Come away. (edited)

It's been a busy period.

What with the interminably long hours at the hospital, studying for my first surgical test, attending missionary gatherings, helping out at Sunday School and preparing for a large gathering I'm hosting at my place soon, one day spills into the next and seeps down, soaks up with work like milk into cornflakes.

We run the race, charging forward with swift, focus and pride, like hamsters on exercise wheels. We overcome sleep, dawn and dusk, which no longer become markers to separate one busy day from the next. Everything extends into one another- our minds become cluttered with what's urgent instead of what's important; our bodies run on adrenalin instead of fuel; our spirits become weary instead of recharged.

And so I find myself picking out moments in the day and drawing myself a cosy igloo of serenity. I could be waiting for the elevator among chattering folk, standing on the train in a crowd or queuing up for food in a busy cafeteria- and all it takes is a conscious, determined effort to be in the moment, and to lap up the quiet joy and silent peace bubbling from one's soul. And we must allow ourselves to be surprised- by the little acts of love through the day:

Monday:

A beautiful crimson carnation awaits me at my seat. A SUPER GIRL gift card and elegant cursive writing- Hi, hello, how are you! Im so incredibly proud of the fantastic progress youve made, fighting your battles, growing, learning. Every time Im so happy to see your radiant face, so happy to feel the warmth and quiet comfort of your arm threading mine... ... and I'm so very thankful to have a friend like you. I love you

Tuesday:

A random text message from a missionary I haven't seen in ages: I thought of you this morning and I pray that God's warm embrace will surround you.

Wednesday:

A surprise text message from a lady I've only met a few times at church, just the night before my surgical test: Let me know if you need me to pray anything specific for you. You came to my mind and I will keep you in my prayer tonight. God bless!

She has no idea I've a test the next day.

Thursday:

I am invited to a gathering to meet the missionaries from Nepal, as they're gathered back here for a meeting. I hand them over gifts for the children and money Ive set aside for the missionaries' families. We gather together and I start to cry- I don't realise how much I miss them. They hand me a card from the children, written in childish scrawlings: We are so thankful for your love and care. We are praying for you. Be happy all the time. We miss you and love you. With love, Sophia's Home.

Friday:

I finally fall a little ill from the busy week and decide to take half the day off to rest, especially since relatives will fly in to stay this weekend. Another text message: How are things with you? Hope all is good at school and at home. Remember if you need a quiet place to study, you can come to my home. God bless.

This person has no idea I have relatives flying in this weekend.

And so I bask in the beauty of these moments filled with surprise and stretch them out to fill the arc of my igloo, warmed up by a kerosene lamp, fuelled by the love of God-sent angels. In times like these, it feels as if God knows and meets my every need- which He does. In a busy week, these become the moments which stop time and separate one tiny sub-chapter of our lives from the next, like golden paper bookmarks browned with memories.

But nothing beats the most important time of the day- the pensive kneeling at the foot of one's bed, soaking in the quiet, and thanking God for the beautiful day yesterday, today and surely the beautiful one tomorrow.


I share my week with a friend who is just as overwhelmed, and she is overcome with child-like awe.


" Wow, thanks for sharing. God really loves you. He really, really does, doesn't He?"


I nod my head. A honey-filled burst invades my soul.


God loves us all, all the same.


Perhaps all we really need is to come away for a while to quiet our souls, stop to think, and to thank God for the little surprises every day- even if it's just a purple weed by the bus-stand, and to stretch those special moments out whenever we need to, wherever we are.

Perhaps all we need is to come away for a while, stretch out those moments, bask in gratitude for the undeserved blessings which come our way, everyday, so we may get some much-needed rest.

I do agree with you- that indeed, it has been a special week. And we can't demand God to drop us rainbow-coloured messages into our mailbox all the time. Somedays, why does it feel like no one cares?

But people do. They do if we let them. And more often than not, it is when we come away by ourselves, to a quiet place of reflection and humility, that we may open up our eyes to the many little God-sent surprises which happen every day.

Like the beautiful sunrise I saw this morning. Like lunch-company on another afternoon. Like a random lorry-driver offering me street directions and making sure I got to my destination.

Then one day becomes a day of its own, again, the way it was meant to be. Because of the special moments of confetti-filled surprises which came our way, the surprises we chose to see and acknowledge and be grateful for, in our quiet moments by ourselves and God, when we choose to Come away.

Just, tiny things.

How funny that it is when we come away by ourselves to bask in those special stretched out moments, and allow ourselves to be surprised, that we truly become connected to God, and become more refreshed, restored and recharged, to enter into this busy world of ours.

Just, come away.

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them,

"Come away with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."

-Mark 6:31