I asked Conrad what are three constants in his life. We laughed out loud instantly as I said it, because two of our clients’ names are Constance. Then he said in one breath: me, God, and this apartment we live in. Basic and straightforward.
Today is the last Monday of August. We decided that it is a day when all our clients in US are enjoying the last hours of the weekend, Sunday night, and we are still free of any last minute urgent web design tasks. So this morning we went kayaking. Best trip yet. No rush, imaginary or otherwise, we knew where to go and we took our time on the water. Tarnita is a gorgeous dam lake surround by virgin trees, no human in sight for miles. This would be unheard of in the states. And as we made our way through the silent wind waves we reminisced about the regular trips we took to REI and drooled over the kayaks there and never did anything about it. Some weekends were long and depressing in the states, trapped between work days, with not enough time to muster up courage and energy to go anywhere.
I went to church yesterday, the OD church after months of not going. The word that came to mind as I sat there in silence, before we started late, was apathy. The only good thing about it is that it leads to rock bottom and humility, and shakes one up to get out of there.
In September we are starting again a couples ministry. We need a constant community of people who love God. We are all imperfect and confused. We lack clear direction steady leadership. But instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we shall do what we can.
Another constant in our lives has been the listening to one or two chapters from The Message, starting with Acts. Paul has written a lot, and he has written well. And we tend to take so many bible verses out of context, that we forget the big picture, as if we never took it in as a whole. How delightful it is though to enjoy a beautiful painting in ensemble. This listening and briefly discussing it has fed my soul and nourished my frustrated mind. Boy, did those first churches have problems! But I am so glad they did, because it gives me hope for today.
