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11/23/2005: "Happy Thanksgiving Eve!"
music: some great thanksgiving hymns running through my head--thanks Tanya =)
I've heard it said that when you stop to look back on your life, you can see the Lord's hand in working things to your good, even if you didn't recognize it at the time.
I've learned it is true that when you are in the midst of difficulties, that's when you'll know who is a truly good friend.
Sometimes life resembles a wheat field--after the grain is harvested the remaining straw doesn't break down very well into dirt, but ash turns to soil very easily. We can come through the fire feeling ravaged and torn, and either sit barren and wasted or take that opportunity to begin anew. We can strip ourselves of that which would weigh us down, hold us back. We can become purified, cleansed...rising out of the ashes like a Phoenix.
Yes, that last pun was intended. Phoenix has certainly been many things to me as I have lived here; it has been my wilderness, my sanctuary, my madhouse, my desert paradise. I am grateful for the friends I have made here, the teachers I have learned from, and the lessons I have gleaned. I've had my share of floods and fires here, my own personal feasts and famines. Right now I'm somewhere in the middle of the forest (desert) and it's hard to know how to read the trees (cacti). It does feel wonderful to be alive, to love and to know that I am loved by so many, even when I don't see myself as deserving of that love and affection.
Our family commences a four day weekend, a rarity to be sure. I may not blog as much for the next, oh, 108 hours, but I hope to have some pictures to share. My love across the miles to those gathering in other places to give thanks and may peace be upon us all this holiday season.
