coming out here has been a move from uncontrolled chaos to a place of recovery and peace.  Life before seminary consisted of over 2 decades of non-stop racing about at top speed, completely out of control at all times; moving here, moving there,working overseas, being homeless, construction project after ministry event after social flapping about, insane health issues...and an endless succession of disasters with nearly unbelievable last minute solutions, thanks be to God.

Thanks to seeing our faith in action we survived it all, emotionally bruised, physically ill and battle weary, but we did survive and we saw God move in mysterious and wonderful ways that brought us joy in the midst of trouble.

Moving to a teeny prairie seminary campus was the start of regaining some feeling of control in life, of beginning the slow down mentally and physically, socially if not ministry-wise, having more time to deal properly with our health issues and generally having time to think ahead rather than being reactionary all the time toward the disasters we used to constantly face.

In other words there has been a personal point to and benefit from this incredible slow down in life.  We have been on the prairies for most of the past 11 years and it has taken us this long to fully make the adjustment. In fact I would say it has only been in the last 3 or 4 months we have realized how truly beneficial our move to the east has been.  Seeing our past life events written down on paper this week has been most eye opening. How quickly we forget the bad times and how soon, fortunately, we forget the mental and physical stresses of the past.

It has taken us 11 years to even start to fit into this chapter in our lives, but it's the right time and we are at the right age to re-evaluate the past and become comfortable with who and where we are right now.

As usual, it is all good.