Pen to Paper...or rather, Fingers to Keyboard
It is time to return to the written word. Or should I say, it is time that I return to writing words.
The last few years of life have been adventurous, to say the least. In the past four years, I've lived in four different countries; I've graduated, begun a career, learned another language, run marathons, and married the man I dearly love. Now life has slowed down a bit--although, strangely enough, I seem just as busy--and I find that I have less to say. It's not that life is any less fulfilling now or that I am less content, but I face the challenge of finding meaning in the everyday bits and pieces of ordinary living--living minus the components of a new culture, language, and people that have characterized life in a foreign country.
Some days, I fear that my mind is becoming dulled by grading paper after paper, my imagination wearied by teaching the same material six times a day, my patience thinned by the tedious task of reminding so and so to sit down and stop doing such and such, my idealism waning and my sense of adventure buried by the responsibility of caring for the educational well-being of 150 teenaged children...
My, but I sound tired and cynical. I see tired and cynical teachers every day at school--teachers who used to love the profession, love the kids, but who now find themselves just hanging on until retirement--I do not want to be one of these. I understand that at certain times in our lives, "survival mode" may be all that we can manage, but I firmly believe that God does not intend for us to live indefinately in survival mode. The apostle Paul said "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want" (Phil 4: 12). Contentment and joy are not dependent on circumstances. Ok, so my work may become a little mundane; I often don't feel appreciated; my husband has to work ridiculously long hours (We spend far more time with immature teenagers and sick patients than with one another); and I don't have any close friends yet in Fort Worth. But I am finally married to the man that I love more than I could have ever believed was possible. We have secure jobs that allow us to give generously to others. We have the strong support of our families, friends, and coworkers, and we are children of the King, with the promise of great things to look forward to!
That's something worth writing about
The last few years of life have been adventurous, to say the least. In the past four years, I've lived in four different countries; I've graduated, begun a career, learned another language, run marathons, and married the man I dearly love. Now life has slowed down a bit--although, strangely enough, I seem just as busy--and I find that I have less to say. It's not that life is any less fulfilling now or that I am less content, but I face the challenge of finding meaning in the everyday bits and pieces of ordinary living--living minus the components of a new culture, language, and people that have characterized life in a foreign country.
Some days, I fear that my mind is becoming dulled by grading paper after paper, my imagination wearied by teaching the same material six times a day, my patience thinned by the tedious task of reminding so and so to sit down and stop doing such and such, my idealism waning and my sense of adventure buried by the responsibility of caring for the educational well-being of 150 teenaged children...
My, but I sound tired and cynical. I see tired and cynical teachers every day at school--teachers who used to love the profession, love the kids, but who now find themselves just hanging on until retirement--I do not want to be one of these. I understand that at certain times in our lives, "survival mode" may be all that we can manage, but I firmly believe that God does not intend for us to live indefinately in survival mode. The apostle Paul said "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want" (Phil 4: 12). Contentment and joy are not dependent on circumstances. Ok, so my work may become a little mundane; I often don't feel appreciated; my husband has to work ridiculously long hours (We spend far more time with immature teenagers and sick patients than with one another); and I don't have any close friends yet in Fort Worth. But I am finally married to the man that I love more than I could have ever believed was possible. We have secure jobs that allow us to give generously to others. We have the strong support of our families, friends, and coworkers, and we are children of the King, with the promise of great things to look forward to!
That's something worth writing about
Comments
AND, I'm glad you're writing again. But you knew that.