Joys and Longings

Some of the thoughts penned here come full circle, the good ones hopefully again and again. I am sure I have said these things before, of different times, of different people, but some things are worth repeating. What a deep joy it is to hear of a brother, a sister, a friend doing well in the Lord. To hear someone speak whose heart is at rest, to see decisions made knowing someone else is in control, to witness life lived with the fullest of joy. This is true any time, but it is especially apparent, felt most deeply, when it is someone you have prayed for, worried over, longed to see this change in. There is a similar, paralleled, deep felt emotion that hits hard on the other side of the spectrum. The ache that comes when you see how far off that change is at the moment. The loss of words when you meet and so badly want to be an encouragement and not just an old judgmental friend.

My mind immediately jumps to twenty-two people who I spent the majority of my growing up years with. Some ebb and flow in that, some longer than others, some from the beginning, some joining at the end, but all in all twenty-three of us at the finish. It has amazed me to see these lives, all released at the same time with more or less the same potential, and all in completely different places in life. Some married, some on their way, some single. Some far away, some near. Some in school, some working. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, engineers, businessmen, economists, philosophers, musicians, therapists, waitresses, baristas. And in the end, some whose lives bring that deep joy...and some who still leave me to long for the day.