Calvin and Hobbes

One year for Christmas my siblings and I decided to get a Calvin & Hobbes book for my father. But instead of wrapping it and putting it under the tree we secretly read it in bed - throwing it under the pillow when he came in to say goodnight. When he finally received it, it was already well-worn and chuckled over, having made the rounds among his loving children.

Another year for Christmas my dad put a big, heavy present on my lap. I opened it up and didn't know what to say; I was astonished at seeing the "Complete Calvin & Hobbes" sitting there. My dream had come true! What had I done to merit such a wonderful gift? And how can I take care of this with so many siblings - oh wait? It's a family gift? For all of us? ahhh. well I am sure that we will all truly enjoy it...

Today I received my own Calvin & Hobbes book - "It's a Magical World" - which contains the latter years of the strip. And it's my own, my very own. Given to me by Natasha for no other reason than that she loves me.

If I stand

George MacDonald asks why can't two things exist in the same place at the same time? Why do what we see and feel, the material things, have the tyranny to push out things that we can't see or feel?

"There's more that rises in the morning than the sun, and more that shines in the night than just the moon."

In a spectacular Rich Mullins song (and he has many), he sings "there's more that dances on the prairie than the wind, and more that pulses in the ocean than the tide." His words speak of a transcendence that draws us to a higher way of living.

The focal point of this song is found in Rich Mullins' reaction, his response. In the chorus he says "if I stand, let me stand on the promise that you will pull me through. If I fall, let me fall on the grace that first brought me to you." A belief that there is more to this world than the eye can see, that two things really can exist in the same place at the same time, brings a desire to live in the full awareness of that second world. If I stand, if the choices I make bring great things, let it be because God is the one allowing me to stand. If I fall, I am not finished due to my own weakness, but fall on the grace of the Lord Jesus.

"If I sing, let it be for the joy that has borne in me these songs, and if I weep let it be as a man who is longing for his home."
Let the joy found in this life be because there is eternal joy, and if there is sorrow, weep, because not all things are as they should be, and we long for the day when the second world fully bursts through into this one, restoring what has been broken.

Enjoys: long walks on gravel roads

Being home seems at once the right place to be, and at the same time incongruous with the rest of my life. What I mean is this: I came home after graduation, and I fit right in. My bed is still as uncomfortable as ever, I drink three cups of tea a day (it's like a comfort blanket). Shanna still keeps me awake at night, (last night it was recording my name in a gravelly voice on her phone and then playing it back to me, right in my ear.) These are things that fit like a glove.

At the same time, this is just a pit stop. I'm moving to Mexico in two and a half weeks. My clothes don't have a drawer in which to belong, because Shanna has usurped all the space in the room upstairs. My stuff sits in peripatetic piles, piles that I carry from place to place but have no final destination.

I feel comfortable at home, content, yet there is a restless corner inside, because I know I will not be here long. Unsure how the next step will turn out, let alone the step after that, I want to be fully present, here for these next few weeks, and still fully prepared for what happens next. I will keep you updated as to the success of this venture.