Metaphor for Life

I'm sitting here on my last night of Thanksgiving vacation enjoying the BYU basketball game online and the Stanford v. Notre Dame football game on the TV. No, I'm not a big Stanford or Notre Dame fan. But I do like a good football game and it's halftime at the basketball game. While enjoying the two games, I wanted to record some reflections I have been having.

The past few days have been really nice. I haven't had to worry about planning and preparing dinner (Thanks Mom!) or wake up to an alarm clock. I would wake up when I wanted to. Work out when I wanted to. And eat when I wanted to. It's been so nice compared to the daily grind I usually face. Christmas lights have been put up at my parents' house and my favorite time of year has started.

I'll be honest, I'm nervous. I'm making a move from a place that is comfortable and predictable to a place where I have no guarantees. I wonder if I should have waited until after Christmas to move but then remind myself that I couldn't stay where I was any longer. Too anxious feeling like I was sitting still. I needed to feel like I was moving forward and doing all without really knowing what all was or is.

I am grateful for the need to press forward with faith and this past year has been the epitome of moving forward into the darkness while seeking the light and the path the Lord needs me to follow. At times I have been downtrodden and worn out both physically and emotionally, and then the light would appear. The Lord strengthened me to keep going. Going where, I wasn't quite sure. But He has fulfilled His promise to me that He would lead be my by the hand. Many times I have felt carried.

Corrie ten Boom tells the story of learning the importance of gratitude from her sister Betsy during their imprisonment at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. Betsy reminded Corrie that they needed to express their gratitude in all things including the fleas. Corrie could not even to begin to fathom being grateful for the fleas. Yet she expressed gratitude for the fleas. Every day they were able to hold Bible study and teach those around them. They couldn't figure out why the guards never interrupted their study. Then one day Betsy figured it out. The guards did not enter the barracks because of the fleas. The very things that agitated the girls and made their bodies itch were the very things that protected their Bible study.

So this day, I am grateful for the "fleas" in my life. Those things that agitate me. That get under my skin. That somehow compel me to keep trying, to look for the positive, and to teach me how to be a better disciple of Christ.