“Whenever there is stillness there is the still small voice, God's speaking from the whirlwind, nature's old song, and dance...”
-annie dillard
out on the porch with the sound of the lawn mower in the distance and the faint smell of its diesel fumes.
i'm thinking about provision again, and life being full of moments that are not surprises, but orchestrations, and people responding to that still small voice. and how in that response we meet each others needs.
today our first care package arrived. it was so full. full of provision and promise and encouragement.
it came with kids toothpaste- on the day that we had completely run out of kids toothpaste.
it came with a pill box for Pius, the boy from clinic, when i haven't been able to find one.
it came with headlamps for the kids, when we're about to loose the generator.
it came with gluten-free everything.
it came as a reminder of why listening in the stillness is so important. God hears the needs we scream out to him and he whispers them into the ears of other people. it reminded me of the need to pay attention, and the need to respond. we are his hands and feet on earth.
it's not that i cried out to God about toothpaste or xanthum gum. those things themselves don't matter much. but knowing that someone read some words i'd written about things i miss from home, and chose to say- i can do that- and then did it- that matters. that the package arrived a month and two days after leaving new york, on the very day that my kids were crying about not having anymore toothpaste, that's provision, and Gods sense of humor. it's not that my kids need spongebob to brush- but it's a lesson to them- that God is in the details- beauty and grace are everywhere.
“The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.”
-annie dillard
it somehow reminds me of the paper bead bracelets that i usually have pictured on the side.
i love this colorful ugandan paper bead jewelry.
they come in blue and red and pink and rainbow, in all different colors and shapes.
each bead is unique, made from recycled paper, made by hands that have worked so hard.
left over scraps, spun by the hands of the poor, and turned into beauty.
each bead itself might not be much. but put together they are beautiful.
they symbolize hope, and redemption, and grace. and they remind me that we each have purpose and value, and that we are connected and in need of each other. that we are required to show up for each other to make the world better. that what you see is different than what i see; that what speaks to me, might not be spoken to you. so it matters- what we see and hear and do. we are part of the grace and beauty.
Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.
- Robert Bresson
there is power in that.
-annie dillard
out on the porch with the sound of the lawn mower in the distance and the faint smell of its diesel fumes.
i'm thinking about provision again, and life being full of moments that are not surprises, but orchestrations, and people responding to that still small voice. and how in that response we meet each others needs.
today our first care package arrived. it was so full. full of provision and promise and encouragement.
it came with kids toothpaste- on the day that we had completely run out of kids toothpaste.
it came with a pill box for Pius, the boy from clinic, when i haven't been able to find one.
it came with headlamps for the kids, when we're about to loose the generator.
it came with gluten-free everything.
it came as a reminder of why listening in the stillness is so important. God hears the needs we scream out to him and he whispers them into the ears of other people. it reminded me of the need to pay attention, and the need to respond. we are his hands and feet on earth.
it's not that i cried out to God about toothpaste or xanthum gum. those things themselves don't matter much. but knowing that someone read some words i'd written about things i miss from home, and chose to say- i can do that- and then did it- that matters. that the package arrived a month and two days after leaving new york, on the very day that my kids were crying about not having anymore toothpaste, that's provision, and Gods sense of humor. it's not that my kids need spongebob to brush- but it's a lesson to them- that God is in the details- beauty and grace are everywhere.
“The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.”
-annie dillard
it somehow reminds me of the paper bead bracelets that i usually have pictured on the side.
they come in blue and red and pink and rainbow, in all different colors and shapes.
each bead is unique, made from recycled paper, made by hands that have worked so hard.
left over scraps, spun by the hands of the poor, and turned into beauty.
each bead itself might not be much. but put together they are beautiful.
 |
| my oldest and most favorite |
Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.
- Robert Bresson
there is power in that.
1 comment:
Love it.
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